Do you have a science or astronomy fan in your house? We do! And I love supporting the kiddo and her quest to learn more about the stars. Suddenly nothing is cooler than a movie or TV show set in space! Star Wars anyone? Dr. Who? She is in! Our families love of all things sci-fi, is what inspired today’s easy to make Galaxy shirt Tutorial!
So make this shirt – and boost your galactic swagger 😉
The best thing about making a Galaxy shirt is that you would have to try really, really hard to mess it up. It’s basically impossible to ruin! Don’t like that star you painted? Smear it and make it a constellation. Such a fun project.
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Here are some tips and tricks for making your own Galaxy Shirt…
~Make Your Own Galaxy Shirt~
You will need:
- A black shirt. Natural fabrics like cotton work best.
- Fabric or permanent acrylic paints, in cosmic colors.
- An old tooothbrush and white paint.
- A small spray bottle, and bleach.
Directions:
- It takes very little bleach to mark up the galaxy shirt. I used a small spray bottle with 1 part bleach, to 2 parts water. You can spray the t-shirt directly to fade areas on the shirt to give it some dimension. For fun I twisted the center of my shirt in the middle and on the arm, before I sprayed. I really like the way this created a spiral of lighter colors on the shirt. I recommend trying that technique!
- You are going to want to skip this next step. But don’t! Let the bleach spots dry most of the way, and then stick the shirt into the washing machine on cold, with a little detergent. Dry shirt completely before continuing. This step stops the bleach from continuing to eat through your shirt, which can create holes. This is also the reason you dilute the bleach before you spray the shirt!
- The fun! I used an old rag to dab green, purple, grey, blue and purple into the shirt. Try to blend colors into each other for an especially spacey look!
- Stars! I took an old toothbrush and covered it in white fabric paint. Then I pulled back on bristles to create a spray of paint droplets. Practice this before you do it on the shirt to get the technique how you’d like it. Keep in mind that the closer you are to the shirt the bigger and more concentrated the stars will be!
- Use a small paint brush to add any additional stars you’d like. And if you feel like adding some fabric glitter – now is the time. Let your shirt dry!
- We’ve washed our shirt a few times now with very little fading. To help preserve the shirt consider washing in cold, inside out.
- Enjoy your Galaxy!
Still feeling a little unsure of the process? Here is a very short video I made showing you how we made our shirt! It really is a fun project, and perfect to let kids help with.
May “the force be with you” while you make this “timey wimey” Galaxy painting project! 😉
About Shannon SchmidShannon traded in her sensible NYC TV producer shoes (they were best for taking the subway), for a pair of Texas Cowboy boots when she married her best friend! He's at fault for making this Yankee a Texan! Shannon writes about all things that make a house a home. Her chief blogging inspiration is being the proud & slightly neurotic mom of a preschool age daughter.
You can find Shannon on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and her new favorite place to hang out, Google+.
This is a cool shirt. My boys would like something like this. We will have to try making some new shirts.
This is so seriously cool! I am a 6th grade teacher and I was looking for a shirt for my STEM club to wear to our competition. They were so excited about this idea, and it goes along great with STEM activities, and this year’s Star Wars craze!! Thanks so much for the easy to follow instructions. We can’t wait to make them!!!
I am SO excited for you!!
Thank you so much for this super awesome and super simple idea! My daughter has a field trip to a planetarium tomorrow and asked me if I could make her a “galaxy” shirt right before bed lol This was super easy and turned out great!!! Thanks again!
this was out of this world. thank you so much. my kids loved it! one thing though, i’m a little afraid of washing them! will the colors and designs run/fade?
We have washed our shirt 4 or 5 times so far – and very little fading! Just wash with darks. So happy you liked making it! 🙂
My daughter is having a space birthday party and I have been looking for a craft. Would you recommend this for a larger group of children? I would be a little worried about the time.
Hey Nicole! I dont think a large group would be a problem – but I do think this craft typically takes longer than the amount of time you might have at a birthday. Especially as you need to wash and dry the shirt after the bleaching effect. Have a great party! Maybe do this craft with the birthday girl, as a fun shirt to wear to her space party instead? 🙂
If you do the bleaching/washing/drying a few days before the party, then the kids can do the painting at the party itself.
How long would the painting part of the project take? My daughter is leading her Girl Scout troop for the outdoor art badge and wants to make this shirt at our next meeting. I can do the bleach part and have the shirts prepped. Would the girls be able to take their shirts home the same day after they paint?
How long does it take to dry?
You will need to wash the shirt after the bleaching effect, and then dry it. But how long the paint will take to dry on top of that really depends on how much paint you end up using and how thickly it’s applied. I think our Galaxy shirts dried laying outside after a few hours, on a sunny day!