How to Decorate a T-Shirt with Paint and Stencils

Have you thought about decorating t-shirts, especially for the kids in your life? If you want to customize inexpensive t-shirts, this is an easy project kids will love. See how it is to decorate a t-shirt with paint and stencils for a fun summer craft.

How do you decorate a t-shirt with paint and stencils? You need the right kind of paint and the best stencils.

Who do you decorate a t-shirt for? Anyone! A few years ago, I decorated these two t-shirts for my granddaughters to wear to the lake and camp. The girls have outgrown them, but they are just as cute and just as fun to make now as then.

I’ll give you all the steps and show you exactly which supplies are best to use.

Decorating T-Shirts: Using Paint and Stencils

First, this is a fun project. You could make dozens of different ones, depending on the color and style of your t-shirts, the stencil design and placement, and the colors of your paint.

Since these t-shirts were for my granddaughters, my only requirements were the size and the colors. Annabelle requested blue and Lilah wanted purple.

Supplies for Stenciling T-Shirts

Choose Your T-Shirts

I found these t-shirts at Target. They were $5.00 each.

• Choose a t-shirt that is cotton or a cotton blend.
• Choose a fabric with a smooth finish.
• Keep in mind how the t-shirt color will work with the paint colors you want to use.

Chose Your Stencil

When I saw this particular stencil design, I knew it would be perfect for girl t-shirts.

I chose a stencil that had a summer vibe for young girls.

I’ll be using the “hello summer”, part of the ice cream cones, and the flip-flops for these t-shirts.

See the lines on the stencil? You can use those to cut apart the designs.

NOTE: The stencils that I used for this t-shirt project are no longer available, but the process will be the same.

This mesh adhesive stencil with summer designs is darling for this project.

this Idea.

Choose Your Paint

There are all types of paint that can be used with stencils: ChalkArt, Ceramic Paint, and Gel Art Ink.

There are fabric paints and acrylic paints. I choose to use Gel Art Ink paint. It lays rich, permanent color on fabrics, apparel, upholstery, and most soft surfaces. It can also be used on paper.

NOTE: The paint that I used for this project is no longer available, but I found a great alternative set of 8 Chalk paste paint that has bright colors and can be used on fabric.

Here are a couple of other projects with Ceramic Paint:

• How to Paint Glass with Ceramic Paint
• How to Use Ceramic Paint for Decorating Farmhouse Tiles

Other Supplies You Will Need

For applying the Chalf paste paint, use a plastic scaper or old credit card.

You will also need a watercolor brush to mix the paint with water and thin it out. You’ll see below what I mean.

• water, preferably in a spray bottle
• a piece of glass for mixing watercolor. I used a piece from an old frame.

Stenciling Your Designs

Step 1 – To protect the fabric, place a piece of cardboard inside the t-shirt. Smooth the t-shirt over the cardboard.

Step 2 – Cut out your stencil. Remove the paper backing (keep it for storing your stencil) and place the stencil where you want it. Smooth the stencil on the fabric.

Step 3 – Squeeze out a small amount of paint onto the plastic scraper and place it on the stencil. Spread the paint across the stencil, pushing it down into the stencil.

Here’s a more in-depth tutorial on stenciling.

TIP: It is best to work quickly.

Step 4 – Gently remove the stencil by lifting a corner and peeling it back from the fabric. Allow the Chalk paste paint to dry for about 20 minutes.

I repeated the process with the second purple (really lavender) t-shirt.

I didn’t want to cut the strip of ice cream cones, so I just used Frog Tape to block off the ones I wanted to use.

NOTE: Because I’m a messy DIYer, I used pieces of paper towel around the stencil to protect the t-shirt.

Aren’t those cones the cutest?

Now I was ready to use the second stencil on the back of the t-shirt. For the blue t-shirt, I used two shades of blue paint.

Repeat for the second t-shirt: again, I used a dark blue color.

For “hello”, I used an orange color.

Decorating Your T-shirts with Watercolor

You can use these paints like watercolor by adding a little water. Do this when you want to add more color and depth.

You can also mix paints to make more colors, like red and white to get pink.

For Coloring the Blue Flip-Flop Stencil:

Step 1 – Add a small amount of paste paint onto a piece of glass (or a glass plate). Again, I used a dark blue.
Step 2 – Spray water on the paint. Use an artist brush to mix the paint and the water until it is the consistency of watercolor.
Step 3 – Use your artist brush to dab the paint into your stencil.

TIP: On fabric, dabbing rather than brushing is the way to apply the paint. It’s better to have less paint than too much.

TIP: You can use the flat side of the artist brush or the tip of it, depending on the size of the area you are painting.

Step 4 – I like to let the watercolor dry for at least 1 hour.

For the Ice Cream Cone Stencil:

For the ice cream cones, I used 5 different colors: light blue, orange, bright yellow, pale pink, and I mixed white and orange to make a peach. Of course, you can use whatever colors you want for these t-shirts.

Modeling the Decorated T-shirts

I made these decorated t-shirts for my beautiful granddaughters. They were spending a couple of days at their other grandparents’ lake house in Northern Georgia, so that’s where I mailed the t-shirts.

I’m thrilled that the girls modeled the t-shirts on the dock.

Annabelle was 11, our fearless and wise child, is on the left. Lilah, who was 8, our little blondie, is on the right.

The girls never miss a chance to show off their humor and their best sides.

I hope that you see how easy it is to decorate t-shirts with paint and stencils. It’s a really fun DIY project.

Want more summer craft ideas?

• 11 Fun Summer Crafts to Stay Busy and Creative
• 10 Great Ideas for Summer DIY Projects
• Easiest Way to Paint Glass for Summer Decor

Let me know if you like this project. Will you try it? Be sure to PIN it. Check out more Summer DIY Projects for more ideas.