Freezer paper stencils are not a new idea. They can be seen all around the web. I have been wanting to try my hand at making some for a while. What to put on the shirt was the question holding me back. The answer came in the mail.

My older daughter is on a letter writing campaign. She wants to get letters from all over the world. I told her if she wanted to get letters she had to start sending them. I put out a call for participants on my blog and we were swamped! One of the participants was a family from Texas with two adopted daughters from China. In their letter they sent a silhouette of Texas made from one of the girls paintings and a map of China with the two provinces the girls were born in circled. I immediately knew what I wanted to be my first freezer paper stencil attempt to be! A silhouette of S. Korea for my youngest.

What a great way to celebrate your child’s birthplace or current state. Using a map outline makes for an interesting and cool graphic. You will be amazed at how amazingly simple freezer paper stencils are to do and how beautiful they come out! I bought several t-shirts thinking…better get backups in case I mess up. Well, I didn’t mess up and now I can make more t-shirts! You can choose to make a stencil using a map or any image you and your children would like. I made my other daughter a Tinkerbell shirt.

I used an old party decoration we had. So be creative and have fun with this.

Supplies:

• T-Shirt (washed)
• Iron
• Freezer Paper (Reynolds)
• Fabric Paint
• Foam Brush
• Map of country of origin or home state
• Pencil
• Exacto Knife
• Cutting Board
• Tape

1. Print out your map. I just Googled map South Korea and picked the one I liked best.
2. 
3. Tape the map to a window.
4. Tape a piece of freezer paper – non waxy side up – on top
5. Trace your map. Don’t drive yourself crazy with too many detail.
6. Cut out using exacto knife. Please be careful.
7. Cut a piece of freezer paper to slide inside your shirt and iron down. Use high dry heat. This will prevent paint seeping through to the other side and also prevents the shirt from moving around as you paint.
8. Center your stencil on the shirt. Iron down.
9. Painting – Paint gently! Paint from the edged in. I started on the paper and the moved towards the center of the design. This prevents the paint from seeping in at the edges. If you are too aggressive and paint towards the edges the paper may peel up. Leaving you with a messy edge.
10. Let dry the full amount of time before carefully peeling off the stencil. Set with an iron.
11. Optional. I sewed on a little sequin and bead to mark Seoul. You could use a French knot or leave it as it is.

Kim King can also be found blogging about crafts and her family at Four Crazy Kings.