Bleached Shamrock Shirt Stenciled with Hot Glue

Yes, I know I just posted a similar project earlier this week, but with St. Patrick’s Day fast approaching I thought I’d throw this one out there!

The instructions are the same as the flower shirt (click here for that post), except that you want to make a shamrock shape out of hot glue instead.

Read on for instructions on how to make this awesome shirt for yourself, or your favorite leprechaun!

AdTech bleached DIY shamrock shirt with hot glue stencil for St Patrick's Day

Supplies you will need:

Step one: Warm up your glue gun

Load your glue gun with a glue stick and let it warm up. I highly recommend you do this project with a high-quality, full-size glue gun because this project uses a good amount of hot glue, and you want good flow when laying your glue lines. The AdTech Pro 80 warms up really quick and puts out a lot of glue quickly and easily, AND it comes with 3 interchangeable applicator tips! (I love this glue gun! It’s my personal fave.)

AdTech bleached DIY shamrock shirt with hot glue stencil for St Patrick's Day

Step two: Create your hot glue stencil

Lay down a large sheet of parchment paper. You can freehand your design, or place a drawing or printout of a design under the parchment and trace it with the hot glue. Squeeze the trigger and lay down your glue in a shamrock shape – which is basically 3 or 4 hearts with a stem.

Then, let it cure for a few minutes and peel your hot glue stencil off the paper. Don’t worry about little glue strings that you might see. They don’t really matter in this project.

AdTech bleached DIY shamrock shirt with hot glue stencil for St Patrick's Day

Step three: Prep the shirt

Lay your t-shirt out and place some cardboard inside to protect the back of the shirt. Place your new glue stencil onto your shirt and press it down flat with your hands.

AdTech bleached DIY shamrock shirt with hot glue stencil for St Patrick's Day

Step four: Apply the bleach

Wear your eye protection (safety first!) and pour some bleach into your spray bottle. Lightly spray a fine mist over your design… 2-3 pumps. Let the bleach do it’s work for at least 15 minutes before you decide to spray again. If you’d like more of a blotchy look with bigger drops, you can dip an old toothbrush into bleach, and splatter the bleach onto the shirt by bending the bristles with your thumb and letting go.

See photos of this step here, in our bleached flower shirt post.

Step five: Wash the shirt

Once you get the shirt lightened to your satisfaction, remove the stencil. (You can reuse it!) You can then launder the shirt, but either wash it alone or rinse it well before laundering with other clothes so you don’t get remaining bleach on anything.

AdTech bleached DIY shamrock shirt with hot glue stencil for St Patrick's Day

One of our staff members brought the shirt home and took a photo of it on her daughter. Isn’t she the cutest little leprechaun?

Little Leprecaun wearing DIY bleached hot glue stencil shirt

 


Love what you created? We will, too! Tag us in your image on Instagram, @adtech. Use the hashtags #glueasamedium and #thisishotglue so others can see your creation!

Try making this EASY DIY Bleached Shamrock Shirt with Hot Glue Stencil for St Patrick's Day! All you need is a shirt, glue gun and glue sticks, parchment paper, bleach and a sprayer. Great kid's craft! Easy and cheap. #hotglue #gluegun #thisishotglue #kidscraft #easycraft #creativation