Out-of-this-World Bleached Galaxy Tee

I have seen so many amazing tee-shirts made with bleach on Pinterest. I figured my son and I would give it a go. The final result is out-of-this-world.

When my son got home from summer camp, we read Gail Gibbons’ book Galaxies, Galaxies! It shared loads of information about the different shaped galaxies in space and explained that the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy. This is SUCH a cool book. Seriously, how does Gibbons crank out so many wonderful non-fiction books for kids?!?!

When we were done reading, I told my son it was time to make a Milky Way galaxy tee shirt. “Are we painting it like my organs shirt?” he asked. “Nope.” He was curious AND psyched.

I gave him a piece of freezer paper with a galaxy shape cut out. (Download it here. Cut a piece of freezer paper to 8 ½ x 11 and feed it through your printer.)

He carefully ironed the freezer paper stencil onto his navy blue tee shirt. We used medium-high heat. NOTE: Irons are hot, hot, hot. No child should use one EVER without adult supervision. And even then, careful warning should be issued so children understand the danger.

Afterwards, I put two cheap plastic placemats inside the shirt between the front and back of the shirt.

Now it was time to use a bleach pen to “color” inside the lines. This is pretty forgiving. Afterwards, carefully peel off the stencil.

When that was done, we used a small dollar-store squirt bottle filled with liquid bleach. He squirted the bleach over our galaxy to make stars. We let the bleach take effect and tossed the shirt in the laundry by itself.

I love the final effect. So does my son. Can’t you tell?

Personal note: Thanks to everyone who offered prayers, virtual hugs, thoughts, and encouragement earlier this week. As we continue to get test results back, I am increasingly encouraged. The Grade 1 cancer appears to be confined in one breast, is non-aggressive, slow-growing, and doesn’t appear to be in my lymph nodes. This IS curable. And I look forward to joining the world’s population of amazing breast cancer survivors.