My latest challenge is screen printing! It seems like the most random thing, but it's a long story that I'll try to make pretty short.
1. (15 years ago) High school boyfriend showed me how to screen print - looked easy, looked cool, thought "maybe could do that!" but we broke up and I never thought about it again.
2. (Present Day) Went to Hands on Children's Museum here in Olympia, where they set up a screen printing station in the arts/crafts room. We've managed to use the station twice, and the kids really enjoyed it! I even asked about products they used, and considered it a possible activity at some (probably far-distant) future time with my kids.
3. Looked into planning Patrick's 9th birthday party at some artsy venue, and just can't make myself pay more per guest at my kids' party than I pay for birthday presents when my kid GOES to a party, so looked instead for something cool to do at our own house! I contemplated that screen printing idea for his party, making it considerably less far-distant that I had originally planned.
4. The Young Women have an upcoming activity that's a big deal, called New Beginnings, where we introduce the theme for the year and go all-out for incorporating that into some awesome song or skit or decorations or SOMETHING. This year's theme is, in a nutshell, Ask In Faith (based on James 3:5), and a remarkably short brain-storming sessions with the girls led to the (I believe) FANTASTIC idea of Wonder Woman. She has her lasso of truth and her wristbands of justice, and her name is WONDER... and when we wonder, we can ask in faith! Seriously, PERFECTION. The Go-All-Out portion is to have Wonder Woman t-shirts they can wear for New Beginnings, then also wear for their upcoming volleyball season. There were absolutely no cheap WW shirts to be had in stores or online (we have 22 girls/leaders, so we need CHEAP), so our Prez suggested ordering custom ones... which is SILK SCREENING. I thought, "Wait a minute... I've been hemming and hawing over this idea for months now, perhaps it's time to bite the bullet and TRY IT." So I offered to put together a prototype shirt (yipes!), then ordered a screen, squeegee, and paints from Amazon (all by Speedball, the same company the Museum suggested). I figured if the shirts didn't work out I would still have all the materials for a party for Patrick, because his party doesn't need perfect results, and if the Children's Museum can do it with children, so can I!
I gathered my materials and a new and cheap shirt ($2.75 at Hobby Lobby), and wished myself luck. I cut out two shapes, using my now-used-for-everything Silhouette Cameo, and did the base color a solid black, then let that dry for a day. The next day I used me second shape for the resistance where I wanted black to show through, and used yellow paint. And YOU GUYS.... it turned out SOOOO AWESOME!!!
Not PERFECT, per say, but pretty dang close. And all things considered, it was my first try at screen printing and the finished product cost roughly $3! I was ecstatic, and took the shirt to show the other leaders and girls, who are also pretty excited. So I agreed to undertake the project (I already have the materials!) and bought a crap ton more t-shirts, so I will be working on that next week... because THIS week I am pulling together the stuff for Patrick's screen printing party on Friday AND I'm printing numbers on jerseys. I had showed Joe my awesome screening skills, so when the ward men's basketball team got new jerseys without any numbers, he suggested I might be available (I AM because if you compliment me I will shower you with that compliment forever. You like my cooking? I will randomly bake you goodies for the rest of your life.)
So now I have hurdled an intimidating new craft, and I can't wait to see all the shirts that get made this month! It's going to be craaaaaaazy around the Jacobs house for a hot minute.
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