Sandpaper Printed T-shirt
by Cindy Hopper
This is a super simple sandpaper printing technique that will keep your kids busy and make one cute shirt! The best part about this fun little craft is that the supplies were bought at the Dollar Store, even the T-shirt! We used crayons we already had so we only spent $2.00 on our new T-shirt.
Supplies for Sandpaper Prints
good quality crayons, a t-shirt, iron and fine sand paper. Our package of sandpaper had a selection and we used the finest. The more coarse sandpaper will provide more texture. Give them all a try! 
Color a fun design on the sandpaper. Remind children that the image will be reversed. Once the design is colored go back over the design giving the sandpaper an extra thick layer of crayon.
Place a piece of cardboard inside the t-shirt to keep the design from bleeding through to the back of the shirt. Position the sandpaper right side down on the t-shirt.
Place a piece of parchment paper or paper towel on top of the sandpaper to protect the iron. Iron, on cotton setting, the sandpaper for about 30 second. Gently lift one edge and make sure you have a good print before totally removing the sandpaper. Iron a bit more if you need to transfer more of the crayon.
Remove the sandpaper. You’ll have a print with loads of cool texture–not to mention a new darling t-shirt. To set the color, place a couple of paper towels on top of the design and iron. This will remove some of the extra wax. Toss t-shirt in the dryer for about 20 minutes to set the color. Launder by itself the first time.
About the author
Skiptomylou.org
Cindy's personal blog, Skip to My Lou, has taken her love of a project to new levels. Postings keep the family busy -– from testing new recipes for holiday treats to designing and building floats for a neighborhood parade to making fabric rolls to hold crayons to creating themed parties. Cindy seems to have an unending supply of ideas for gifts, parties and rainy days.
91 Responses to “Sandpaper Printed T-shirt”
Every now and then I come across a post worth sharing… THIS IS THE ONE. Such a cool idea!
Yes, I must agree….this project was simple, effortless and instant. Perfect!
bookmarked for the future and emailed to my sister – this is a great craft!
I loved this! It’s so cool, so many ideas to do! I can’t wait to do this with my kids!
hey i have the same name as you
great idea i want to try! is there another way to set the color if i don’t have a dryer?
Perhaps a blow dryer set on the highest setting, do for about 20 min.
What a neat idea! I’ll definitely try that with my kids.
Great project. I just tried it today to make some Alice in Wonderland themed t-shirts for my daughter’s birthday coming up, and they turned out nice!
The only problem I had was once I threw the Mad Hatter t-shirt in the dryer to set, the colors ran and ruined the rest of the shirt, so I’ll be skipping that step for the rest of them.
Do you think placing cardboard in the shirt then put the shirts on cookie sheets in a NOT TOO HOT oven would be a good substitute for the tumbling dryer?