Crab Shirts

Oh mothering.  Such a joy and such a hard thing some days, am I right?  Sometimes at the end of the day, I am spent.  And poor Superman comes home {usually spent too} from work and I'm like, "Here.  I have a present for you.  It's a crying baby. And another.  And another."  Poor guy.  Poor Me.  {insert eye-roll} And poor kids.  Sometimes I think we forget that kids have bad days too.  Some days they just wake up cranky.  Just like me. :) 

When I was little and we were cranky, my Dad used to hold out his hand and say, "Give me your grumps."  And we'd have to put our grumps in his hand while he threw them out the window or tried to swallow them.  Of course, he did it in a silly way that would make us giggle.  I'd always try to stay mad, but it never worked.  I love that memory.  

So now when my kids are in that cantankerous mood, Superman and I call them "crabs."  And we get out our "pinchers" and warn them that the crabs are coming.  And then we tickle until they laugh their "crabs" away.  

So as a joke, I painted these little crab on shirts for my kids.  Crabs for my crabs, if you will.  :)

Just the same old freezer paper stencil.  I printed out a crab image, traced it and cut it with an exact-o knife.  

Then ironed it to the shirt, shiny side down.  

Next I put a layer of cardboard in between the front and the back of the shirt and painted away.  {I used a bit of tape for Ezra's to make it a little more "boyish"}  Oh, and I did one layer for the black and I needed two for the silver.

Then I let it dry and peeled off the freezer paper.

And ironed it with a piece of fabric over it to set in the paint.  

All done!

And now my little crabs can wear their crab shirts.  

Or drool on them if need be.  

{It was impossible to get Ezra to hold still for a shot of his shirt.  You see it in the blur, right?}   

I just wish the shirts could really cure them of the crabs.  Wouldn't that be nice?  Oh well.  We'll work on it.  :)

Hope you're having a very uncrabbified day!