Freezer Paper Triceratops

So I had this purple t-shirt that I never wore. Seemed like as good a time as any to jump on the freezer paper stencil bandwagon.

Because everyone's favorite herbivorous dinosaur is just the thing to brighten up your forgotten fashions, I downloaded some black and white triceratops images from Microsoft clip art.

(And don't even tell me that the brontosaurus is your favorite herbivorous dinosaur, because they aren't brontosauruses any more, they are apatosauruses and that still doesn't sound like Sarah. so there.)

If you aren't familiar with freezer paper stencils, check out craftster or the handy tutorial from angry chicken. Basically, freezer paper (not to be confused with wax paper, but the handy stuff on the next shelf with a paper side and a plastic-y side) can be stuck to fabric using a hot, dry iron. Cut a fancy hole in the middle before you stick it down and voila - stencil!

Which brings us back to my triceratops. I printed it out and transferred the image to the freezer paper. If you don't have carbon paper (which I never do), you can fake it by shading all over the back of the image in pencil. Fill it in pretty heavily so that all of the edges are covered. Flip your scribbles over so that you see the nice image side and position it on your freezer paper. Now if you press firmly as you trace the design, the picture will transfer onto the freezer paper. Not perfect, but you get a clear enough outline so that you can cut out your stencil.

An exacto knife would be ideal for a project like this, but I tend to just use scissors. If your stencil isn't too finicky, they work fine.

Once your stencil is cut out, you can position it on your shirt or whatever else you have decided to paint. Press it with a hot, dry iron and it will adhere to the fabric. Since freezer paper is cheap and I had a giant roll, I took angry chicken's suggestion and ironed a second piece of paper to the inside of the shirt so that the paint couldn't bleed through.

Dab on the fabric paint of your choice. I used Tulip Soft brush-on fabric paint because it was the cheapest kind that wasn't "dimensional" at the store. ("Dimensional" aka the "Puffy Paint" we used to decorate shirts with at birthday parties in middle school. blech)

Let it dry and start fishing for compliments on your fabulous new dinosaur shirt. (If dinosaurs aren't your thing, there is a flikr group devoted to freezer paper stencils where you can get inspiration. Check it out here)