DIY 4th of July T-Shirt: The Perfect Summer Craft for Kids

Let your kids design and create their own USA  shirt for the 4th of July!

Making 4th of July T-shirts is one of our favorite summer activities. This year we used star and letter stickers as stencils to create these one-of-a-kind shirts.

Add DIY 4th of July Shirts to your Summer bucket list 

Grab a few large star sticker sheets and host a craft day with friends. I had my friend Jacki from Hit the Road Jacki Etsy shop cut out some sticker sets for me. She has so many cute things in her shop and loves custom orders. These star stickers on Amazon would also work.

How to make your own Independence Day Shirt

Step 1

Let your kids peel off the stencil stickers and stick them to the shirt. They can reposition them if needed until they get the look they want. Make sure all the stickers are pushed down well. 

What kid doesn’t love peeling and sticking stickers!

Step 2

When you are done with the stars sticker sheet you can use the sticker backing paper to act as a barrier so the paint doesn't soak through to the back. Just slide it inside the shirt. Depending on the size of the shirt, you may want to add another piece of thick paper or thin cardboard depending to the inside. Cereal box cardboard works great here!

Step 3

Take the brush and dab the paint around each sticker. Depending on how old your child is, he may need a little help with the painting. 

Our little crew wanted to paint  on top of each sticker at first. Anything goes with this type of craft but make sure you surround each shape with paint and fill in some of the extra white space.  It will look so messy but that’s ok! When you peel off the stickers it will look amazing. We pretended to make firework explode as we dabbed our colors. 

Keeping one paintbrush designated for the red and one for the blue will help keep the colors from mixing too much. 

Step 4

Let the paint dry for a couple of hours and then let the kids peel off the stickers.

Peeling off the stickers is just as fun as sticking them on. Listen to the oohs and aahs as they reveal the white stars and letters underneath. They will be so excited that they made one. Crafting is a big confidence builder. 

That was fun!! I hope you’ll try making your own 4th of July shirts at your house for a fun Summer craft. 

And check out the Hit the Road Jacki Etsy shop for more fun summer craft kits, and custom drink koozies, tumblers, and mugs.