Numbers and Crafts

My brother and I are a year and ten days apart. When I turned 5 and him 6 (or perhaps it was 4 and 5) my parents made these tee shirts for us at a store in our mall. They were silk screened a big number "5" for me and a "6" for him and on the back in all capitals was each of our names. It was a baseball type tee with the 3/4 sleeves. They were cute. The following year, when I turned 6, my parents took the shirt into the mall, had my brother's name crossed off and my name silk screened on below. I remember this clearly. I think my parents thought it was "cute". Not that it wasn't cute, but I don't remember wearing that shirt too much.

When Charlotte was turning "1" I made her a cute little onesie. I cut out a stencil using the computer of a "1" and spray-painted it with fabric paint. It didn't turn out great, but looking back at the pictures the onesie (and our little 12 month old Charlotte) it was pretty darn cute.

I made a photo book documenting Charlotte's first birthday and having just turned 3, she's really been enjoying this book about turning "1". Two weeks ago she was making quite the raucous in her room and I went upstairs to find out why she wasn't napping. She told me, "I'm trying to find my ONE shirt!!!" It took me a little while to figure out exactly what she was looking for. She said, "I want to wear it!"

A couple days later I dug the onesie out of her special keepsakes box and showed it to her. She was excited but realized that it definitely wouldn't fit. I told her we would make a special shirt that had a "3" on it!

A childhood friend of mine, Mike, has an awesome blog. In addition to being a great writer, he's quite crafty. He documented on his blog (and on a local television show) how to use cute fabric and make fun shirts. This would work perfectly for Charlotte's "3" shirt! And if they really truly are that easy... let's make one for cousin Jessalyn's birthday! She's having her 4th Birthday party next weekend.

They turned out really, really cute! We didn't go to the greatest fabric store and were limited in cute patterns. I will find a store around Sacramento that has some more unique stuff. And I truly wish I could sew and put a more finished look to the shirts.
It really is as easy as he says (possibly easier). Charlotte had a blast helping me, too! I think we are going to have a lot of fun with this new crafty idea. Baby sister need something made by mommy next. Perhaps we will be asking Santa for a sewing machine?