Handprint Tee for Grandpa – Father’s Day Gift Idea

Handprint Tee for Grandpa! If you’ve been a long-time reader, you’ll know that I’m weak for Handprint TShirts for Father’s Day – they’re great for dads and grandpas.  Today I’ve got the FREE cut file for this Grandpa version, wahoo!!  Because yes, Grandpa deserves a pat on the back 😉

It’s a fun craft to pull together, fun for Grandpa to get, and even for the kiddos because they get to paint their hand 😉

And YES, there’s a free cut file – I knew you’d want it 😉  So let’s dive right in!

Handprint Tee for Grandpa

You’ll need:

—blank tshirt

–Grandpa Cut File – enter your email below to get the FREE cut file!

—Heat Transfer Vinyl – I buy all mine at Expressions Vinyl, I love them! Super fast shipping and great customer service!

—Silhouette Cutting Machine

–Craft Paint in desired color

—Fabric Medium (to mix with the craft paint – makes it into fabric paint!)

Heat Transfer Vinyl

If you have never used Heat Transfer Vinyl before, I have a whole video, all about how to use heat transfer vinyl HERE.

Download the free file (in the box lower down on this post) and use your Silhouette machine to cut it out.  Remember a few things with heat transfer vinyl:

–the image must be MIRRORED – flip it horizontally.  This is because with HTV you cut it from the backside, so upside down.  So the image needs to be reversed.

–vinyl is placed onto the cutting mat shiny side DOWN.  The shiny side is the carrier sheet.  It is thick and clear.  The vinyl is the color (here I used white).  You want to cut through the vinyl side, so the vinyl needs to be up which means the shiny side is down.

Next up you’re going to “weed your vinyl” – all that means is to pull out all the stuff you don’t want.  The background, the inside of your letters, etc.  There are special wedding tools, but I prefer just a regular ole straight pin.

Once you have it ready to go, you’ll place it onto the front of the tee and iron it on.  Yes, I have a heat press, and it’s awesome, but when I’m just doing a single project, I prefer to just get out my regular home iron.

It is more of a “press” and less of an “iron”, and you’ll want to press longer than you think you should, maybe 30 seconds (which is long when you’re doing it!)

When you’ve pressed on the vinyl, you can peel back the clear carrier sheet and your vinyl should be nice and adhered to your shirt.

Handprints on a tee

Now, moving on to the second phase of this project – the handprints!  Here’s how to put handprints on a tshirt.  You’ll want to mix your craft paint and fabric medium, 2 parts paint to one part fabric medium.

Once mixed, use a foam brush to spread the paint onto the child’s hand. A nice, thick coat of paint will help it transfer better.

Then you’ll just press their hand firmly onto the back of the tshirt.  You’ll want something in between the layers so the paint doesn’t bleed through – I used a disposable plate:

Once the paint on the tshirt is dry, you’ll want to iron it to heat set the paint.  I used the discarded carrier sheet from the vinyl design to protect the paint and then ironed. You can also use a scrap piece of fabric, etc.

And that’s all there is to it!  All those grandkids displayed proudly on the Handprint Tee for Grandpa:

Granpda Handprint Tee FREE Cut File

To get the free cut file, enter your email into the box below:

So fun, right?!

Father’s Day Crafts Ideas

Enjoy making your Handprint Tee for Grandpa!  If you love crafts to make  for Father’s Day, you’ll definitely want to check out these:

Custom Photo Keychain

Glass Etch Frame for Dad

Collage Pictures For Dad