Sunday, February 12, 2012

T-shirts, Shmeshirts...

Matt LOVES t-shirts, see...


He does not discriminate either.  Whether it is a t-shirt he picks out himself from a merch table at a concert, or one that comes free with a credit card application (this happened at a Reds game, he applied just for the shirt!), he loves it just the same.  Why am I telling you this?  Because his love of t-shirts is so strong that he never wants to get rid of them.  They can be riddled with holes and he is just as happy to wear them as when the shirt was brand new.  Early on in our marriage I threw out an old t-shirt three times.  The same shirt.  I thought I was going crazy and that I just thought about getting rid of the shirt.  No, Matt had dug it out of the trash each time.  By the way, he STILL has that shirt, almost seven years later.  It now serves as a sleevless undershirt. 

So what is a girl to do?  Let my hubs go along wearing ratty shirts, or throw them away and break his cotton t-shirt loving heart?  Neither!  I sneakily started hoarding Matt's favorite shirts that were well beyond their wear and was planning a craft for them.  I have seen so many t-shirt quilts (like this one) that I had pretty well decided on that as a gift for him.  I was going to need a lot of t-shirts and I was okay with that as he has many to spare.  Also great was the fact that Matt didn't seem to be missing the shirts that I was putting aside, bonus!  It looked like my surprise was going to work!  Then I had an idea...(an awful idea, a wonderful awful idea, sorry...I love the Grinch).  I would frame some of the shirts instead. 

I was looking for something to group with this canvas in our master.


I picked it up from Kirkland's for something like $3.  Matt loves architecture almost as much as t-shirts, so this seemed perfect for him.  The canvas stood alone for months and after I finished the frame wall on the other side of the room I was dying to add something for balance on Matt's side. The t-shirts proved to be just the ticket.  I had some black frames on hand and along with the t-shirts, this craft technically cost me nothing.  There are not a lot of steps to this project...

1. I started out with empty frames
2. Then I cut out the logos I wanted to frame
3. I arranged them in the frame (which takes me foooorrrrreeeeeeeevvvveeerrrr.  It always looks straight and then I put the back of the frame on and it's crooked).

And here you go...




He loves them!  These two shirts have a special meaning for Matt which is why I saved them from being rags.  The top picture is a shirt from the concert he went to for his bachelor party a few days before we got married.  He and a bunch of guys piled in his car and went to see one of his favorite bands, The Ataris.  The bottom picture is a shirt he picked up at Wal-mart while we were visiting his grandparents in Kentucky.  Where his grandparents live there used to be a Wal-mart and that was all, so you if you needed anything while visiting that is where you went.  He thought the shirt was so cool and bought it just so he would have a piece of his grandparents here in Ohio. 

I'd love to hear what you all think!  We love them, and the idea that we can switch out shirts or prints for a different look or be "themey" if I want. 

Happy Sunday!

4 comments:

  1. I LOVE what you did! It looks great. Kevin somehow accumulates so many t-shirts we have to take a bag to the Salvation Army or somewhere about twice a year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! That is so funny about Kevin, I wish I could haul off shirts that often!

      Delete
  2. Love it Mary!!!! :)

    ReplyDelete

If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment or join this site for even more DIY and home related posts!