DIY recycled t-shirt wall art

I graduated from High School in 1989.

That puts me at 45 today, and while some things have changed so much, my love of rock t-shirts, all things Stevie Nicks, and dreams of travelling Europe with a backpack and train pass have never changed.

I grew up on a small working farm, raised by my organic-gardening grandparents while my mom sorted fruit for a local orchard.

On sunny days you could find my running between the fruit trees and when the weather was cold, pouring over my mom’s impressive collection of records and deciding if I needed to sew a new halter top.

Years have passed and I think I still have her first Beatles record in my own collection buried between some New Order and the Doors.

Somewhere in my teens a love of thrifting and upcycling emerged, and I suppose some might say hoarding.  I have however purged collected items many times over, keeping a core group of treasures that I am sure I could not live without.  So we will not call it hoarding but curating a collection of things that bring us joy.

Yes, that sounds so much better.

Recently while trolling through my local Goodwill I came across a navy tank top that had an embroidery skull that caught my eye.

I would totally wear this, probably with a blazer and lots of bracelet, jeans and leather riding boots.  But this pretty tank top was not destined to sit in a Goodwill any longer, or be worn.  She was going to be the first DIY for my home office refresh (desperately needed might I add, it’s been a gaming room with a sad couch for TOO long.)

I looked around to see if I had an old frame or something about the right size to turn this into a t-shirt/wrapped canvas for the office wall.  I found a little painting that has been here and there, part of a gallery wall, and sometimes leaning against a wall waiting to be discovered again and re-used.

 

It was the perfect size, here we go.

I fired up my glue gun and busted out my fabric-only scissors and trimmed around the canvas, centering the design where I wanted it to fall on the front, gluing and lightly stretching the fabric as I went.

 

I LOVE projects like this, re-cycled art that cost very little and is EXACTLY what I wanted for a spot that I am working on.

And it’s done!

What kinds of things have you used t-shirts for? It seems like the possibilities are endless between necklaces, fashion,art, rag rugs, so many cool ways to use a loved shirt that still has a little life in it.

Thank you so much for reading friend!

 

Love you bunches,

xo, Tanya

       

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