Father’s Day Gift Idea Countdown #1: “I’ll Always Have your Back” Massage Shirt

As a play-off of the trending car back scratch shirt, I made this back-walking shirt! Not only can you sport your little one’s footprints and handprint (which will be great to have in the future), but you also have a cute little saying curving around the footprints: “Dad, I’ll always have your back!”

What you need:

-Paintbrush

-Paint (2-3 colors): non-toxic Acrylic or fabric paint

-Child: any kid with semi-small feet will do

Here’s how you do it:

1) Either buy a plain white shirt, or find one in your husband’s closet. You can even use the back of a shirt of his that you don’t like… that way, he might not wear it in public anymore. 😉

2) Lay it out flat with a piece of cardboard inside it. Since I like to do the least amount of work possible to get the job done, I used a large pad of paper that was stiff enough to create a flat surface and also to protect the front of the shirt from the paint.

3) I placed a pattern of footprints up the center of the shirt, and two on either side to show the little one where he or she should walk on the back (notice, the two red footprints on this side are a little too far down. Take note of that, and ensure yours are only a few inches from the center line of footprints.

You can make the footprints in two different ways:

a) Dip your little one’s feet in paint and press the foot down where you want it. Do one foot at a time, washing the paint off in between, and ensure there aren’t any globs on his/her feet. If you have access to another adult, it might be helpful to have them hold the child up while you place the foot down.

     b) The easy way (which I did on this shirt) is to put your hand in a fist, dip the pinky side in the paint (paint will cover the curled pinky and the side of the hand), and make a print on the shirt like that. You can then dip your ring finger and pinky in the paint to do the toes. I used my ring finger for the first two toes and the pinky for the last three (trying to make them smaller and smaller as you go). Even hastily, this turns out pretty well!) This keeps things cleaner and still has nearly the same effect! I did all right feet (with my right hand) first, and then all left feet, washing my hands in between.

4) Dip your little one’s hand in paint and have them place it upside-down at the top of the shirt (for the “A” in “DAD”).

5) Use paint and a paint brush to make the “D”s for “DAD”.

6) Write “I’ll always have your back!” alongside the center line of footprints.