When you’re at Disney you’ll see many different kinds of personalized shirts. This DIY Bleached Mickey Mouse Shirt is fun to make, inexpensive, and uniquely different from many others you’ll see while at the parks.
We’re headed to Disney World soon and the last couple of weeks I’ve been busy giving the kids hints about our upcoming trip. (They know we’re going somewhere, just not sure where.)
I started with these adorable Mickey Mouse Oreo Pops, made some super sweet Mickey Mouse Candy Bark, started collecting snacks to pack for Disney World, and even made an assortment of Disney-themed shirts. One of the easiest shirts I’ve made so far is this DIY Bleached Mickey Mouse shirt.
Homemade Mickey Mouse Shirts
And you know what, they still haven’t figured out that we’re going to Disney World. {insert evil laugh here…}
Cotton Comfort Crew Neck TeesGet it now!Reynolds Freezer PaperGet it now!Empty Spray BottleGet it now!Easy Steam Compact IronGet it now!Clorox HE BleachGet it now!
Each of my children have a Disney-themed shirt for each day of our trip. For this DIY Bleached Mickey Mouse shirt, I bought basic colored shirts at a local craft store. If you time it right, you can sometimes find them for as little as $2 a piece at Michael’s. I like to stock up at that price, especially when I know I’m going to be making Mickey Mouse family shirts for vacation.
For my boys I bought blue, and for my daughter I bought purple. I like choosing bright colors so that they are easier to spot in a crowd. I like the way the purple turned out, more than the blue. But don’t tell my boys.
DIY Bleached Mickey Mouse Shirt Tutorial
Supplies
- Mickey Mouse template
- scissors
- pencil
- shirt
- freezer paper
- watered down bleach (one part bleach & one part water)
- spray bottle
- piece of cardboard
- iron
How to Make a Mickey Mouse Family Shirt
Begin by printing out the Mickey Mouse template. Put the template under the freezer paper and trace around it with a pencil. Cut out the freezer paper Mickey Mouse and with a hot iron, iron it on to the shirt, shiny side down. Make sure the edges are ironed down completely onto the shirt. If not you won’t get pretty, straight lines.
Mix the bleach mixture in the spray bottle; one part bleach and one part water. You won’t need that much so don’t go overboard.
Place a piece of cardboard or something similar inside the shirt so that the bleach doesn’t seep through to the back side of the shirt.
With the setting on the spray bottle set to a light mist, start spraying around the ironed on Mickey attached to the shirt. Don’t over-saturate the shirt or you might not get clean lines around the Mickey. I went fairly light on ours and love the way it turned out. Spray a little at a time and allow the bleach time to work before spraying more. It can be done in sessions so that you get the result you want.
Allow the bleach to dry and carefully peel off the freezer paper Mickey. Allow the bleach to dry for 24 hours and then launder like normal.
I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t absolutely love these! I’m in love with the way they turned out.
And the boys’ blue shirts are just as cute.
Don’t you think?
DIY Mickey Mouse Shirts
Obviously you could use any color shirt you wanted and I think it would turn out just as fabulous. The bleached areas on each color shirt will be different, which I think is another cool part of the DIY Bleached Mickey Mouse shirt.
Don’t forget to pin this tutorial so you can find it easily when you’re making your Disney shirts. If you’re not following me on Pinterest, follow me for other great Disney pins.
I can’t wait for the kids to wear these at Disney World! And you know me, I’ll be busy snapping up lots of photos!
Here are some more Mickey-inspired posts:
Mickey Mouse Oreo Pops
Mickey Mouse Candy Bark
Snacks to Pack for Disney World
Tiffany Cruz says
I love your tee-shirt idea. I’d love to make these for my kids and I. We are planning to go to Disney this fall. Thanks for sharing.
Ladena says
This is such a cool project! I didn’t think making a bleached shirt could be that easy. I see a fun summer project coming our way… thanks for the great tutorial!
Jeanette says
What a fun idea! I have never done something like that but the summer it’s going to happen because that looks like so much fun and it’s actually really pretty.
Jeanine says
What a really great idea. Super cute and really easy too. This would be a fun idea to do one warm afternoon!
Jeni Hawkins says
Oh my gosh! These are so cute! And I love how EASY it looks to make these shirts! What a fun product!
Mel says
These are super cute, I love the idea of making my own Mickey Mouse shirt. Loving this idea.
wendy says
This looks fun to make with the kids! I love these ideas! This will be great to do with the kids over the summer!
Sarah says
Wow, what a cool idea! I could see doing this with all sorts of different patterns. I’m going to give this a try soon.
Kristi says
What a fun idea. We have been to Disney a couple of times and I love to see the families all dressed alike. Sure the main reason is to keep track of kids, but it’s a fun idea for photos too!
Scott says
We’ve done exactly this for our middle school! Printed out their logo and sprayed with a bleach solution. Results were fantastic!
Amy Desrosiers says
I LOVE this idea and want to get some cheap shirts to make my kids some! Great DIY!
Christine says
This is such a great idea and perfect timing too! We have our own Disney trip planned in June and I’m thinking these would be a perfect gift for the kids on the first day of our adventure.
Lisa Bristol says
This is a fantastic idea. I will have to get the supplies i need to do this with the kids this weekend. There are so many cool ways you could use this.
diane says
that is really cute! Usually my bleach stains dont come out anywhere near as cute as that!
Marcie W. says
What a fun and fantastic idea for the perfect Disney shirt. I love that you can use any color combo you want.
Brandy says
This is such a great idea, It is so pretty and neat! Love how it looks perfectly like Mickey!
Ryan Escat says
My wife loved mickey mouse, she would love this amazing DIY for sure.
Olivia Douglass says
My son, Liam, loves Mickey Mouse! Thanks for sharing this fun DIY!!
Adelina Priddis says
I love how easy this is, and it turned out fantastic!!
Chelley @ A is for Adelaide says
I am obsessed with these shirts!!! My youngest is going to be 2 in September and I think these are going to be the cutest gift ideas for all the kids- she’s asking for a Mickey theme and we are SO going to deliver!
Lori Calder says
What is freezer paper and where do I get it?
From Canada
Crystal says
Hi Lori,
Here is a link for freezer paper from Amazon: http://amzn.to/2fn4XTJ. Let me know if you need anything else.
Mandy says
What other shirts did you make for Disney?
Crystal says
Hi Mandy,
I never got around to blogging about them but I made some character shirts using my Silhouette, and some more Mickey shirts using fabric cut-outs. They were all so cute!
Melissa says
Will they smell like bleach when you’re finished? What happens when you wash them?
Crystal says
Before you wash them they will smell like bleach. Just allow the bleach to dry completely before washing and the shirts will be fine.
Louise Fralie says
Do you have to use 100% cotton shirts or can they be cotton polyester?
Crystal says
Hi Louise,
Polyester doesn’t respond the same way to bleach as cotton does so I think I would stick with 100% cotton. IF you do try it, please come back and let us know how it works out with the cotton/polyester blend.
Marci says
I tried with a polyester shirt because it’s the only color I couldn’t find in cotton. It does not work on it!! I tried spraying fabric dye on it around the shape and washed it a day later, came right out.
Heather Trowbridge says
I know this is an older post, but I am getting ready for our trip. A couple quick questions: do you use the same size Mickey head for all of the shirts whether they are adult or child, and you need new freezer paper for each shirt, correct?
Crystal says
Hi Heather!
I used the same sized Mickey head for all of our shirts. My youngest was 8 though. If you have toddlers I would probably decrease the size just a bit. The great thing about this project is that there is no “perfect”. The imperfectness of these shirts make them so unique.
I hope you guys have a wonderful time on your Disney trip!
autrey justice says
I tried making this but left Mickey freezer paper on overnight peel next day and Mickey imprint wasn’t quite whole Mickey head and put something under shirt trash bag it still went through it to back and Mickey not quite imprint through back to