Bringing the Outdoors In

Bringing the Outdoors In


I hear parents talking about getting kids outside and away from screens–a lot! When Sophia and Zia were little, we used to go on photo walks. I gave them each an old digital camera to snap pics with, and every once in a while, I'd use one of those photo-book-making apps to have some of those incredible kid-view photos memorialized for life.🙂

Once Picture This Clothing became a part of our lives, we explored ways to memorialize our outdoor experiences in a new way!

This is a great activity for any age but a great way to keep little ones curious and engaged outdoors and in!

STEP 1: Gather Materials

I didn't go far for this project; I stepped into our own backyard.

We don't have a lot of colorful plants. It's mostly greenery around our pond and some drought-tolerant ground cover that sprouts tiny purple and yellow flowers, which are perfect for this project! The miniature "bouquets" will scale up really nicely on a life-sized dress or t-shirt.

  • Explore outside and collect anything that seems interesting

  • Print dress and/or t-shirt templates in the size of your choice from PictureThisClothing.com

  • (Optional) Smartphone to document the process and take a pic of your finished masterpiece

STEP 2: Design

This is where exploration and play come in! There is no wrong way to do this.

I always encourage folks to “design the white away.” I left some whitespace for this design, and I’m curious to see how it works out.

I played with layering and lines, then dropped my miniature bouquets on top for little bits of color.

Remember, anything inside the gray outline gets printed; anything on or outside the gray outline will not be printed. Some little designers care about this a lot, others not so much.

STEP 3: Take a Photo

My design covers the "Designed By" signature line, so I didn’t do a custom signature. This means when I upload it to the Picture This Clothing website, a default typeface will be printed for the designer name that gets entered during checkout.

Tips for taking a great photo:

  • Make sure your hand isn’t casting a shadow on the artwork

  • Aim for nice, even lighting

  • Get as close as possible to the artwork without cropping off the signature line (and make sure the artist signs their name to the “Designed by” line, it gets printed in the hem!)

Step 4: Upload to PictureThisClothing.com

Your design will be printed, cut, sewn, and shipped to you, ready to wear!
Here's my design printed as Kids size 2T dress.

If you loved this activity, please share it with friends!
If you have questions or ideas you’d like to see me try, leave a comment!

Thanks, folks!

–Jaimee

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