shirt painting at 5 year old birthday party in West London -- any recommendations?

[eleusis]

I nedd an activity that doesn't cost an arm and a leg for DD's fifth birthday party, which will be in or near Twickenham. Can anyone recommend where I might find someone show up with t-shirts, paints, and stencils??? I have a venue.

isn't this the sort of thing you could do yourself for a lot less money? dd has been to her fair share of parties (she's 6) and I've not heard of anyone doing this

you could look through the back pages of Junior or some of the other parenting magazines, they have lots of adverts for party organizers

here this site has loads of diy kits, and i'm sure you'll find something appropriate.

Imo, it's much nicer to organise these things yourself

You are brilliant. Keeping the costs down is of course always a good idea.

I like the shirts and paints on that site. And prices are much better than child's party entertainers that cost a bloody fortune. I called one yesterday and her fee was £170. I almost dropped the phone.

So, this looks cool, now I wonder where I could find some stencils for the not so artistically gifted 4 and 5 year olds???

I personally wouldn't offer stensils. Just let them be as artistic as they can be, but remember you'll need to make sure there is a piece of paper/card inside the t-shirt or the colours will bleed through to the back aswell.

Good luck, and hope the day is lots of fun

Instead of stencils why don't make some stanpers - stars, circles, other shapes,etc - you can cut them out of pieces of sponge.

I was thinking stencils because those who are not so artistically inclined can still make nice pictures.

But your cut out sponge idea is good. I might try that.

Get fabric pens rather than paint.
Put card on the inside of the shirts to stop the colour bleeding through to the back of the shirt
Even DD's (2) scribbles on a t shirt looked like a work of art when I drew a black line round it as a frame!

Okay, so the general concensus is that a bunch of 4 and 5 year old boys and girls could just be set loose with pens/crayons and shirts with card inside them and voila... party activity complete????

Get them to plan it on paper first and you double the activity time

M&S still sell white t-shirts in packs of 2 or 3

go to BakerRoss for pens and paints

I would say though, having painted t-shirts myself and letting my children do it that it could be a nightmare with too many kids .. the paints are quite tricky to use for little ones (I've done it with 3 kids maximum) .. I'd consider just using the Berol pen sets if I were you

Personally I'd do 'decorate gingerbread' instead (colourful icing, lots of bits, homemade or shop bought) easy peasy

just saw link .. good price for the berol pen sets

Thanks everyone for your ideas. Don't suppose anyone can point me to some some reasonably priced shirts?

I looked on the link below but they say they are out of stock.