My Kind of Craft: Last-Minute, Fun, and Easy

I am not a craft-y mom. I didn't become a Girl Scout leader until my daughter and her friends were far out of the craft-making stage and were interested in sticking it out because of the service you can do. I do not comb Marthastewart.com looking for the latest crafts to try. Not because I don't enjoy it; it's just not tops on my list of things to do.

So I'm writing this because I'm pretty pleased about a last-minute craft I helped my 10-year-old and her four "Battle of the Books" teammates accomplish the day before they face off against other book-reading teams over the details of 15 books they've been reading throughout the year. They have been talking about making T-shirts with their team name, chosen in honor of the amazing second grade teacher they each had and remember with lots of love. They had many grand ideas, of course, but with time short, another friend and I decided a quick trip to the craft store would have to do the trick.

There, I found Wilton easyimage fabric transfers made by the cake decorating company. After school, the girls went onto wiltoneasyimage.com, chose to create their own design, and within minutes (after some spirited disagreements and compromise) came up with the design. We printed it out on the transfers, one by one, then ironed them onto T-shirts. Unique, and even better on a day filled with lots of homework and a jazz ensemble performance, simple.

The Wilton site has lots of templates to choose for all kinds of events and occasions. You can also print photos onto them. So if you're short on Father's Day gift ideas, it's something the kids can do pretty easily. The five transfers cost $9.99, and the T-shirts were on sale for 2 for $5, so it's an affordable, creative last-minute gift, too.