DIY Massage Shirt of Dad’s Favorites

With Father’s Day approaching, I’ve been thinking long and hard on what to create that would make a fun gift for dad to enjoy with the boys. After being inspired by this awesome massage shirt, I decided a similar craft would make a great Father’s day gift idea, but with a personal twist: I would include all of dad’s favorite things on the shirt.

Dad could then relieve muscle tension as cars roll up and down his back and get an awesome keepsake to remember a few of his favorite things.

To start, I made sure I got the okay to use one of his white t-shirts and gathered a large sheet of drawing paper and these specific sharpies that work well on various surfaces including fabrics. (affiliate link)

I used a dark marker to draw out a large road by freehand on a sheet of paper and then inserted the paper inside the shirt to trace — it also helped to prevent bleeding onto the other side a bit.

It was a bit challenging getting a straight line on the fabric since you need to press down and release the markers as you work. So I just went with it and used a dot pattern to achieve the roadmap.

Once the track was all set, I decided to improvise and sketch out dad’s favorites, again by freehand – adding stops along the road that daddy loves: a morning coffee and donut, dino land, the beach house and his beloved dog we’ll never forget. I thought adding a few personal touches like this, would make the gift super special and memorable!

Lastly, I added in my kid’s handprint as a cute add-on (but mostly so dad could direct them to place a hand wherever he needed a rub lol). Think: Touch the pink #1 — win-win!

I was thrilled on how it all turned out, despite my artistic abilities (hehe!) but I am so excited to let him try out the shirt this weekend and unwind a little this Father’s Day!

If you aren’t so artistically inclined — don’t stress, just create simply shapes and patterns or better yet, try some fun stencils to perfect the look!