Nerdsanity

After teasing us for years with superhero movie after superhero movie, The Avengers is coming out tonight at midnight. Last night, I tried to distract myself from my impatience by making myself a shirt to wear to my first viewing. You can do it too! All you need is bleach, a spray bottle, contact paper, and a dark-colored shirt. (Or pants, if you wish.)

I got see-through contact paper so I could see the design underneath while I used an Xacto knife to cut away where the bleach would go.

I blew up a SHIELD (Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, or, depending on whom you ask, Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) logo I found online. After cutting out the entire design, I took off the paper backing and stuck the contact paper on top of the shirt. I slipped a few sheets of newspaper inside the shirt to keep the bleach from getting on the back side of the shirt.

I spritzed bleach on the shirt and dabbed at it with a paper towel to keep the bleach from spreading through the fabric and under the contact paper.

I put cardboard around the contact paper to keep the bleach away from the fabric. I repeated the spritzing and dabbing twice more.

After the front dried, I flipped the shirt over and repeated the process and put another design on the back.

I was a little overzealous with the bleach here, and the stars got a little obscured because I put too much bleach and it bled into the fabric.

Final product was more red than bleached-out tan, but I like it. I'm happy with the result, and it really didn't take a lot of time. If you do it yourself, be patient and it will turn out well.

Not enough nerd for you? Here's a bonus: LEGO is coming out with an Avengers series. Sadly, the average play set is around $20, and since I can get about four meals for the same price and I have to prioritize, I'll only be lusting after these sets from afar.

But the posters are awesome.