Just about every time I work on a new batch of T-shirts, my son Q, who is nearly three and a half, places an order. First, it was a purple dump truck. Easy enough. Then, it was a gray cat. Yep, I can do that.
Now, I don’t know what he’s thinking: he wants a Mars rover T-shirt. Luckily, he wants it for his fifth birthday. I mean, I love a good challenge, but I’m glad I have a year and a half to work on that rover! (For birthday No. 4, he wants a rocket. Pink, I think.)
My son is the reason I started my business, Peace, Baby! Batiks. I am a stay-at-home mom, and I adore it, and I want to be able to stay home after my son starts kindergarten in a couple of years. I want to remain flexible for my family for holidays and vacations and sick days. So, I get up early to melt the wax I use to make my designs, and I cram as much work as I can into naptime/quiet time each day. I drag my poor kid to the post office to mail packages. He’s started to ask, “Do we have to go in?” Thanks to buying postage on PayPal, most times I can say no.
At craft fairs and markets, Q is my best billboard. My husband always makes sure they’re both wearing one of my batik tees when they come to see me. My son will sit behind my table and smile at passersby. He’ll browse my inventory and pick out things he likes, often placing more orders for shirts he wants. Then, he’ll take Dad’s hand and go do a little shopping. (That’s my boy buying handmade!)
And, he’s my guinea pig. He gets all the prototype shirts when I am trying out a new design or color combination. The advantage to this? He’s got a batik shirt for just about every day of the week. Great for marketing!
Q is the original peace baby, and he’s the inspiration and driving force behind Peace, Baby! Batiks.
I used two under bed storage bins, filled them 1/3 full with warm tap water, had a plastic watering can for each child, plastic cups in different sizes and measuring cups. If your kitchen isn't fully tiled like mine, consider setting this up in another location with a tile, cement or linoleum floor that can withstand getting wet. Even the garage would work in some climates. Just be sure you choose a safe location and monitor the amount of water on the floor so children can safely move around without getting hurt. 
Since I was doing this a preschool activity, I needed the kids to make it home somewhat dry, I used plastic store bags to make 'smocks' for each of them. I flattened out the bag and cut out a shallow C shape from the middle of the bottom 'seam' of the bag to make an neck opening. Leave 3 inches of the seam on both ends, these will be the shoulders of the smock. Next cut open both sides of the plastic bag all the way to the bottom seam. Snip the handles apart to create ties. This should resemble something like a scrimmage jersey.
These kids played with this set up for a 30-45 minutes, with no sign of getting bored.
