1. Feel like I’d offend people
2. Horrific color choices
3. Novelty would wear off after first use
4. Ugly T-Shirt
5. Shirt’s never available in my size

I also sometimes buy said shirts only to find out they fall into one of the aforementioned categories, leaving them sitting in my closet feeling neglected. Because I can’t get myself to buy art/decoration as it’s generally meaningless/expensive, I had an idea last fall to gallery wrap shirts, effectively turning them into prints.

While there are obvious questions as to the quality of the gallery wrapping t-shirts, I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome of my little experiment.

For only the cost of a $5 box frame (with tax- buyable at local arts/crafts store) and t-shirt, you can have a rather awesome piece of artwork.

Step 1: Get Materials

If you get a similar kind of box frame, I recommend keeping the cardboard support that comes with it. It provides holes for hanging, and more importantly, helps strech the “canvas”.

Step 2: Cut out front panel of shirt

I recommend centering the box frame underneath the shirt to figure out where to cut. Some shirts may not work well if the seams are visible.

Cut off the bottom so you have just enough cloth to work with.

Step 3: Tape the shirt to the box frame

Depending on where you want the folds of the shirt to be (I chose top/bottom), start taping the shirt to the frame with some heavy duty tape, keeping the shirt as tight and wrinkle free as possible.

Step 4: Put cardboard support back in

If you don’t have cardboard support, I suggest constructing something similar with cardboard, or just taping the shirt down. If you tape the shirt down directly, add another layer of canvas under the shirt to prevent light getting through.

And the finished product:

That’s it, and it takes about 15-20 minutes!

Some other box frames:

Actually these were pretty surprising. I was expecting good cookies, but these offered something more: a high Milk Dunkability Score (MDS). This isn’t as easy to earn as you might think. They won’t be keeping Oreos off my shopping list anytime soon, but they hold their share of milk while staying durable- and incredibly yummy.

5. The Platypus

Platypuses are actually pretty cool. They’re monotremes, semi-aquatic, and males shoot venom. Why are they on this list? Because they look ridiculous.

Honestly, if you’re questioning religion and don’t want to read The God Delusion, go see a platypus. They’re proof enough that God doesn’t exist, or that He/She is a raging stoner. They also support my theory that someone was backseat Creating:

God: Man, what if I put a duck and a beaver together?!?

Backseat Creater: *looks around* Yeah…. Don’t forget otter feet!

God: Oh man, I almost forgot otter feet… I think I’m missing something…

Backseat Creater: Venom. It creates venom.

God: Shit, I’m good… ooh, munchies…

4. The Manatee

You’re a cow… in water… Cheer up. Next.

3. Hairless Animals

Generally, you’re respectable animals, but I sincerely feel sorry for you and other animals like you. It’s not your fault.

2. The Sloth

Yeah, you’ve got some wicked claws and can hang upside down from trees, but I still feel sorry for you. At first I thought it was the ridiculously unnecessary elongated arms and the incessant crawling, but now I think its the pathetic haircut and smirk on your face. Seriously, get with the times.

Also, imagining the ground sloth (giant version and recently killed off with other megafauna) makes me shiver.

1. The Blobfish

What are you going to do today blobfish?

I’m going to float around and swallow whatever floats in front of me! What? Don’t judge me!!

It might not look special, and you can’t smell it, but it made my month. Excuse me while I try to find someone to pat me on the back.

So how do I subsist sans Oreos? It’s a trick question; I can’t live without them, so I must replicate them.

With the assistance of foodisluv, that’s what I did:

The cookies were obviously cakeier and larger, but while incredibly delicious in their own right, they are not Oreos: their Milk Dunkability Score (MDS) is quite low.

• wolfy13km @minatanaka @vsanghvi yeah, my entire library of smurf knowledge comes from that one donnie darko scene But I do own every TMNT episode about 3 hours ago from web in reply to minatanaka
• vsanghvi @minatanaka I too grew up on the Streets (of Sesame) and TMNT. However, I still found time to learn from the communistic Smurf universe. about 3 hours ago from web in reply to minatanaka
• minatanaka @vsanghvi @wolfy14km damn this is the kind of useful info you miss out on when you grow up on TMNT dubbed in japanese and PBS. about 3 hours ago from web
• vsanghvi @wolfy13km @minatanaka Oddly, they still do have romantic feelings, as every smurf fell in love with Smurfette, the sole female smurf. about 3 hours ago from web
• vsanghvi @wolfy13km @minatanaka Smurfs are in fact a-sexual (example: Smurfette was magically created from clay). about 3 hours ago from web in reply to wolfy13km
• wolfy13km @minatanaka remember sleeping through donnie darko? Donnie flips out as his friends and tells them that smurfs are asexual about 4 hours ago from web in reply to minatanaka
• minatanaka @wolfy13km i actually didn’t know smurfs were asexual…the smurf lifestyle sounds even more ideal than what i originally believed. about 4 hours ago from web
• minatanaka @wolfy13km anything you’ve got. also any 80s and 90s pop music would be appreciated. the more ridiculous the better. about 4 hours ago from web
• wolfy13km @minatanaka you do realize that the smurfs were a-sexual yes? just checking about 4 hours ago from web in reply to minatanaka
• minatanaka @vsanghvi that was my intention. i always tried to lead my life the way papa smurf would have approved of. about 5 hours ago from web in reply to vsanghvi
• vsanghvi @minatanaka So I realize your twitter pic is like all artistic and shit, but it kind of makes you look like a smurf.

Oh yea, free shipping and no rebates…

Ahhhhhh, I don’t need, but I want…

I love you, newegg.