Spreadshop isn’t just a place for you to bring your personal creative ideas to life, it’s also a way for you to connect with others, especially those closest to you: family, friends, members of your community and you can do it all with Spreadshop Merch.
Now that you can safely see all the people you love, it’s time to bask in the summer sun, enjoy good food together, and wear some themed merch.
Make your large or small gatherings feel like an event when you create commemorative merch.
T-shirts are a perfect way to cement a memory and make for great photo-ops that you can always treasure. They work great for family reunions, annual picnics, birthday celebrations, and summer camps.
Making merch is only going to make your summer schedule of events feel more personal and memorable. They will be a memento of a time in your life that you spent having fun with the special people in your life.
Family Reunions
It’s been a rough year having to spend so much time apart from our extended families: grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins.
These are people you don’t see on a regular basis. If you have an annual family reunion, it’s likely the only opportunity you get to spend time with them all year.
My family has been hosting reunions since the 80s and 2020 was the first year we had to skip a reunion due to COVID.
This is a Sunday in August that has meant a lot to me ever since I was a child – spending time with cousins on the playground, listening to exaggerated family stories, eating decadent Italian food.
I know a lot of families have similar traditions, so why not make this year’s feel extra special by making t-shirts?
Include your family name, a family crest if you have one, and the anniversary year of the reunion.
A family that’s hosting a virtual family reunion this year used Spreadshop to create their own themed merch.
They created a design that features their name and a graphic of them wearing masks. Maybe they wanted to make merch this year to feel like they’re connected because they can’t see each other in person. But this doesn’t just have to be a one-time thing.
Turn it into an annual tradition. Allow different family members to come up with designs and colors each year so everyone feels like they’re involved.
You’ll soon carve out an area of your closet for family themed merch. It’s an unlikely fandom, sure, but one you should be proud to represent.
Picnics and Barbecues
It wouldn’t feel like summer without the savory smells of grilled food and the occasional swatting of hungry flies.
Whether it’s for a holiday like the Fourth of July or part of a weekend retreat, having a good old-fashioned picnic/barbecue is the perfect excuse to get all your friends and family together to eat the perfect buffet of summer treats.
The Newton County, Mississippi Picnic is a great example of this.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the picnic started in 1971 as a way for African Americans from Newton County to reconnect in Detroit, Michigan.
They’re using Spreadshop to celebrate this milestone by creating a wide range of merch with different design options.
This t-shirt highlights all the different states people are travelling from to honor their Newton County roots with the annual picnic.
They play up the event with another t-shirt that brings a more creative and vibrant side to the event using a handmade drawing.
They also have the designs available as hoodies, mugs, masks, and stickers. Because people are into different kinds of merch, it’s nice to provide some options.
If someone’s a coffee drinker, our mugs are a staple. And you can never go wrong with stickers to put on laptops, notebooks, or water bottles.
These former Newton County residents are unlocking their creativity and history to create an event that reminds them of their home city, but also one that celebrates their lives today.
Birthdays
You may not be as into your special day as others, but your birthday is a great excuse for friends and family to celebrate you whatever way they see fit.
They might take goofy photos of you and turn them into meme-worthy designs that play off how old you’re turning that year. Or create merch that revolves around the activity you’re all doing for your party that year: bowling, ice skating, paintball.
Birthday merch works for people of all ages, too, with shirts and other merch a perfect addition to kid parties.
Make a shirt specifically for the birthday boy/girl and even create personalized tees for other kids at the party. Incorporate it with the theme of the party to make it even more fun by adding specific design elements to your Spreadshop merch.
If it’s a Disney princess party, use tiaras and castles and even have different colors coordinated to represent different princesses.
If it’s cowboy themed, throw some cowboy hats, sheriff badges, and rodeo elements in there.
You can even create little party favors. Make birthday themed stickers or pins that are based around the party and add a special touch with name personalization.
These would be perfect additions to goody bags.
Your parties will feel so much more unique and interactive when you incorporate merch into them. These items will bring up the same feelings that school-related t-shirts do – a rush of nostalgia.
You’ll always be reminded of the friends you had at that time and all the special memories you were able to create at so and so’s birthday party.
Sports Leagues & Camps
Make your sports games feel like team events, no matter how scrappy or small they are.
Team shirts are necessary for any outdoor recreational activities. How else are you going to know which team is which?
And they work for practically any sport.
Soccer and football teams are the standard, but think outside the box. Something like ultimate frisbee, for example.
It’s a low-contact sport, but things can still get intense out there and you and your team will look as intimidating as possible thanks to your rad merch. The other team might even get intimidated when they see how seriously you’re taking the game.
Volleyball and badminton are summertime classics. Make team shirts and bags to hold your gear, like merch water bottles to help quench your thirst during breaks.
People are taking the concept of organized sports to a whole other level these days. Ever heard of drone racing leagues?
Come up with a fun name for your team and wear your Spreadshop merch to tournaments you’re participating in. It can even become a competition amongst teams to see who has the coolest merch come the next event.
Even esports (competitive video game competitions) would qualify. There’s bound to be some happening in your area this summer, whether they’re virtual or in-person, and they make for fun, friendly competition.
Teams come in all shapes and sizes now; you don’t have to be tearing it up on the field to be a part of one.
Find your tribe and rep your colors with pride this summer. It will help boost morale and revive your love for the game all over again.
Summer Camps
I used to go to the local playground for summer camp every year when I was in elementary school. It was a great way to make friends that went to different schools and reconnect with them each summer.
Those teen counselors were mentors to me at such a young age, and all the activities we did as a group – kickball, crafts, relay competitions – brought so much joy to me then and now when I reflect on those glorious 3 months under the sun.
At the end of every summer, every kid got a commemorative shirt (and we might’ve even tye dyed a few here and there).
We’d always wear them on the last day and get photographs taken. You’d see kids wearing last year’s t-shirts the next summer just to keep the memories alive.
Those experiences are so important and formative to young people, and providing merch like t-shirts is going to mean so much to them years down the line.
You feel like you’re a part of a national sports team when you’re at summer camp. You’re such a collective unit.
T-shirts are going to give kids street cred, more like playground cred, wherever they are. They’ll feel united and ready to rise up to whatever challenges they’re faced with (even if it’s just the monkey bars).
There’s all kinds of summer activities that can be made better by including commemorative t-shirts and other merch.
People will feel like they’re part of a group or a team when they wear it. They’ll feel more confident, and they’ll be able to express themselves in a different way – together.
Open a Spreadshop and start designing your personalized merch today!
