ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In St. Petersburg, Big Frog Custom T-Shirts and More is not only turning children’s Valentine’s drawings into Valentine’s t-shirts, but they are teaching the children how this process is done.
Seven-year-old Ryland couldn't believe what he was watching; earlier in the day, he was coloring a Valentine’s Day picture, and later, he saw that picture being made into a T-shirt.
“They had a lot of questions for me before they showed up, which I didn’t have all the answers for, so it’s cool to get to show them exactly how it works,” said mom Shannan Panganiban.
Big Frog Custom T-Shirts and More is offering two different Valentine’s Day designs, one with a dog and one with a frog. All the kids have to do is color them, take them in, and they'll then receive a free shirt.
“An activity that parents can do with their kids, it doesn’t cost them a dime, and it allows their kids to basically create their own t-shirts,” said Owner Sean Mulligan. “They can help us print them and they can wear their art after they leave here.”
Mulligan wanted to offer families something unique for Valentine’s Day rather than the same old candy or paper hearts.
“It wasn’t that long ago that I was a parent with young kids looking for things to do, stuff to keep them busy, but yet didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for all these different activities,” said Mulligan.
“This has been really cool because I am actually a mom of four, we try and keep gifts to not be so extravagant, so many things cluttering the house, so we try to find meaningful things to do together and this has been really fun,” said Panganiban.
“So this is something that they can do themselves for themselves as opposed to like getting a gift from our dad or a classmate, something they can get for themselves and enjoy it all year round,” said mother Tiffani Clemmer.
This is the second year Clemmer’s three-year-old daughter Scarlett is using crayons to design her own wardrobe.
“It’s kind of cool too to see kind of her coloring capabilities change from one year to another,” said Clemmer.
For the employees, it never gets old opening up the t-shirt press and delivering this Valentine’s magic right into the hands of a child.
“The moment that they see their shirt, their design, printed with it on them, it’s a great feeling,” said Mulligan.
Big Frog will be offering the free shirts up until Valentine’s Day.
