Bibs

Buy blank bibs, ready for decorating, online or at craft stores. They are inexpensive and often sold by the dozen. Choose 100-percent cotton bibs in white, or a light color, for maximum decorating possibilities. Blank terry cloth bibs are also available, but these are not as versatile for decorating.

Fabric Stamping

When working with any form of fabric paint, it's always a good idea to wash and dry your item before decorating it. Purchase permanent fabric inks formulated for fabric stamping. Use rubber stamps from a craft store, or make your own stamps from compressed sponges. These come in flat sheets that can be easily cut with scissors. Draw or trace your design onto the compressed sponge sheets. Immerse the sponge shapes in water and they will expand to the width of a normal sponge. Even if you don't have formal art training, simple shapes and words can be very effective when applied with colorful stamp inks.

To apply the stamping ink, place a bit of fabric paint on a piece of aluminum foil. Gently tap the stamp into the fabric paint. Be careful not to apply too much paint to the stamp. Test your inked stamps on a piece of paper towel before applying the stamps to the bibs. Let the fabric paint dry according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Iron-On Transfers

There are different ways to create iron-on transfers for bibs. One way is to create patterned fabric appliques by ironing paper-backed fusible fabric onto the back of printed fabric. For baby bibs, colorful, light-weight cotton prints are a good choice. Draw or trace shapes onto the paper backing. Cut out the shapes with scissors. Peel away the paper backing and iron the cut-out shape to the bib. For a more complex design, try layering one appliqued fabric over another contrasting fabric.

Another transfer method is to use iron-on ink jet transfer paper to create the designs. Buy fabric transfer paper designed for light-weight, light-colored fabrics. Print photographs and other artwork onto the transfer paper on your home printer. It's best to use high-resolution images for the transfers. Cut out the images you want to transfer. Following the manufacturer's instructions, iron the images onto the bibs.