Brown’s Printing House is a small Chicago shop turning blank shirts, hats, mugs, glasses, plates, totes and candles into something that is unmistakably yours. Heat pressed, hand painted and airbrushed, poured by hand, and upcycled — one piece or two hundred.
Hand painted
Real orders, straight from the bench.
What it costs & how fast
Starting at $20
Orders start at $20. Where yours lands depends on the piece you choose and how much personalization goes on it. Every order starts with a 50% deposit paid by card, and we always confirm the price with you before anything is made.
Ready in about 3 days
Local pickup orders are usually ready in about 3 days. If we mail it to you, allow about 5 to 7 days.
A little planning goes a long way: graduations and the holidays are our busiest stretches of the year, so those orders are best placed early. That way there’s plenty of time to make everything just the way you want it.
Everything is made to order by hand in Chicago, so the price and the timing depend on what you ask for. Tell us your date and we will tell you straight whether we can make it. Deposits are non-refundable.
Pick up in Chicago
FreeReady in about 3 days. Every order takes a 50% deposit now, and the remaining 50% is due when you collect it.
Local delivery
$10Within 5 miles of our Chicago zip code 60619, for a flat $10 — we bring it to you ourselves. The 50% deposit applies here too, with the rest due at delivery.
Farther away?
By invoiceAnything beyond our 5-mile delivery area is a mail order, arranged by invoice with the postage on it. The balance is due before we ship it, and nothing is made until you pay.
A 50% deposit on every order
Non-refundable
However you have it made and however you get it, the order starts with half down. You pay the 50% deposit by card when you order, and the other half when you collect it or we deliver it — or before we ship it, for a mail order. The deposit comes straight off your total. Deposits are non-refundable — it holds your place in the queue and covers the materials for a piece made only for you.
The remaining 50% is due at pickup or when you collect your order. For orders we mail out, the balance is due before we ship it.
Local delivery covers addresses within 5 miles of our Chicago zip code, 60619. Anything further away is a mail order, which we arrange by invoice — tell us what you would like and we will send you one with the postage on it, about 5 to 7 days.
Who we are
Most print shops want a big, tidy order. We like the other kind — the t-shirt for a grandmother’s eightieth, the caps for a softball team that keeps losing, the candles a bride hands out as thanks. The jobs where the thing has to say something about a person.
Every shirt is finished by hand, and you choose how — heat pressed for a crisp full-color transfer, hand painted with a real brush, or airbrushed for soft blended color. We upcycle too — a plain or second-hand garment brought back to life with new artwork, a patch or a collage. Hats, mugs, drinking glasses, ceramic plates and canvas tote bags go through the heat press, and our scented candles are poured in the same room. Nothing sits in a warehouse waiting for a buyer; it gets made once you ask for it.
Read our story
Heat pressedChoose a piece from the shop, or tell us what you have in mind and we will find it.
PersonalizedNames, a logo, a photo, a rough drawing on a napkin. Add it to your order in one line of text.
Finished by handWe confirm the details by email, finish it by hand — heat pressed, hand painted or airbrushed — and get it to you.
Recent work
These are real pieces we finished for real people — shirts, hoodies, upcycled clothing, poured candles, photo keepsakes and hand painted wooden signs, each one made to order and personalized for somebody. Yours starts the same way: you tell us the name or the picture, and we make it just for you.
A full-color ark and dove design, printed onto a yellow tee with wording set around it.
Made to order like thisFamily photographs arranged into one keepsake print on fabric — a collage, made to be worn or framed.
Made to order like thisA photograph printed across the front, with the words set beneath it — made for one person in particular.
Made to order like thisA purple custom piece made to order — the printed artwork on one side, the collage of small printed patches on the other. One garment, shown from both sides.
Made to order like thisA blue custom piece made to order — the patches laid out on one side, the printed group graphic on the other. One garment, shown from both sides.
Made to order like thisAn orange custom piece made to order — a printed patch on one side, a retro style printed graphic on the other. One garment, shown from both sides.
Made to order like thisA square glass candle poured in the shop — two views of the same piece, one with the two-tone pour showing and one with it set.
Made to order like thisA scented candle poured into a tin — two views of the same candle, the tin itself and the wax set inside it.
Made to order like thisA scented candle poured by hand in the shop, with botanicals set in the wax.
Made to order like thisHave a photo of something we made for you? Send it over — there is always room for it here.
The shop
Add a piece to your order and tell us what you want on it. Real prices, no surprises — pay by card at checkout, pick up free in Chicago, and bulk discounts start at twelve pieces.
Personalized goodsCoasters, plates, mugs & glassesSend the photo and we print it onto the piece. Set of four coasters shown here.Heat pressedFull-color transfers on shirtsCrisp, bright artwork bonded into the fabric — the finish we use most often.HoodiesHoodies and sweatshirtsBig artwork on the chest or across the back, printed to order in your size.In the shop
You pick the finish, and we do it by hand at the bench: heat pressed for a crisp full-color transfer, hand painted with a real brush and real paint, or airbrushed for soft blended color. The same brush paints our wooden signs — the round “you are an AMAZING human” sign and the pink hanging one that reads “You are enough, just as you are.” Hats, mugs, glasses, plates and canvas totes all go through the heat press, and our scented candles get poured, wicked and labelled in the same room. It is slow work, and that is rather the point.
Heat pressed
A crisp full-color transfer bonded into the fabric — and the finish we use on hats, mugs, glasses and plates.
Hand painted
A brush and real paint, applied one piece at a time — shirts, and wooden signs too. No two come out exactly alike.
Airbrushed
Soft, blended shading and gradients a transfer cannot give you.
Upcycled & customized
You bring the garment, or we find one — a plain or second-hand piece given new artwork, a patch or a collage.
Real proofing
We send you a photo of your design before anything is made.
Custom & bulk
Teams, classrooms, church groups, restaurants, wedding parties and small businesses all end up here. Tell us how many, when you need them and what should be on them, and we’ll come back with a price and a proof.
Bulk pricing
Discounts begin at 12 pieces and climb from there.
Free proof
A real mockup of your design before we print a thing.
Deadline talk
Tell us the date. We will tell you honestly if we can make it.
Pick up or local delivery
Collect it in Chicago, or $10 local delivery within 5 miles of 60619. Further away, a mail order goes by invoice.
A few lines is plenty. Jeannette reads every one herself.
Already know what you want? Put a deposit down by card and we’ll start your proof. It comes straight off your final price.
More than merchandise
The same press and the same care that makes a shirt also prints a photograph worth framing, or a memorial card a family hands to everyone who came. Bring us the picture; we’ll handle the rest, gently.
Photo printingPhone photos, old family portraits, a picture you only have as a print — send it over or bring it in and we’ll make a proper copy. Standard sizes through large enlargements, single prints or a whole batch.
Front
BackFor a family in the middle of losing someone, the last thing anyone needs is a printing problem. Bring us the photo, the dates and the words — we’ll set them carefully, print them quickly, and hand them to you ready to give. Shown here: one tribute shirt, front and back.
These are made-to-order jobs, so we quote them by hand rather than by a button. Tell us what you have and what you need, and we’ll come back with a price and a proof.
Custom invitations & cards
The shirt is for afterwards. The invitation is what people see first — so we design and print those too. Baby showers, anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, a christening, a reunion or a family dinner: tell us the occasion, the date and the words, and we will set something that looks like it belongs to you.
The colors are chosen with you, every name is checked twice, and you see a proof before anything is printed. One card for a keepsake, or two hundred for the whole guest list.
Baby showers
Sweet and soft — the date, the details, every name.
Anniversaries
A milestone marked properly, like the one beside this.
Birthdays & more
Graduations, christenings, reunions and family dinners.
Ordering in bulk for an event? Ask about the per-card price — the more you need, the better it gets.
Our designs
These are designs we make ourselves — words, verses, illustrations and family photographs. Any one of them can be printed or painted onto any piece in the shop: a shirt, a hoodie, a hat, a mug, a glass, a plate, a tote bag or a candle. And if you have something of your own in mind, a name, a photo, a logo, a rough drawing on paper — bring it to us and we will make that instead.
Bought the piece already?
You can add a design to an order through the shop, or start it here — either way it lands with Jeannette.
Pick a design, or describe your own. A couple of lines is plenty — we’ll come back with a proof.
Questions?
Call or send a message and we’ll figure it out together — the design, the quantity, the timeline.