Custom School Spirit Wear
Custom school spirit wear for the parent who just agreed to run the sale. Hoodies, school spirit shirts, long sleeve tees and hats, printed in Fort Collins, Colorado and shipped to schools and parent groups anywhere in the United States.
There is no minimum order, so a small school can sell exactly what families ask for. You approve a proof before anything is printed, and the design studio below shows the price as you build, which makes setting a sale price simple.
Design Your Spirit Wear Here
Drop the school name or logo on a real garment, set a quantity, and watch custom school spirit wear pricing move as you go. The studio opens on a midweight pullover hoodie, the piece families tend to ask for first once mornings turn cold. Swap to a tee, long sleeve or hat at any point.
Sell Custom School Spirit Wear Before You Buy It
The most expensive mistake in a spirit wear sale is guessing. A volunteer orders a spread of sizes in August, and by June there is a box of youth smalls in a closet. There are two ways to run a sale, and one of them removes the guesswork.
The Pre-Order Sale
Families choose a garment and a size on an order form, pay the parent group, and the form closes on a set date. Then you place one order for exactly what was sold. Nothing is left over and no group money sits in unsold inventory.
The trade is patience. Families wait for production and delivery, so the form has to close early enough to hand out orders before the event people want to wear them to. State the expected delivery week clearly on the form.
The Table at the Event
Selling from a table at back to school night or a home game catches the families who never return a form. People buy what they can hold up and take home that evening, and new families want something on day one.
Keep this stock small and plain. One undated design in the sizes that sold best on the last pre-order is enough. Dated or grade specific designs should never sit on a table, because they cannot be sold again next year.
Most parent groups do well with a pre-order for the main sale and a small undated stock for events. Since there is no minimum order, topping up three hoodies in the size that ran out is a normal order, not a special favor.
Spirit Wear We Print and Embroider
Spirit Hoodies
The piece that gets worn at drop-off, in the stands and all weekend. A bold one color chest print on a school color hoodie is the classic for a reason.
School Spirit Shirts
Screen printed tees and long sleeve tees for spirit days, field day and class colors. The lowest price per piece, which makes them easy for every family to buy.
Embroidered Hats and Beanies
Stitched hats and beanies for parents on cold sidelines, plus embroidered polos for office staff and teachers who want something neater than a tee.
From Order Form to Backpack in Six Steps
You approve a proof before anything runs, so the board sees exactly what families will get.
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1
Pick Your Garment
Three we actually recommend, with the reasons why. Full catalog is one click away.
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2
Drop In Your Art
Upload a logo or start from a sketch. We fix files that will not print.
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3
See Your Price
Per-piece pricing moves as you change quantity and print locations.
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4
Approve A Proof
Nothing runs until you have seen exactly what we are about to make.
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5
We Print It
Screen print, embroidery or DTF, whichever your art and quantity call for.
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6
It Ships
About 14 days from the day you approve the proof, printed and boxed.
Find Your Per-Piece Price First
Set the quantity you expect to sell and see the price in the studio. Then set a sale price that works for your families and your fundraising goal.
Nothing Left in the Closet
With no minimum order, you can buy exactly what families ordered on the form, down to a single youth small, and skip the leftover box entirely.
A Proof for the Principal
Every order gets a proof showing the art, placement and colors. Forward it to the principal or the board and approve it only when everyone has signed off.
A Price Before the Form
The studio shows the price per piece as you change quantity and print locations, so you can set a sale price before the form goes home.
Help for First-Time Volunteers
Never run a sale before? A person answers the phone on weekdays, 9am to 5pm Mountain, and can talk you through garments, timing, sizes and artwork.
Timing Custom School Spirit Wear to the School Year
A school year has four natural selling moments, and each one favors a different garment. Running one sale in each window, instead of one giant sale in September, keeps every order small, current and easy for volunteers to hand out.
New families want to belong right away. Tees are the easy first purchase while it is still warm. Have the design approved before summer ends so the form can go home in the first folder.
This is hoodie season. Booster club shirts and hoodies for parents in the stands sell best when the form closes early in the season, not after the last home game.
Spirit wear makes an easy gift for grandparents. Close the form with room for production and shipping well ahead of winter break, since nobody collects orders once school is out.
Field day, fun runs and the graduating class all want a shirt. These designs are dated, so run them as strict pre-orders and never order extras for stock.
Work back from the day you want to hand orders out. Allow about 14 days of production after you approve the proof, add shipping, then add the week it takes to chase the last few forms. That total is longer than most first-time volunteers expect. If a date is tight, ask, because sometimes it can be done faster.
Designs and Colors That Families Buy
Fewer choices sell more. A form with six designs across eight garments splits the order into tiny counts, and the price per piece stays high on every line. One strong design on a tee, a hoodie and a hat gives each item enough quantity to bring the price down.
Choose the garment color before the ink. School colors are a common sticking point, because a blank hoodie comes in the shades the mill dyes, and one brand's royal or maroon is not identical to another's. Pick the closest garment color, then print in white or a single contrasting ink.
Hoodies print differently than tees. The pocket, the hood seam and any zipper limit where artwork can sit, and thick fleece softens very fine detail. Bold lettering and a simple mascot shape hold up best. Thin outlines and small text under the main line tend to get lost.
Before you send art, confirm with the school office or district that your group may use the school name, logo and mascot on items for sale. Once you have permission, send whatever file exists. A fuzzy image from the school website can be cleaned up or redrawn so it prints sharp.
Running a Sale for the Whole School
Tell us the garments, the rough count and the day you want to hand orders out. We will tell you plainly whether the timing works.
Running the Sale Without the Headaches
The volunteer who runs spirit wear usually inherits it with no notes. Write the process down this year and the next parent will thank you. It comes down to a clear form, a firm deadline, one order, and a plan for handing things out.
On the form, list youth and adult sizes separately and say that sizes cannot be swapped after the order is placed. Custom printed items are made for your school, so a family that guesses wrong is a problem you want to prevent rather than solve later.
Set your sale price from the per-piece price the studio shows at your expected quantity. The difference between the two is what the group raises. Many PTA shirts are sold close to cost so every child can have one, while hoodies carry the fundraising.
Ask for the student's name and classroom on every order. When the boxes arrive, sorting by teacher turns distribution into an afternoon instead of a month of parents stopping by the office. Order a couple of spares in common sizes for families who enroll mid-year.
We do not make jerseys, team uniforms or cheer uniforms. What we make sits alongside them, the tees, hoodies, long sleeve tees, polos, hats and beanies that families, staff and fans wear in the stands and around town all year.
Spirit Wear Questions
Is there a minimum order for custom school spirit wear?
No. You can order one piece, which matters when a pre-order form comes back with a single adult extra large. The price per piece drops as the quantity goes up, so larger sales cost less per item. Enter your counts in the design studio to see the price for your custom school spirit wear.
How long does a spirit wear order take?
Standard turnaround is about 14 days from the day you approve the proof. Shipping to your school is on top of that, and so is the time it takes your group to collect forms. If you are working toward a specific game or event and the date is close, ask. Sometimes an order can be done faster.
Can we use the school logo and mascot?
Confirm that with your school office or district before you order. Many schools are glad to have parent groups use the name and mascot, but some have rules about official marks or approved colors. Once you have permission, send the file you have and we can clean it up for printing.
Do you make jerseys or team uniforms?
No. We do not make jerseys, team uniforms or cheer uniforms. We make t-shirts, long sleeve tees, tank tops, polos, hoodies, hats and beanies, which covers what families and fans wear. Booster club shirts for parents and a matching hoodie for the stands are the usual order.
Can youth and adult sizes be in the same order?
Yes, and most custom school spirit wear orders mix them. The same design runs on youth and adult garments, with the art scaled down a little on the smallest sizes when needed. Check that the garment you choose is offered in youth sizes, since not every style and color is.
How does our group raise money from the sale?
You set the sale price. The studio shows what each piece costs at your quantity, and the amount you add on top is what the group keeps. Because the price per piece falls as the count rises, one combined order raises more than several small ones spread through the year.
Which print method works best on hoodies?
For a bold design in one or two colors, screen printing is the durable, economical choice and suits most spirit wear. Full color art with gradients can run as direct-to-film. Embroidery is better kept for hats, beanies and polos, or a small chest mark, since large stitched designs get heavy on fleece.
Can you ship to our school?
Yes. The shop is in Fort Collins, Colorado, and custom school spirit wear ships across the United States. Many groups send the order to the school office or to the volunteer running the sale. Decide who will receive and sort the boxes before you place the order, and plan around school breaks.
Where We Are
Olive Branch Apparel
706 East Stuart Street
Fort Collins, CO 80525
A Sale Families Look Forward To
Good spirit wear gets worn on ordinary days, and that is what builds a school community. Start in the studio, share the proof with your board, and we will print and ship it from Fort Collins.