applique tie shirt for Valentine's Day

My new favorite crafty project is making applique t-shirts for my little guy. They are so easy, and the end result is pretty adorable. My only problem is trying to make "boyish" applique shirts which can be difficult--especially with a holiday like Valentine's Day. Pink, red, and hearts probably aren't the best thing for three-year-old boy to wear. I found this great appliqued tie tutorial at Crap I've Made. (I love that blog name, by the way.) So now I can use an awesome Valentine-themed fabric to make a tie to applique to a t-shirt. I've had this fabric forever. I bought a yard of it (when I used to buy a yard of everything regardless of how much I really needed) back when I was in high school (I've been out of high school for a LONG time) to make a fabric-covered photo album for a little girl I used to babysit (she starts college this fall). The awesome results:

I ended us using a green shirt because the fabric didn't look so good with the red shirt I initially purchased. I used a zig zag stitch around the edges instead of a straight stitch. Even my husband liked it, and he's always a little worried about dressing him in handmade stuff. So how long can I dress my little boy in cute appliqued t-shirts before I scar him for life?