Painting a t-shirt, any tips?

I've cut out some letters to make a phrase (art is the weapon if anyone is a killjoy out there or interested) and I want to do paint splatters over the top, I've just done a paper test to check out what it would look like but I realized that I have to have the paint very wet for it to splatter properly and I'm worried about the paint soaking into the t-shirt, has any one ever done this before and has any tips or help they'd like to offer?