Tie-Dye!

This is like a rite of childhood, right? Only I never did it as a child and I've only once participated and they came out ugly! So I was a little intimidated....and I cheated. I bought a kit at Joann's 70% off, so it was $3! I couldn't resist. I knew this was on my to-do list but when I saw that pretty little package for $3.00, I snatched it up! Although, I have to tell you, even the kit scared me!

The boys did a scrunch technique and the girls did the roll and tie technique. The boys shirts look pretty cool and I haven't opened the girls yet. I will post photos tomorrow with all 6 of the kids wearing their new shirts.


The package said "enough for 8 shirts" but after we did our 6, we kept going! I think we finished all the dye after 12 shirts! I bought the Hanes pack of white t-shirts and what I learned from that is buy big!!! I wasn't thinking about the fact that they are meant to be worn as an undershirt.

Working together. Everybody loved to squeeze the dye......what a mess! The kids were COVERED! It will be a day or two before they come clean! I hope my neighbor doesn't kill me for the way that I sent her kids home!!! ;)

First we sprayed with water to moisten the fabric, another fun step!! The next time I do this, I will give the little ones the job of water spraying and the big kids the dye.




Mass producing the remaining shirts with the scrunching effect.


The rolled effect (spiral).


The boys doing the scrunching effect. Their shirts are pictured above in color.





"Are they ready" is still echoing in my head!! The sweet things are now sleeping and I am going to unwrap the rolled shirts and wash the pile of shirts so that when they wake up tomorrow they can wear them! I will bring the neighbors over bright and early and place them on their back deck so that they too can dive right in them!!!

Some helpful hints:

~make sure the kids are in old clothes that you don't care about!
~keep an entire box of baby wipes with you!
~use an old sheet that you use for painting. not a beautiful quilt that your mom made. duh!
~collect a big pile of rubberbands
~then collect more!
~buy BIG shirts!
~wrap rolled shirts in plastic wrap to keep them moist for 4-6 hours.
~hang wet shirts and don't let them touch anything or another shirt.
~hand the rolled shirts after you unwrap them, let them dry completely and then wash them.
~wash the shiirts in super hot water and keep them separate from other laundry until they've been washed several times.
~have fun!!!