Fit to be Tie Dyed

L has been after me to tie dye shirts. I have no idea what prompted this obsession, but last week, I relented and we bought a tie dye kit. (Actually one like that one, but that gives you the idea, they have them at Micheal's, JoAnn's, Walmart and other craft retailers.)

Then we bought 6 plain white tees at JoAnn's and an assortment of 100 rubber bands.

I was not sure this was going to work, but Sunday morning we sat and watched cartoons and rubber banded our shirts. E struggled with being able to hold the shirt and twist the bands, so I had to take over. He kept getting connected and stuck to his shirt or flicking himself.

The plastic gloves in the kit are not helpful in the least, we switched to latex gloves, much better. I had the kids color over cookie trays for easy clean up.

After letting the shirts sit, wrapped tightly in plastic, I rinsed them out in hot water and let them drip dry, still banded over night and then hung them out to dry in the sun. Tonight I will wash them in the machine.

They turned out great. I was very surprised. Our kit came with more dye packets, so I image we will be doing this again in the fall.

Pictorial Evidence of crafty craziness:

L's night shirt. She banded it in a long cylinder and then used blue and green dye.

E's night shirt. This was our first try at star bursts. I did not get the bands tight enough. So very little white is showing. He also was very liberal with the dye.

E's around town shirt. Second shirt I banded and it worked better. The red and yellow work so well together. E's favorite color is orange.

L's around town shirt. It is a variety of star-bursts. She used the red and purple dyes.

My sleeping shirt. I was not sure purple and green would work, but I was the last to dye and I was stuck with the left overs. It turned out ok. I have an idea for making it better next time.

My around town, to the gym shirt, and the last shirt I banded. Clearly I had the tightness of the rubber bands figured out. I am very pleased with how this one turned out. I used the left over red, blue and purple dyes.

So just another summer craft project, but totally easy and fun.