Summer Fun

I love summer.  I love that my kids are home, that we can go to bed late and occasionally sleep in.  I love having a few months a year without alot of structure.  The one frustrating thing about summer is I have very little time for art.  Since art has taken a back seat for a little while I thought it would be fun to do a summer craft with some of my daughters.  I'm sure you've all seen the ombre designs all over pinterest, the curtains, bags, hair, shirts.  Well we decided to try dyeing some shirts ombre style.

We bought some simple white t-shirts then found the coolest color of ritz dye we could, the tangerine orange.  It turned out to be easier than we thought to dye the shirts.  Let me tell you a few things we learned along the way.

First thing we did was wash our shirts.  We dyed them straight out of the washer while they were still wet.  Having them wet helps you control the color saturation.

For the first dipping of the shirts we only used half of the dye in the water this gave us a much more muted color.  After we dipped them the first time we laid the shirts out on plastic garbage bags to dry slightly.

For the second dipping we added half of what was left of the dye to the water.  Then for the third dipping we added the rest of the dye and left the bottom of the shirt in a little longer until we had the color we wanted.  We let them air dry then washed them in cold water and then dried them in the dryer.

So it's not absolutely necessary but it is a good idea to wear gloves.  We didn't and our hands have a slightly orange glow to them now.

Have a wonderful rest of the summer!

Sherri