Saturday, May 30, 2009

Tie-Dye!

A few weekends ago I just needed a few hours to do "something else". Anything, it didn't matter what. This is usually the point where I would scoop up a few kids, play in the garden, go to the beach and just have some "kid time" and not even try and be an adult for a few hours, I find that very relaxing. Unfortunately I do not know many people with kids here, Hannah has a few years to go, but we've already had words about getting into trouble together later and I think she's onboard. I've just signed up to work with a children's charity here that brings together families that have been separated by the foster process (so many big families here in Hawaii that it's usually impossible to keep the children together if they have to go into foster care) for an afternoon every month. Not sure when our first 'play date' will be, but that will be fun, rewarding and probably challenging when it happens. 

So back to the other weekend. I decided just to do something I hadn't done before. Tie Dye. Yes believe it or not I never did this as a kid and have always wanted to try. The last few weeks i'd been thinking of doing it to some boring pillowcases I have to spruce them up. So I went out and got a kids kit (which worked out cheaper than buying the individual parts, and I can re-use the bottles next time) and a few other t-shirts and onesies to play with at the same time and had a great time on the deck. The frogs thought I was nuts, but thats nothing new. 

I tried a couple of different patterns just to play with. The bottles were super easy, I'm glad I went that route. Fill the bottles with dye, rubber band the cloth where you want the pattern and squirt away. 

The shirts and onesies I made for little people came out much better than my pillowcases (but I will post a picture, once I get out of bed and off the pillows!), here are two particularly cute ones wearing the t-shirts......

And this is probably the reason I never did this as a child. Note to self, bring back gloves from work, do not use the ones in the box! At least i'm a histologist, so I could blame the dye on "work".......:0)

So there we are, another crafting tool in my box of knowledge. With great results too, will definitely do this again! 

5 comments:

kmw said...

Very cool looking, the shirts, not your hand. D

Nicola said...

thank you, rhian!! your hand looks cool too, but not as cool as the shirts. they love them. they are in the wash, but bella keeps asking for hers. and note to everyone....wash them separately, in cold, the first couple of times. :)

RGW said...

Erm......I hope Uncle S. passed on the message about washing them with darks for a few runs.....

kmk said...

Awesome. We love doing tye die, but I find the kits too expensive lately to do it. I also learned the last time that I did them, that there is so much to learn, and it really is an art. So fun!

bsa said...

What a wonderful entry--first the reminder that we all really need to be kids from time to time in order to keep a good perspective on life. Then secondly, i had just come from Nicola's blog and saw first hand your beautiful results. And your hand...reminds me of Easter egg dyeing.

I am sure that by the time you finished your fatigue had dissipated and you were already looking forward to your next run. Yes, yes, make sure you eat enough both night before as well as the morning of...And have some gu along the way.