Tie-Dye Extravaganza!

Oh hey.... look! I did something crafty! I was thrilled to get my hands on this Tie-Dye Kit from Tulip, as part of their Tie-Dye e-Book promotion with FaveCrafts (I received the kit for free in exchange for my review; my opinions are my own).

I flipped through the e-book before getting started, to help me figure out just what I wanted to do.

Here's what's in the kit: 5 bottles with powdered dye already in them (just add water!), a whole stack of gloves, some rubber bands, refill packs of dye, and an instruction sheet.

 
 I've had 3 yards of white quilting cotton (pre-washed) just hanging out in my stash for um, awhile. So, I ripped it in half, and got busy with the tying portion of the program.  Thing one that I love about the Tulip kit: there is no pre-soak step like in a lot of tie-dye kits. I just had to get the fabric wet and then wring it out. You could actually use it straight from your washing machine if you wanted to.

Swirling:

Action shot!

Crumpling:

not brains.

Now on to the good stuff. I filled up the bottles with water and shook them well:

This may or may not be on the back of my toilet. I'll never tell.

and then things got a little messy. In the best possible way...

Rorschach says, "go back to bed"

I wrangled the finished bundles into a couple of gallon-sized zip bags, and let them sit for about 9 hours. The instructions say 6-8 hours, but I was headed into work, and you know how *that* goes! Following the rest of the directions, I rinsed the bundles, and then undid all the rubber bands, unfurled them, and threw them in the washer.

Here's how they looked after drying! So great! My daughter practically squealed! The swirly fabric is destined to be a dance bag for her ballet & tap shoes.

I cut the crumpled one into strips and started on a baby blanket:

I'll be sure to post the finished photos soon!

Things I loved about the Tulip Tie-Dye kit:

• Everything I needed came in the package (except the fabric, obviously)

• No pre-soak in sodium bicarbonate needed. Time & effort saver! 

• There was LOTS of dye. This project took less than half of each bottle, and I still have the refill packs.

• Clean-up was a snap. Even the dye that seeped under my ill-fated plastic wrap job came right off of my melamine craft table with paper towels and a couple of baby wipes. 

• The colors stayed vibrant. I was really pleased with how true they remained after washing.

Things I didn't like:

• Well, honestly, not much to say here. I was very pleased with the kit, and will not only use the rest of my refill packs on something fun, but would happily buy another kit for more craftiness!

Head on over to FaveCrafts and check out the free e-book! And ilovetocreate (parent company of Tulip) has tons of great ideas and instructions on their site.