Spreading the Pretty Colors: Our Tie Dye Party

This weekend we had bunches of people over.  The house was filled with kids and rubberbands.  And the yard was (is) covered in colored dyes.

A tie dye party ought to make for good photos.  But I was busy making stuff, refilling bottles, and catching up a bit here and there with friends.  And my hands were covered in dye most of the time, which is not good for holding a camera.  So I got no pictures of the party or the tie dye process.  I guess I'm not cut out to be much of a craft blogger.

So, instead, here are my tie dye models hamming it up for the camera.  I love some of the looks Max gives Toby.  I can't quite believe that they're entirely unintentional.

Tie dyeing can be kind of addictive.  I bought a few new things to dye, then I found a huge stack of white little T-shirts and onesies for pennies at a garage sale, and then I still kept finding things around the house that needed more color.  Baby blue sleep sack?  That definitely needs a big swirl.  Pastel baby blanket?  Not any more, now it's got a big rainbow across it.  One friend's son decided to tie dye the shorts he was wearing--luckily she had a spare in the car.  The process we used involved dyes that have to sit, all wet and tied up, overnight.  So most folks took their stuff home to rinse and wash the next day.  The shirts & such that I had the chance to unravel looked fabulous--it's so much fun seeing how everything turned out.

Christer held down the house all weekend--between preparing, creating, rinsing and washing I was working on this project most of Saturday and Sunday.  Sometimes doing this stay-at-home-mom thing means that I need to spend a bit of time doing something that is just for me, and I'm thankful that he gets that.  (He's not to bad at tie dyeing, either.  His shirt turned out awesome.)  Toby had explicit instructions on how his shirt should look, but no interest in helping make it.  Max was just blissed out that his house was full of people!  To look at!  And smile at!  Yay!

I hadn't tie dyed in nearly 10 years.  At the party we were talking about making this a yearly tradition.  And now it seems I've signed myself up to help host another tie dye party with the church youth sometime this fall.  Oh dear, I might have found another hobby.