Tie Dye

Before all the COVID-19 craziness happened, my mom and I planned a fun activity for my nephew Henry.  He is in kindergarten and it all started when I wore a new shirt (similar to this one) and he complimented it, which was super cute. 

So we found the perfect tie dye kit at JoAnn Fabric with three colors in it that could work for a boy or girl and we also bought t-shirts there for Henry and his two younger sisters.

For this Project you'll need:
Tie Die Kit  - linked above (it comes with powder, mixing bottles, rubber bands and instructions)
white t-shirt(s) (you might as well do several, because the die, once mixed, doesn't last very long)



This is Henry's shirt - he did such a great job!!!

He concentrated and worked very hard on making his shirt.  He was careful not to over saturate - he dropped drips on each section and so he has a lot of white in his end design.

To make the "swirl" - lay the shirt flat, then pinch the spot where you want to be the center of the swirl, while still pinching, rotate your hand clockwise and the shirt will start to twist into a swirl.  Keeping that flat, swirled disc of t-shirt, wrap rubber bands around it in intervals like the picture below.  This will keep the swirl in place and give you a guideline of sections.  You then drop dye of each color onto different sections and then leave the areas under the rubber bands white.  Once you've gotten it as saturated as you want it, flip the t-shirt disc upside down and do the same thing on the back side.

My mom made this one for Marlowe - center swirl, medium saturate - it turned out great!

I made this one for Gia - mine is unique because I started the center of the swirl off-center - in the bottom right of the t-shirt and because I fully saturated my sections, which didn't leave much white.

Tie-Dye is super on trend and really fun to make your own - order a kit and make your own!

DIY Picnic Blanket

Last summer my sister Jordan got her kids into a fun routine with special days of the week.  

Make It Monday, where they made a craft.  

Taste it Tuesday, where they helped cook or tried something new to eat or ate a special treat.  

Water Wednesday, where they played with the water table, went to the pool, ran through a sprinkler in the backyard, etc.

Picnic Thursday, where they went to the park for the afternoon and took a picnic lunch.  

Family Friday Movie Night - where they picked a movie to watch together or went to the theater.

I thought the whole concept was so adorable.  Picnic Thursday gave me the idea to make them a picnic blanket.  I had a lot of fun choosing fabric and then I chose a laminated fabric as the back side, to lay on the ground.

I also wanted to make it big enough for their whole family to use it, so I made it two yards long.

I spread out the black and white vinyl fabric right side down on the floor.  Then I arranged the watermelon fabric on top, right side up.  (So wrong sides were facing each other.)  Then I pinned all the way around.  Then I sewed the two pieces together.

I laid out the blanket again and pinned binding around it.  I made sure to miter the corners.

 

This helpful picture found at Melly Sews.

Once that part was complete, I came up with how it should be folded and then added a velcro closure and handle for carrying.

It made me so happy to see my niece and nephew enjoying their Picnic Thursday!

Summer Window Boxes

I've lived in my house for less than a year and I LOVE that my house has window boxes, but I'm still figuring out what looks good in them and what to do with them each season.  Summer is the first season that has really worked.  I love pulling up to my house every day and seeing them!

Here they are empty in May, with the plants I picked out ready to be planted.

Newly planted

 About 2 weeks later - some really good progress

About 2 weeks later - looking amazing

The last week in June, I added this bunting and the flowers and plants went crazy (I did start using Miracle Gro liquid fertilizer - linked above) and I loved them even more.

Then I got new solar lanterns added and loved it even more!!

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Instagram Pictures Displayed

You may remember when I blogged about my craft room gallery wall:

Gallery wall with winter/Christmas photos displayed.

Gallery wall with no photos displayed - looks so sad. :(

I love having a way to display my Instagram photos in my home.  And I love having current pictures that are evocative of the current season.  These pictures all feel  so summery.  I love it.

Shoutout to Walgreens and their Printicular app for making it so quick and easy!!