Nate's wishful thinking aside, I really do admire this family. I just finished their book and got some great tips for parenting a large family. One thing that I've noticed is that when they go out as a group, they wear matching clothes. This makes it easier for Mommy and Daddy to keep track of everyone.
Well, because we are such a PFUN pfamily, we can't just do matching clothes. We have to make our own TIE DYE matching clothes. Last year we did two sets, brights and camo. This year we changed it up a bit.
This is the dye kit we used.
The dye bottles inside look like this. You just mix with water.
Start with your plain white cotton shirt (don't use cruddy poly/cotton).
Get it wet, and wring it out. Pinch the middle and let the rest hang down. Apply rubber bands and 2-3 inch intervals (see the shirts on the sides above).
Apply the dye. Really squeeze it down in there, as it is going through many layers of cloth. We called these "Fire":
And these "Ocean":
Cover with trash bags and let the dye set for 6-8 hrs. Clip off the rubber bands and throw the shirts into the washing machine. Wash 2-3 times until the water is clear.
Free tips:
#1 Use better gloves than the ones that come in the kit. My hands look terrible.
#2 For super bright dye, leave overnight before rinsing.
#3 Do not use the sorry cheapo trashbags to protect your counter. They don't (protect). Use the Hefty's.
Tomorrow I'll show you the finished products! And we are celebrating the end of our horse unit with a cowboy roundup! (We are forgoing the suggested backyard bonfire. I don't think our neighbors would appreciate us burning down their houses.)
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7 comments:
looks like a fun project
can't wait to see the finished product....cute.
I so wanna be like you. That's awesome and something I've wanted to do for a long time. I can't wait to see the results!
I just finished reading the Duggar family's book too! I had to wait for it for a few months from the library. It was a fun read...though I wish they had shared more ideas about how they managed when they had "only" four or five children instead of a complete buddy system in place. Thanks for the tips on the tie dye! :)
Love the Duggars as well and have read their book.
Can't wait to see your shirt results.
And we had a bonfire here Saturday just for you. :D S'mores and campfire bananas. Yummo.
Oh, fun! We had our roundup at the dinner table and then took our ponies for a ride around the block. We are a little lame.
We just did tie dye this week, too! Only we tried the camo kit this time, to be all manly, you know ;-) I actually have matching tie-dye shirts from Kelly's Kreations for all the boys (even a onsie for the baby) for the exact purpose of having bright, easy to see, matching shirts out in public. Easy to do quick head counts at the playground that way! Tie dye is so much fun!!
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