Kids & Creativity: How to Tie Dye!

The fact that tie dye is back and all the rage these days makes my heart happy. I lived for tie dye in the 90s, wearing it (and making it!) as often as I could. We had a store in my hometown mall called The Funky Monkey where you could buy just about anything in tie dye (with or without the Grateful Dead bear as the centerpiece), and I spent more than my fair share of my allowance there!

My middle daughter got a couple of tie dye kits for her birthday this year and couldn't wait to try them out. She was constantly begging to run to the store and buy a few white t-shirts to tie dye and make her own. I just did an article for Zulily with tons of great tie dye crafts, so I had a couple of tricks up my sleeve for sure! 

There are lots of fun tie dye techniques you can try these days. We started with a basic spiral tie dye. 

Tie dye t-shirt, designed by this cute kiddo! 

How to Tie Dye: The Basics

Creating a traditional tie dye shirt is actually really easy and fun! Your kids can easily do it themselves with a little guidance from you.

I like to purchase tie-dye kits because they really come with everything you need. Zulily usually has a few good ones for sale. But you can absolutely buy everything separately for inexpensive, too!

Materials needed:

White t-shirts, bandanas, socks, etc., all prewashed. No need to dry!

A white t-shirt ready to be tie-dyed! We got this one at Walmart for $3ish. 

Tie dye in whatever colors you want to use.

Rubber bands.

Plastic gloves.

Plastic sandwich bags. 

Step by step tie dye instructions:

Make sure your items are prewashed so they don't shrink. No need to dry them, you want the fabric wet to tie dye. If your items are already dry, wet them. You don't want them soaked and dripping, just damp.

Lay the garment flat and find the center. I found it helpful, when I was learning to tie dye, to use a pencil to mark the center of the item and wind. 

Twist the item from the center until it is in a circle or pie shape. 

This t-shirt is ready for tie dye!

Rubber band the item to make it hold its shape. Use lots of rubber bands or only a few. Rubber bands should go all the way around the circular item and create "slices" in the fabric, like a piece of pizza or a pie. 

Using tie dye in whichever pattern you wish, starting dying the slices different colors, making sure to cover the fabric front and back with tie. We wear plastic gloves for this step so our hands don't get to messy. We do this step out on the grass or our back sidewalk. 

Getting her tie-dye on! Outside. Because tie dye is fun but oh-so-messy! 

Once you have dyed all the "slices" of fabric, the item needs to dry. We place the shirts we make in plastic sandwich bags and let them sit overnight.

After the dye has set for 24 hours, remove the item from the bag and remove the rubber bands and discard. 

Wash and dry your t-shirt as normal and voila! You have a fun tie dye creation all your own!

If you are a visual learned like I am, this is a great tutorial to help you visualize the above steps. 

My youngest's tie dye creation, before it went through the washing machine! 

Tie Dye Extras: More fun tie dye projects to try!

Now that the girls and I have mastered basic tie dye, we are ready to branch out. Here are a few more tie-dye projects we are looking forward to tackling in the next few weeks!

Ice Tie Dye- Honestly, these t-shirts and socks look so cool! I can't believe that they were designed simply with a pile of ice and powdered dye color. This is even less messy than traditional tie dye, which is a total bonus in my opinion. I see a bunch of tie-dye socks on my girls' feet come fall...

Bleach Tie Dye- This is another easy(ish) tie dye trick the girls can't wait to try. Just grab a darker colored cotton shirt and let the kids make a pattern using bleach and rubber bands. Even better- this one technique is super inexpensive and doesn't require many ingredients. Plus you can always use the bleach for laundry or cleaning so it won't go to waste after you're finished crafting with it. 

Galaxy Tie Dye- I had no idea that galaxy tie dye shirts were as easy to create as they look on this tutorial! I would have guessed that the unique pattern created by galaxy tie dye took a lot more than a few spray bottles of bleach and dye color and a twisted t-shirt! I'm excited to give this one a try!

Sharpie Tie Dye- Talk about easy and (virtually) mess-free! Sharpie tie dye is the perfect craft for a play date because it is fun and unique but not as messy as traditional tie dye. Kids of all ages can have fun creating their own mini masterpieces with fabric and Sharpies in all different colors.

What fun tie dye creations have you made lately! I'd love to you to share instruction or photos in the comments! 

DIY Farmhouse Decor for Your Living Room

When we moved this summer, I knew I would want to update my new space to reflect my style. With a blank slate of space in mind, my husband and I hit up furniture and decor shops looking for inspiration on a style to call our own. 

Modern Farmhouse is the theme of the moment, and we were instantly charmed by its rustic feel and bright openness. I love the freshness of white and pale gray, as well as the dark wood accents prevalent in this motif. We didn't walk into a single furniture store in the Dallas/Fort Worth-area that didn't contains loads of white or off-white distressed furniture with wood accents. I love it all!

Check out this post to see more modern farmhouse decor I ideas I wrote about for Zulily!

While we bought a lot of furniture new, we did have a few older pieces from our first home that were structurally in good condition but needed some TLC. I had never before refinished furniture but decided now was as good a time as any to start! 

DIY: Repaint your Old Furniture to Make It New Again

My first project was a set of three tables for our living room- a sofa table, coffee table and end table. They were originally a medium wood and had lots of damage from water and kids through the years. I was surprised at how easy each piece was to refinish!

To redo your own furniture, you will need:

1. Sandpaper

2. Paintbrushes (I used multiple sizes)

3. Wood stain in the color of your choosing

4. Paint (I used chalk paint in white for my tables)

5. Painters tape

~Start by sanding each piece to make it smooth

~Stain first. I restained the tops of each of my tables and then let them dry for 48 hours.

~Tape off any areas of the tables or furniture where you don't want paint to make sure you have clean lines.

~Paint. It took me about 3 coats to get my desired look and effect.

~Let furniture dry for about 48 hours after you apply the final coat.

~Sand and distress. Have fun with this part- this is how you really make your piece unique! I sanded legs, corners and centers of the underside of my tables and love the result.

~Optional step: Apply a clear/finishing coat. I didn't do this because I like the look and feel of the chalk paint but some people prefer a more satin-y finish.

Voila! Your furniture, modernized by you!

DIY Modern Farmhouse Decor

After we maxed out our furniture budget and I redid the pieces I wanted to, I decided I would need to DIY a few decor pieces before we went broke furnishing the new house. I came across a simple stack of books at a vintage shop in East Texas and couldn't wait to remake it myself!

Vintage Book Stack Decor:

You will need:

Several old books (I picked several up at Arlington Resale)

White spray paint

Twine

Decorative (fake) flowers

Stamps

1. Remove jacket from books. Smooth the binding to remove any excess glue.

2. Spray paint books white and let them dry. 

3. Decide on a saying to stamp on the book bindings and stamp. How about "Kindness is everything" or "Happiness is contagious."

4. Stack books together. Bind them with twine.

5. Add flowers for decoration on top.

Voila! A gorgeous, simple craft that can be placed on a mantelpiece or bookshelf.

Modern Farmhoue is the theme of the first floor of my house, and I love it! I get regular compliments about how open and bright my space is. I have accessorized with fun clocks (purchased from Big Lots!), vintage frames with pictures of my sweet girls (from Hobby Lobby) and canvasses and pictures with fabulous sayings. 

What DIY projects have you found to make to accessorize your Modern Farmhouse?

Boredom Buster: A DIY Backyard Fire Pit You Can Make In An Afternoon!

It's not a secret that I love Fall!

The leaves are changing, pumpkin spice is life and crisper, cooler evenings mean that I can comfortably be outside in a sweatshirt and jeans- my favorite attire of all time! When we moved last summer, my husband and I both knew we needed a yard that would offer us something to do all year long. 

So, we got a large in-ground pool for the summer months, a trampoline for the kids for cooler months and a fire pit (and a fire table!) to enjoy whenever we want to! (Click here to see the in-depth tutorial I did for Zulily!)

I'm not the savviest DIY-er (not that I don't want to be!), so when my husband mentioned building our own backyard fire pit, I figured I was signing on for a weekend-long affair that would cost a lot of money and test my marriage (you know, the same way a desk from IKEA does). When he dismissively assured me we could complete the project in a matter of hours for less than $100, I figured we weren't envisioning the same fire pit. 

But, low and behold, he was right and I was wrong (and he's not smug at all about it). After a quick trip to Lowe's (my husband's version of my Target) for a few supplies, he and I had a DIY backyard fire pit built in less time than it normally takes us to figure out what to watch on TV any given evening. 

Here is how we DIY-ed our own fire pit.

- We have a perfect shady spot in the corner of our yard with a tree whose branches are fairly high off the ground and a large patch of dirt where grass refuses to grow. 

-We brushed all dried leaves out of the way and cleared the ground of all debris, and then marked the circular fire pit we wanted to make with white spray paint on the ground. 

-After that, we securely stacked paving stones as close together as possible in rows until we reached our desired height. 

-From here, my husband secured them together with mortar, although this step is entirely optional. If your bricks or blocks are fit snugly enough together, you may not need to adhere them to one another. We also have curious kiddos who we worried might try to sit or stand on the blocks (kids!) and we didn't want them to come loose and fall on precious toes. So we decided to use mortar to make our fire pit more secure. 

After we completed our DIY backyard fire pit to our liking, we filled the bottom of the pit with pea gravel. My husband also contemplated pavestones and river rocks here, as both would provide a flame retardant base on which to build a fire that would look pretty when the pit wasn't in use. But we ultimately ended up going with pea gravel.

We purchased a grate to go over our fire pit when not in use so that debris (and even small animals) doesn't clog up our fire pit. We are hoping to get a grill to go over it to use in the Spring to grill meat on!

We enjoy this fire pit endlessly with our girls. We use it to roast marshmallows and hot dogs, and my husband frequently uses it to burn leaves. I even hosted a socially-distanced girls' night where we were able to place camping chairs at a safe distance to enjoy each other's company (and a few libations!) around the fire.

Here's the DIY tutorial my husband made me watch if you still need inspiration: YouTube Fire Pit Tutorial

I can't stress enough how easy this fire pit was to build! I was really convinced that a proper, aesthetically-pleasing firepit would be both expensive and time consuming to create and really advocated for buying one. We ended up being gifted a fire table by a family member as a housewarming gift and use it just as much as our fire pit, although the pit is better for roasting things like marshmallows. I'm so pleased with the outcome and can't wait to continue to use it as the temperatures drop more!

Have you ever built your own fire pit?

Boredom Buster! Fun DIY Winter Decor (with kids!)

I love Winter.

I love snow and hot cocoa and the crisp air. 

Sometimes, though, I have a hard time figuring out how to decorate my house after the holidays! I've packed up all the red and green, tucked away the ornaments and filed the holiday cards away until the next holiday season. I don't feel quite ready for the red and pink of Valentine's Day... So what do I use to decorate my house?

Check out some of the winter DIY decor I wrote about for Zulily!

One of my favorite DIY Winter decorations is a piece I actually made with my kiddos when they were little. I dipped their feet in black and white and made them into penguins on a canvas to commemorate that place in time (I'm in denial that my kiddos were ever actually that small!). It's a conversation piece every time someone walks through my door- "Oh my gosh, how cute is this little canvas? Is it really from 2014? Wow! I love it!" I plan to keep it for years!

Footprint Penguin:

1. Paint the outside of your kiddo's foot black, including toes. Paint the inside white. Press onto canvas.

2. Draw penguin's arms next to child's foot.

3. Decorate penguin's face with googly eyes, triangle nose and ribbon for a scarf.

4. Embellish any way you see fit!

Not all DIY Winter decor needs to be a keepsake at that level, but it is nice to create some unique pieces I won't find in stores (or, at least, version I borrow from stores and DIY myself!). I did a great article recently for Zulily's blog all about awesome DIY winter decor- check it out here!

I love that trees are now trendy decor well past the holidays. Pine trees covered in snow remind me of winters growing up in Illinois. I literally didn't ever think I would miss winter once I left Illinois. Eighteen of those rough winters plus four more in Missouri were plenty, thankyouverymuch. But isn't it funny how, the older you get, the more you long for the comforts of your youth? Now, tree decorations in January can be used to remind me of my northern Illinois winters right here in Texas- and these pompom trees are easy and fun for kids and adults to make! All you need is Styrofoam cones in different sizes, a hot glue gun and pompoms in whatever colors float your boat.

Styrofoam Trees

1. Take Styrofoam cone and stand it up on table.

2. Attach pompoms with hot glue to cone in any desired pattern.

3. Voila! Easy and gorgeous tabletop decor.

I've also got my sights on some fun Mason jar crafts for Winter. There are so many ideas floating around on Pinterest on how to make Mason jar snow globes and other fun winter crafts. My friend Julie at Julie Measures has so many tutorials I can't wait to try out once the rush of the holidays ends.

What crafts will you and your kiddos make this winter?