My girls were their usual rambunctious selves yesterday and I needed something to keep them busy.. I figured that after they woke up from nap, we could make their tank tops that I’ve been avoiding since the idea came to me… I didn’t realize how much work it was going to be.. The girls had no idea what we were going to do… I just got everything together out in the garage.. since the wind out back was too much for us.. When they woke up, they just knew we were doing a craft, and that was exciting enough for them.

Items needed:

Plain white tank tops. We used Hanes girls’ under shirts.

Your choice of RIT Dye colors (or any dye you like)

Plastic containers to put the dye in. We like using the GladWare food storage containers. They’re inexpensive and disposable.

Rubber bands of all thicknesses and sizes (check the office/school supply aisles)

Lots of Newspaper, Plastic Table cloths, Anything to cover up and protect your work space.

So I had set up a little table out in the garage, and gathered all of the tops, a water spray bottle, a whole bunch of ziploc containers, and all of the tank tops and Rit dye… They were a little puzzled… wondering what all the stuff was that was piling up next to the table. I covered our work area with plastic garbage bags, and showed them what we were doing. Their eyes just lit up.

They took turns scrunching and pinching the shirts while I put the rubber bands in various locations. Once we got them all “tied”, I let them choose what color everything was going to be. If they chose a solid color, I let them place the shirt in the dye. If they wanted more than one color, I helped them out… They were wearing gloves, but the less contact with the dye, the better.

We put them all in a container, separated by color and let them sit. After a few hours of waiting, I went and rinsed all of the dye from the shirts. It was so much fun to see how our creations turned out! I hung them up to dry overnight, and checked them in the morning. WOW! Following the directions on the dye pack, I ironed them with the hottest setting, and hung them up just waiting to show the girls when they got up. It was almost like Christmas! They were so excited! I can’t wait for them to wear them!!! Check them out!!!

[nggallery id=12]