Dying to Tie Dye

As I’ve said before, Pinterest is a great place to find tons of things to add to your to-do list and then to feel bad about when you never get around to actually doing them do around the house, with the kids, etc. I heart Pinterest very much. (You can see all my boards here).

Last week, my fabulous friend Gina told me she was having her little sisters over for the weekend and she had tons of fun things planned – including one thing she found on Pinterest… tie-dying t-shirts with Sharpies. (You can see all of Gina’s boards here).

It just so happened that Kate’s friend and her sister were coming over to our house on Sunday, and I needed a way to entertain a three-year-old boy, and two seven- and one ten-year-old girls. Sharpie tie-dying sounded like the perfect activity – and it was.

Click the link above (or visit the Sharpie blog) for more in-depth instructions, but basically what you do is draw on a t-shirt with a Sharpie and then put drops of rubbing alcohol on it to make the colors spread (seriously, read the instructions, do not go by my lame description). (Incidentally, the master’s degree I haven’t managed to finish? It’s about writing instructions. Now it all makes sense, doesn’t it?)

Anyway, the kids had a blast (and frankly, so did the moms – we added to their little creations long after the kids forgot about them) and their t-shirts turned out quite cute.

Here’s Sam’s:

Give him a break, he’s three!

Here’s Kate’s:

In case the artistic talent of my kids isn’t enough to inspire you to try this project – check out the shirts Gina and her sisters made:

Clearly they are much craftier than we are!

Regardless, it was a fun activity for a wide age range, and we will definitely do it again.

And just for kicks – here’s the humongous bug we let into the house when we were outside decorating t-shirts.

It was quite an exciting evening!