Tie Dye Home Decor


This post is sponsored by iLovetoCreate, Tulip Tie Dye, and Blueprint Social. All opinions are my own though.

Tie Dye Home Decor; msalishacarlson.com/
Summer is such a fun time. Warm weather, outdoor activities, cookouts, campfires… and tie dye! Tie dye is more than just t-shirts! It’s bags and party decorations and home decorations! I’m thrilled to share with you how you can tie dye your summer and your home for even more color and fun!

On Friday I hosted a Ladies’ Night Out Tie Dye & Dessert night to create our fabulous new home decor items. Danishes, cookies, fruit salad, and wine awaited our friends, but the real smorgasbord was the table of tie dye goodies. White T-shirts for a canvas and bottles upon bottles of colored dye captured our creativity! The possibilities were endless…

  • Rolls of burlap for table runners
  • No-sew t-shirt pillows
  • T-shirt pillows (that would need sewed)
  • Pillowcases
  • Wall hangings/canvases/decor

The wheels turned. Colors chosen. Aprons on. Rubber bands tightly wrapped around each piece. Dye applied. Then came the anticipation of what our tie dye creations would look like. One of the best things about tie dye is you can’t mess it up. Sometimes the color may not be exactly how you pictured it or you may get “extra” color markings, but that’s what makes it art. I love that Tulip Tie Dye includes a project guide technique sheet in each of their kits! Want to make a spiral design? Do this. Want to make a bullseye? Band your shirt that way. Or, you can always get creative on your own.

Rubber banding our tie dye projects; msalishacarlson.com/

I tried tie dying with bubbles. Wanting to make a decoration for my cousin’s lake cottage, I thought bubbles would be a fun way to apply color. I poured a little bubble solution into a cup and squirted in some dye. I chose a wand with several small holes since I was not working with a large space and wanted the bubbles to be smaller. Unfortunately, the wind didn’t really make bubbles a possibility for me. The bubbles that were blown flew away, some landing on the tablecloth. My t-shirt didn’t catch a single one. Instead it kind of looked like yellow spit splattered on the shirt, but it was interesting so I went with it! (The plastic tablecloth looked neat where the bubbles had landed. So I wouldn’t necessarily rule bubbles out as an option. Just pick a not so windy day or hang your shirt up so you can blow the bubbles on it directly.)

Alisha tie Dying with Bubbles; msalishacarlson.com/

Dodging flying yellow bubbles and in between sips of wine, my girlfriends were busy banding and dying their own shirts. Gloves, aprons, and wine glasses… classy! But we were mess-free and having a blast!

Tie Dye process; msalishacarlson.com/

 

I LOVE how all of our projects turned out! I tie dyed a pillowcase for each of my boys to match their bedrooms and the quilts their grandma had made them. (I used 330-count cotton pillowcases which held the color nicely.) The boys were so excited about their pillowcases when I surprised them with them. “Wow… look what’s on my bed! So cool! ” and then they ran to the next bedroom to see what their brother’s pillow looked like.

Boys' pillowcases with technique descriptions; msalishacarlson.com/

 

One of my girlfriends made a colorful accent pillow to contrast her navy blue comforter. After dying the t-shirt, she cut it to the size of the pillow she was using and sewed the t-shirt for her finished project! Her boyfriend thought it was so neat, he asked her to make him one too!

Jaime's pillow with technique; msalishacarlson.com/

 

And ta-da this is the decoration for my cousin’s lake cottage! It’s so bright and colorful… just perfect for sunny days and fun at the lake! I can’t wait to hand over this Thank You gift when we spend a weekend with her family at the cottage. Besides being fun to look at, it was fun to make and a much simpler project than I thought!

Better at the Lake tutorial; msalishacarlson.com/

Want one? Here’s a quick step by step of how to make your own customized wall art…

  1. Choose the technique and colors for the background. I blew yellow bubbles on a plain white t-shirt to begin. Then using the bullseye technique, I rubber banded the rest of the shirt and applied navy blue, yellow, and cyan dyes. I let the t-shirt sit overnight and without washing, ironed the shirt to prep it for framing.
  2. I had purchased this piece of framed artwork because I loved the vintage look of the frame. The metal crown was simply attached with two screws and could easily be removed. Hubby helped me by removing the crown, pulling the backing off the frame, and pulling out the small tacks that held it together. After the frame was apart, I wrapped the tie dyed t-shirt around the backing (centering the tie dye artwork) and cut away the excess part of the t-shirt. I simply adhered the t-shirt to the backing with double-sided tape and re-attached the backing to the frame with a staple gun.
  3. Knowing I wanted my artwork to be customized for the lake, I found a small 7″x7″ plaque on clearance at the craft store. I repainted the edges of it with a turquoise paint to match the tie dye.
  4. Using a free online design service, PicMonkey, I quickly typed out the text for the plaque. Since PicMonkey is only for creating the design, I had to finish it. Using Microsoft Publisher, I inserted a box the size of my plaque onto the page and outlined it in a light grey to give me the borders and straight lines for cutting out my sign. Next, I inserted the design by going to “Insert Picture”, finding my design, and opening it. A little re-sizing and it was the perfect fit for my plaque. Print, cut, and adhere with ModPodge.
  5. Lastly, using the same holes the crown had been attached to the frame with, my hubby drilled two screws in from the back to hold the plaque onto the frame.

 

Oh my goodness, there are so many fun ways to play with tie dye… even beyond t-shirts! Last summer we had a Backyard Camp T-shirt Tie Dye Party. The kids dyed their own shirts and we cooked out over the campfire. But I have to admit that hosting a Ladies’ Night Out Tie Dye & Dessert Party was even better! Want to hold your own party? Follow these tips in this video to make your party a success!

 

https://youtu.be/dMcLoEZGesE>

 

 

And for more great tie dye ideas, follow iLove to Create on social media:

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Wishing you lots of fun as you tie dye your summer and your home!
Alisha

Alisha

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