fabric dye and paint

I dyed my first onesies when I was pregnant with the small boy. It took me quite awhile to work up the courage to try it, but it was much easier then I had anticipated. Dana, over at Made, has a fantastic tutorial for fabric dyeing that I highly recommend. When I dyed the onesies, I used a bucket filled with hot water and Rit liquid dye. I stirred the mix every 10-15 minutes for an hour, rinsed the garments in the sink until no more color came out, and then washed everything in the washing machine. It was very simple, not nearly the messy monster that I had expected.

My neighbor will become a grandmother for the first time next month, and so I wanted to make something for her new grandson. I took some of the onesies that I had previously dyed and added a little paint.

This was the result:

I love stronger colors on baby boys, and the orange and blue dye turned out very well. It makes a simple white onesie look less like an undershirt.

On the blue shirt I used a moon stencil and silver glitter paint.

And for the orange shirt I made an iron-on stencil out of freezer paper. (The shiny side of freezer paper will adhere to clothing when you iron it.  Then, when you have finished painting and your design has dried, you can peel the stencil right off! There is a more complete tutorial by Dana here at Made)

For both shirts, I used a stamp set to make the lettering.

Because I had already dyed the shirts, the whole project took less then 30 minutes. This is perfect when you are trying to sneak in crafts while a certain small boy is seeping.

Vintage Thread Spools

Antiquing would be really fun if I had some serious funds available.  At this point though, I mostly window shop.  Every once in awhile I do find something inexpensive and fun to buy at an antique shop.  Like these wooden thread spools.

My grandma recently gave me a whole bunch more that she didn't want any more (Score!).  Hers actually had thread on them still.  To display them I have filled several jars with the threaded spools and I also use the jars for fabric weights.

I'm keeping my eyes out for more ideas on how to display or use these great spools!

And on another note...

If you've read our blog at all you're probably, "Really you took two months off?  Where have you been?"  I could go on an on about what Christina and I have been doing during this time.  However, instead of boring you with the details *although we're pretty exciting :) I'll just say that we learned a lot during our month of blogging and our time off, and we're now ready to move forward with more blogging!  

I am so excited for Birchwood & Almond this year!  We have been experimenting with different crafting techniques and materials, and can't wait to share that with you!

Elizabeth