Cool craft for young and old.
By tammyr
@tammyr (5946)
Etowah, Tennessee
May 9, 2007 11:55am CST
this is so easy a 3 year old can do it, and yet teens as well as adults will have fun with it too!
We all know what tye-dye is and the mess and time with it. Well this gives the look of tie-dye on paper. You can be very creative in your design for any number of combinations!
You will need:
Paper towels
wash-able magic markers
Spray bottle of wter
Each person takes a paper towel and crumples it until it is soft and flexable, but not enough to make holes in it. Now crumble, twist, or fold up the towel. The way you do this determines the pattern.
Then make marks on the paper towel with the markers. Be random or symmetrical, what ever your choice.Be sure to use plenty of marker, but leave some space between the colors for them to bleed and combine.
When you have marked it as you want it, spray it with water. Be sure the whole thing gets wet, but not dripping wet.
Lay your towel down on another towel and roll it up in the second paper towel. This will dry some of the water allowing it to dry a little faster, as well as absorb some of the color making a new design.
all of it and lay flat to dry.
Then get ready to try a new design!
This would also be good practice before trying your hand at actual tie-dyeing!
for design tips/ways to tye:
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/howtotiedye.shtml
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/tiedye/a/041601a_4.htm
9 people like this
14 responses
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
9 May 07
fun fun fun. great project for the preschooler to do! now I will have to run out and buy some paper towels, I do not think paper napkins will hold up to the project, lol. Easy and interesting results, that makes a good craft activity for the young folk. thank you for sharing this creative idea.
4 people like this
@GardenGerty (160949)
• United States
10 May 07
Modestah, coffee filters are great for the craft and more durable.
2 people like this
@mamacathie (3928)
• United States
9 May 07
That is a great idea. My grandson did that with coffee filters. He gathered it in the middle and put a clothespin in it and made a butterfly with a magnet on the back for my fridge. Fun idea!!!
3 people like this
@royal52gens (5488)
• United States
10 May 07
Actually, the one in the Brownie book shows the reverse. Hope you don't mind me making the correction. It shows that the color of black will separate in to all the colors of the rainbow. You are separating, not mixing, colors in that experiment.
1 person likes this
@tammyr (5946)
• Etowah, Tennessee
9 May 07
Not with the wash-able markers. They would just wash out. I am not sure the permanent markers would spread as easy. It ia great practice before doing tie-dye. That way, you can know what folds and designs you like. The links will help you learn to tie-dye with fabric as well as how to fold both for some designs.
2 people like this
@sherry_navilla (420)
• Slovak Republic
10 May 07
this is really a cool craft.. it allows creativity for kids and it's safe.. it's like a paper mache made easy and i think it would be fun to do but would be kinda messy so.. we have to do this at some place we cannot be afraid of spilling glue all over.
3 people like this
@bluewings (3857)
•
11 May 07
This is really cool! I looked at the first link and the cloth that's shown there seems to be a T-shirt.I had some dyeing experience on shirts with my friends.We did that on our shirts and it came out real good,but on towels it should be much simpler as no pattern is also a pattern,lol.This is fun.
3 people like this
@GardenGerty (160949)
• United States
10 May 07
I am going to add to your idea: Use a round coffee filter, do the same process. They are more durable than most paper towels. Next, you can pleat the filter, then twist a pipe cleaner around it, leaving ends loose. Fan out the filter on both sides, turn the ends of the pipecleaner out, like antennae of a butterfly. These are really pretty. Hang them, or glue clothes pins on back to clip them on things.
3 people like this
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
10 May 07
I just love about.com. There are just so many wonderful things on there. Thanks for sharing this with all of us. I have used about. com ever since I have had an internet connection. I love doing crafts too.
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
10 May 07
I did do an article on tie dying. Thanks for remembering.:)
2 people like this
@charms88 (7538)
• Philippines
9 May 07
Oh gee, tammy, thanks for sharing this one. I'm sure my girls will be having a blast with all the mess again, LOL. Its school vacation here in my country. They did nothing but to keep painting and doing some art works.
@susieq223 (3742)
• United States
18 May 07
That sounds like fun! I will have to try it. What are some things you can do with the paper after it's dry? Use in scrapbooking, cards?
1 person likes this
@daycarepal (1998)
• United States
19 May 07
Oh this is a really neat idea!! I love that you use washable markers. That will make clean up time much easier if you are doing this project with young children. I think this will be a fun project for my preschoolers. I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing!
1 person likes this
@ganeshkalki (37)
• India
10 May 07
Making of receips is my hobby. when we prepare good food it gives us happy and health also. here i am giving a sweet receip to get sweet things in our mind.Its name is carrot payasam.
carrots - 1kg, sugar-1kg, cardamom powder, saffron, roasted cashews,milk -1.5 litres. cut carrats in to samll peices and boil them in pressure cooker.Add saffron and grind it well. Heat this mixture (keep in very low flame) and add sugar. stirr constantly till sugar dissolves in the mixture. Add cardomam powdere. add boiled mild to this mixture. Mix well. Regrigerate. serve cold. Roast some cashews and add to the kheer just before serving
