Monday, July 25, 2011

Tie-Dyed Socks on our Feet

Nobody, and I mean nobody, matches socks around here.

A giant hamper of clean socks lives in the closet. When Matt and I need clean socks, we dig through the hamper until we find a matching pair--it's very annoying. The girls are far less troubled, since when they need clean socks, they simply dig through the hamper until they find two socks that fit--no matching necessary, apparently. Well, Sydney, who is our clothes horse, does tend to search until she finds two "pretty" socks, but again, they definitely won't match.

For a long time it's been my dream to make sock matching an occupation of the past. To that end, for the past year or so I've allowed our sock supply to dwindle drastically, neglecting to replace holey or outgrown socks, until we each have just a few left. Then, I restocked us all with plain white socks from Dharma Trading Company.

Then, I set up the fabric dye in squeeze bottles--
--and spent an afternoon on the living room carpet with the girls tying off socks with rubber bands, and then we dragged them all outside and off we went:
The girlies each also tie-dyed white turtlenecks, hand-me-downs from an acquaintance that had just a couple of light stains on them:
Yes, I accept free stuff even if it's messed up. That's how my kids will be wearing tie-dyed turtlenecks this winter!

Poor Matt arrived home from work that afternoon to the horror of a backyard full of fabric dye and mess and just more mess. I won't say that he was thrilled to jump in, but he let himself be persuaded, taking just long enough that we wouldn't know that he was secretly going to enjoy himself:
Did I mention that tie-dye is messy?
I know you're supposed to wear gloves and all, but I don't like the feel of them, and what am I supposed to do with the girls? Encase them in head-to-toe plastic aprons like serial killers wear to chop up their prey?

Eh, we were just colorful for a while:
I let them fester in plastic bags in the yard for 24 hours, then gave them a good rinse--look how pretty!
And after a wash and a dry, we have a new season of socks!

To try it for yourself, you can check out my tie-dye tutorial over at Crafting a Green World--if you dare!!! Be forewarned that once again, I horrify my fellow green crafters by not using butterflies and flower petals for dyes--green crafters can be so cute with their righteous indignation.

P.S. Love family-friendly crafts? Then you'll love my Craft Knife Facebook page!

8 comments:

  1. Love it! I love the comment at the bottom about cute green crafters, and I agree completely. As long as you do a lot, it is fine to be "bad" occasionally.

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  2. That looks like a blast! I'm having a birthday party for my little cousin Katie and this looks perfect for her and her friends!

    It's probably not a good idea to reuse her old socks and I need a lot of them. Will any socks work? I was thinking about ordering a bunch from this Socks 4 Life website. What do you think?

    Nate!

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  3. I found you via Craft Gossip ---- I love to see real, free wheelin' fun going on. Plastic and clothing semi optional for everyone! (Wouldn't it be a nicer world?)

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  4. Sorry - was signed into my kid's account.

    They are the one's who's only sock requirement be that they aren't standing on their own at the time of need. I have no idea where they get that from. Really.

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  5. So, so cute!
    I think I'd prob'ly be in worse shape, I'd look for matching ones. :)

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  6. These are so fun!

    I run Fun Family Crafts, a site similar in nature to Craftgawker and Spotlight, but different in that it's a library of craft tutorials geared only at kids. I have featured your fun post here
    http://funfamilycrafts.com/tie-dye-socks/

    FFC also accepts submissions! Please consider this an invitation to submit as many kid friendly craft tutorials as you like. I look forward to seeing what you submit!

    If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above.

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  7. What a cute idea! I'm thinking these would be great gift ideas for baby legs this Christmas!!

    Just had to share a great way to keep socks a little more organized during the wash- give each person a lingerie bag for their socks, then throw the whole bag in the wash.

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