Easy Coffee Can Dye Shirt

Easy Coffee Can Dye Shirt

Here is a fun and easy patriotic crafting project just in time for the 4th of July! With a few supplies and a few bits of time, you can create unique and fun designs to put some sparkle into your summer.

Here’s what you’ll need:

White cotton or cotton-blend tank
Red and Blue liquid dye
A coffee can
Rubber band
White acrylic paint
Fabric medium
Crystal or crystal look embellishments.



Here’s how you do it:

1.Wet the shirt and wring it out. Lay it flat and begin folding the shirt into a long rectangle, keeping in mind that the parts of the shirt that will take the most color on are the parts closest to the dye. Roll the rectangle into a log that narrow enough to fit into the coffee can with about an inch of room all the way around. Secure with a rubber band in the center of the log.

2.Mix the lighter (red) dye according to the package directions and fill the can about half way- keeping in mind the height of your rolled shirt. (The dye should reach up to about half of the height of the log when it is in the dye.)

3.Stand the log on end in the coffee can. The dye should reach about halfway up the shirt. Let it sit for about an hour. Go grab a cup of coffee, run an errand, catch up on your great summer read.

4.Carefully remove the shirt from the dye. Leaving the shirt rolled, run the log under hot water, letting the water run from the top of the un-dyed end through the bottom of the dyed end. Continue until the water runs pretty clear. Squeeze any excess water out and repeat steps 2-4 with the  darker (blue) dye.

5.Unrole the shirt and rinse in hot soapy water until water runs clear. Let it dry.  

6. Mix 2 parts white acrylic pain with 1 part fabric medium.

7. Lie shirt flat with a barrier layer between the front and back of the shirt. Stencil on stars in desired pattern.

8. Embellish tips of stars with crystals if desired. Enjoy!!

Tips: 

 
ALWAYS handwash this project separately. It may bleed to other fabrics if washed together.

The tighter the shirt is rolled, the lighter the interior of the roll will be. Looser it is rolled, the more colorful the interior. 

You may want to wear plastic gloves while doing this project. Dye may stain your hands.

You Don't Have To Be An Artist - You Can Just Be Practical!

If you stop by this blog often, you may have seen several of the crafting videos that I have posted here.

I am often told how creative or artistic I am.  But the reality is, I really don't think I am all that creative or artistic - at least not in the traditional sense.  I craft and create because of a need of something, or because I just don't want to spend the money to buy something.

I am PRACTICALLY CRAFTY!

In the video below, a segment on a recent Local TV Morning Show, I had the honor of sharing two project ideas that can be used to "cross craft" to make many other projects.  It combines the techniques used in the Blinged Out Flip Flops video and the I Tip My Cap To National Crafting Month Posts.  The result of using a bit of fabric, a few rhinestones, and the right kind of glue results in the ability to make countless gifts, decor items, or fun and cute accessories for yourself - like the projects  you see in the photo above.

Enjoy, and have a blast being PRACTICALLY CRAFTY!



Video Courtesy Sonoran Living Live, ABC 15.

I Tip My Cap To You! A Tribute Craft To National Craft Month!

This morning as I was rushing to get out the door for the usual Saturday rush of activities - I once again wished I had a nice and fashionable black hat to don my head.  I've thought the same thing a thousand times, and always settled for a cap that didn't quite match. I'd just grab what I could to put atop my head. Little did I know at the time, that my afternoon project would not only grant my wish for a  fantastic black cap, but it would also be a fitting project for an AZ Mom of Many Hats, and a tribute to National Craft Month.


I made one... and you can too!
Here is how you can take a plain cap and make it an original masterpiece - in about an hour. 


Start with a plain cap. You can purchase a new one, or go to your trusty ball cap collection and re-purpose one that you already have. Which ever you choose what you end up with will be beautiful and unique!






Cut pieces of fabric scraps into designs that you'd like to see on your hat.  I wanted a floral theme on mine and happened to have a piece of fabric with flowers printed on them. Press the pieces with an iron to eliminate any wrinkles. Place the pieces on the hat in the positions that you want to adhere them in. If you can, try to put the cap on your head so you can see what it looks like on - sometimes it makes a difference in how the final placement looks. 

When you are happy with the placement, use fabric glue and tack down fabric in the center of the piece.  Do this will all pieces. Once all pieces are tacked, use a brush or toothpick to apply more glue to the edges of the pieces. Note: My glue favorite is Gem Tack Flexible glue by Beacon - it's for adhering gems, but works wonderfully for this project.



Once they have dried, use a tooth pick to place dots of glue around the edges of the fabric and adhere rhinestones.  Let it all dry - and in about an hour you have a fantastically fashionable cap! 

 Enjoy!