Ah, summer, sweet summer. Nothing screams summer to me more than sunny weather, grill outs, fresh watermelon, and tie dye! I recently received a free box of tie dye curtesy of I Love to Create's Tie Dye Your Summer campaign... and I couldn't wait to try it out!
One of the things that we really enjoy doing is hosting parties for friends. When the school year came to a close, we invited hubby's work colleagues to a backyard grill out with a fun summer twist-- tie dying!
We decorated with these pretty DIY Tissue Paper Flowers and bulb lights.
And got the grill going!
Everyone also brought a dish to share.
One of Chuck's best friends came over.
So, I also prepped a couple of craft activities to occupy the two kids.
But honestly, the tie-dying kit was the star of the show. Here's what the box looked like:
Ok. Full disclosure here: I'm not a tie-dye master. Prior to the party, I only tie-dyed 2 times before. Fortunately for me, the kit contained almost everything we needed. We just had to supply the water, white pre-washed shirts, tubs to dye in, and gallon plastic bags to hold our dyed clothes. That's it!
The directions were really clear (which I appreciated a lot!)
Since it was my first time tie dying with a large group of people, I watched this video showing how to set up a tie dye station.
Ok. Back to the party. Of course, the preschoolers were the first to dive into the process. And boy, did they have fun squeezing out the dye!
And if you're thinking of doing this with little kiddos, here are some tips that I learned along the way:
- Set up your station beforehand! Cover the table with a plastic disposable table cloth. Prep your shirts with rubber bands. Put out the dying bins. Mix up the dye. Get your plastic gallon bags to hold finished clothes out. Then, call the little ones over.
- Wear old clothes.
- Wear gloves. Seriously. They kept hands from getting dyed!
- Remind the kiddos to squirt the dye downwards- not upwards into mommy's eye. (Yup. Enough said.)
- Really soak your white shirts with dye! (I held my son back from using up all the dye, but looking back, I think we would have just gone full force and used more color!)
After the kids finished, the adults got to work and they also had a lot of fun. Our parties are typically pretty low-key and simple. However, I always try to provide some sort of craft / activity for the attendees. In my opinion, it really makes the event fun and special!
And in case you're wondering, here's how our tie-dyed shirts turned out!
Chuck really loves his shirts.
I think he feels really proud wearing something that we dyed ourselves.
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Hope you are having a colorful and creative summer, friends!