This past weekend we were supposed to go away, see my grandpa and have a little holiday. Well, it didn’t work out. We ended up staying here at Poppy & Peeps (my parents). Cami was disappointed until I mentioned two things she loves: Rainbows & Crafts.
boiled in vinegar
We started with a silk. We boiled the silk in a water vinegar mixture. I normally pre-soak using a 3 cups water, 1/2 cup vinegar ratio. I brought my water to a boil, then left it on medium-low for about half an hour. I then took the silk out of the water and made it straight.
making the dye
I had seen over here dying yarn with Easter egg dye, so I was sure it would work just fine with silks. Buying them at 70% off, I knew we had to try. We followed the package direction. Cami dropped one tablet into each cup that contained 1/2 cup water & 1 T. of vinegar. We then placed a portion of the playsilk in a casserole dish and poured the first color. We patted it in and continued forward with the next color.
pouring dye
We used an old towel to dry up the leftover dye in the dish each time she poured a new color on a new portion, it wasn’t too much. Most stayed soaked into the actual silk.
colorful
After pouring and patting in each color, I once again dried out casserole dish.
prepped for sunshine
We arranged the silk within it, covered it with plastic wrap and set it outside for about an hour to let the colors set in.
after sunshine
Next we brought it in and rinsed it out.
rinsing
Cami was very much into rinsing and then wringing it out.
wringing
The end result was *gasp* “so beautiful” Cami said. This morning I caught her enjoying a cute little picnic with Ellie on it.
rainbow

My Camille is such a rainbow lover, so this was such a perfect project for her. She declared to me a few months back that when she turns 5 she would like a rainbow party. She’s at this crazy phase of four that sometimes can include whining. When I tell her “Cami, tell me what you have to be thankful for.” She so often responds “Nothing … except Rainbow Heart Balloon Flowers.” Haha, all of her favorites rolled into one, I just love it.

Updates to Post:
• I buy my silks at Dharma Trading Co. (although I do keep my eyes open when thrifting)
• The size silk we used was 35X35 inch scarf.
• In this project we set ours out in the hot sun for about an hour or so, but the sun is variable. If you want to be certain with this particular project you could place it in the microwave for 2 minutes.
• One other note on silk painting and rainbow dying. When we’ve finished both of these projects, before rinsing the colors are very dark and saturated. Don’t be worried (I am almost every time). Once you rinse the silk out the colors will appear lighter.

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