Dyeing Playsilks

You may be wondering why I bought Kool-Aid and why in the world I would take a picture of it!  Well, I used it to dye silk scarves, other wise known as playsilks.  I have been wanting to try this craft for a while now since Jack is at the perfect age for a game of peek-a-boo.  As many of you know, I prefer open ended, natural toys.  Actually, toys that light up and make noise cause me to cringe!  A playsilk is a perfect imaginative toy.  It can become a cape, blanket, belt, headpiece, decoration, streamer, fort... really anything a child can come up with!  It really is a fun process (well, maybe except for the rinsing and rinsing...) and older children will enjoy helping you.

I purchased 3 different sizes (35x35, 22x22, 6x24) from www.dharmatrading.com and they included 1 (8x54) free with my first purchase!  There are lots of tutorials on the web which I found very helpful.  I do recommend pre-washing the silks first.  I only did that for one of mine and it took the dye the best.  I also used gloves and I highly recommend them especially if you don't want rainbow colored hands!  As a side note: kool-aid dyeing also works on wool but I haven't tried that yet.

 The silks soaking up the dye.  The big metal bowl was for the blue silk which I did at a later date.

Jack was part of the process minus the Kool-Aid!

 The finished project!

In my experience, kids play more with their toys when they have a proper place for them and when they can see them.  For now, ours are in a basket, crib, carseat...

 He seems to really enjoy them!

Well, metal mixing bowls are fun too! :-)

I see many more of these in our future!  I think I am ready to try out the fort sized one but maybe I should wait a few more years!