DIY: Dip Dying Your Closet

Know what I hate about getting older? Old Lady Knees. Do they make anti-wrinkle cream for kneecaps? I heard you can reduce wrinkles with hemroid cream, do you think that would work on my knees? Knowing my luck, I'd just end up with butt-knees. Which, if I Ben-ifer-ize it, sounds like Buh-knees. And who doesn't love bunnies!? Okay, I'll stop.

Alright, so I totally thought that the dip-dying-fad-train had left the station until I was in, wait for it...Anthropologie (gasp of surprise!) a coupla weeks ago. And that's when I saw this super summery gingham blouse with a lovely violet dip dye. Suddenly I had visions of myself enjoying summer days filled with estate sales, lazy lunches and crafty afternoons in this lovely little button-up. That is until the $79 price tag bit me like a "It Ain't Summer Yet!" snake. At which point I turned on my heel, got myself to Goodwill, snagged this gingham Target blouse and dip dyed my own. Take that, you grouchy gingham (did I just have an imaginary convo with a shirt? I think I did).

 Since we're engaging in imaginary conversations, here's what I'm guessing Anthro girl is sayin' about me as she looks on in $79-less wonder: "Oh my gawd, Becky. Look at her shirt. It is so not $79. She must be one of those Anthro-knock-off girls." (Does this reference show my age? Not gettin' it? Go here.)

Turns out I'm completely addicted to dip-dying. Who knew? I found this to be a very easy, albeit messy, craft. I've now breathed new dip-dyed life into three garments  (I'll share the third next week). The key is using the best dye you can get your mitts on...

Please, I beg of you, do not use that grocery store dye! You can pick Procion dyes up in every color imaginable at Dharma Trading Company. You'll also need:

• Soda Ash (helps your fabric absorb and retain the dye)
• Non-iodonized salt Hit the grocery store for this one but read the label. Most salt is iodonized.

Beautiful Blue.

For the most clear and concise of dying directions, I recommend those on the Dharma website. You can find it here.

Because I was only dying part of the shirt, I had to go a different route that what was written in the directions. So here's how I went about my dip dye:

1. Wash your shirt. Because it's dirty and smells of thrift store. Or, if it's new, wash it to get all of those new clothing chemicals out that might prevent the dye from dying. 
2. Double bag your shirt. If you don't want any dye on the top of the shirt, bag it accordingly. 
3. Prepare your dye bath. You know, light some candles, pour a nice glass of wine...oh, wait, I said dye bath. In that case, dissolve your amount of dye in a small amount of water and add that to your large bucket of water. Pour in your measured amount of salt and mix until dissolved.
4. Add your shirt to the bath. Because your want a gradation of color, you'll want to soak your shirt in certain time intervals. For the top part, I soaked the shirt, for 5 minutes; pulled it out a little bit and soaked for 10; a little more, soaked for 20 and the bottom I soaked for 50 because I completely forgot about it sitting outside. 
5. Add the soda ash. Dissolve that stuff in a cup of hot water and add to the dye bath as your shirt is soaking. 
6. Rinse and repeat. Rinse that shirt in hot water until it runs clear. Then rinse it some more in cold water. Throw it in the dryer and, viola! Dip dying done!

Yay, shirt complete! By the way, notice the couple drops of blue dye near my right arm in the back photo? Oops. Did I say "double bag it"? Make the triple.

And since I had that big blue dye bath, I thought I'd experiment with this super old Forever 21 dress. My original plan was to simply dye the midsection using this vintage dress (third one down) as my inspiration.

So this time, I bagged the ends, folded it in half and let that soak in the dye bath for 30 minutes. When it was finished, I found it to be just a little boring. So I mixed up some fuschia dye and this time just soaked the ends. And what you see below is the result.

Super easy and on-the-cheap craft. And I think it will be the perfect thing to wear when introducing the cool colors to the kids. Right after I slap that 'roid cream on my knees.

What the Art Teacher Wore #62

California Dreamin' Monday: Still had my mind in Cali what with all the bright colors and sunshine. I tried to make the most of it on this dreary weather Monday. sweater: Awesome, isn't it? And on the cheap too at Forever 21; skirt, turquoise tights: Target; glitter fishnets: TJMaxx; shoes: Dolls by Nina

Okay, I dunno what the weather is doin' where you are, but here it's finally divine. After a week of dreary and rainy days, I am just thrilled. So much so that I've even (foolishly) started packin' up my winter clothes and bustin' out the summer duds. However, there are some things in my disturbingly overcrowded closet that qualify as "spring wear." You know, like a pink wool dress or a long sleeved Easter-Sunday-esque frock. The kind of stuff that only works in April. So I decided to don those little numbers while there was just enough chill in the air for me to do so.

As for the artist I'm sharing with you this week, I have a confession: I've been feeling a little uninspired (read: lazy). When this happens, I like to flip through my art books that have pretty much been collecting dust since I discovered (read some more: became addicted to) pinterest. One of my faves has always been my book on the Finnish design company Marimekko. I thought I'd share my favorite designer from that company with you: Annika Rimala.

Annika Rimala: Can I just confess my secret girl crush on this amazing designer? I mean, everything about her just speaks coolness: from her bobbed hair to that awesome dress created from her designs. Annika Rimala worked her way up in the Marimekko company and was chief fashion designer for 20 years. By the way, if you aren't familiar with Marimekko, go here and be prepared to be slapped-in-the-face amazed. Image here.

Those Shoes with that Dress, What the What?!: Sorry, big hurry means big ugly. Don't get me wrong, I like the shoes, just not with that, that and that. In fact, when I walked into my principal's office to ask her a questions she screamed, " Ugh! Get out! Too much color, it's hurting my eyes!" Some people. sweater: vintage, thrifted; dress: Talbots, thrifted; tights: Target; shoes and belt: thrifted...wow! Almost entirely thrifted outfit!

Linjavitta dress, 1967 So my girl Annika is all about the bold patterns. Everything is big, bright and in your face. But in a happy way. She began at Marimekko in the children's department and I wonder if that influenced her design aesthetic. I also love that her design is a departure from the flowery and paisley patterns of the late 1960s. Her work looks modern even today. Image here.

Spring Coat Wednesday: I love this Anthro coat but it has such a small window of wear-time. It makes me super happy so I had to share it. pink dress: vintage, St. Louis; fishnets: Target; shoes: Fluevog

Everything about this photo makes me long for summer. Except the barefoot part. I've tender-bottomed feet. Image here.

Flowery Thursday: Have you planted any yet? I'm too afraid to. I just know we'll have one last freeze before the summer hits. dress: vintage, thrifted; jacket: Forever 21; tights: Target; shoes: Softt

 Gioia - Annika Rimala's Petrooli Pattern, 1963 How can you improve polka dots? By placing dots within dots. Genius. Check out this blog for an indepth account of Marimekko and Annika.

Favorite Color Friday: This color makes me happy. The color of a sunny day sky, a clear blue ocean, a fresh breeze, the super sour part of one of those red, white and blue popsicles you can only get from the ice cream man. dress: vintage, antique shop in TN; tights: Target; belt: Forever 21; shoes: Indigo by Clarks; poodle pin: ebay

Dress, 1963 Can I please have a golden yellow Vespa with an Annika Rimala vintage dress to match? Is that really too much to ask? Although the minute I'd try that no-hands, I'm-King-of-the-World pose, I'd slide off the tail end and wind up with a bruised bum. So forget it, bad idea. Just the dress please and thank you.

Oh! And by the way, thank you so much for all of your positive feedback on my last post! It was fun to try a different approach to my usual "In the Art Room" updates. I truly appreciated your kind words, they meant a lot.

In the Art Room: A Day in the Life

Entering the Art Room: I have a long strip of blue tape on the floor near my doorway. I'll usually greet the students at the door with a "Please stop at the end of the blue line". While there, I chat with the kids for just a moment about what we'll be up to today. On this day there was a lot of, "why are you taking pictures of our feet?!" Duh, foot fetish.

As an art teacher, I am always super curious how other art teachers run their classroom. I want to know all about their routines, procedures, how they get the kids to clean up because Lordie knows I struggle with that. So I thought I'd share with you a glimpse into just how a 1/2 hour art class looks in my room. I'm hoping this will inspire other art teacher bloggers to share a similar story. I'd love to bring some fresh ideas into my world. 

So, let me tell you what you are about to see: I attempted to snap some photos at each phase in my art class. Because my time with the kids zips by at the speed of light, I wasn't able to capture just one class. This is a montage of a second, kindergarten and third grade class. Each has a fairly similar routine so I think you'll get the idea.

The Art Supply Store: Aka "the store". At the store I lay out all of the supplies that the entering class might need. Because I see between 8-9 different classes in a day, I usually have to change out the supplies right before each class enters. That blue line I mentioned before dead ends at the store. This way, I can tell the kids what they need to grab and they can collect it as they enter the room. Side Note: I try to keep all supplies needed throughout the art class at The Store. This way, whenever the kids need anything, they know they can find it there.

Going Shopping: This is what we call our supply gathering routine. On this day the kids were beginning a self-portrait painting lesson. Once at their seats, they drop off their supplies, write their name and teacher codes in pencil on the paper. As soon as that's complete, they join me on the floor. This takes about 5-7 minutes.

Meet Me on the Floor: On some occasions, no supplies are immediately needed. That's when I'll ask the kids to bypass the store and make a first and second row on the floor.  About this Mess: I know what you're thinking, "What a mess of stuff!" You call it messy, I called it organized chaos. Each of those boxes on the left is a different class, labeled and ready for me to pass back. My demonstration supplies for each class are resting on top of the boxes.

Demonstration Time: This is a group of kindergarteners about to embark on paper weaving. I have found that when teaching weaving a giant loom really helps if they're paying attention (yeah, I'm talkin' to you, Striped Shirt). After I have given a demonstration, I run through all of the directions again using call and response. Not sure what I mean? In my room, it goes like this: I'll clear my throat and that's the signal that anything I'm about to say, the kids are to repeat. It almost sounds like a little ditty with lots of hand gestures and voice inflections. I have found that this really helps the kids remember the directions they are to follow.

Working on the Floor: This doesn't happen very often unless it's an activity where I'll need to check on a lot of children at once. So with this kindergarten weaving project, we changed our two seated rows on the floor into one giant circle. While in this circle formation, the kids wove and I could walk around the outside of the circle and help those that needed it.

Peer Tutoring: Oh how I love peer tutoring. The kids love to help each other and are often better at explaining the concepts to their friends than I am! It amazes me. In this weaving situation, I had the students who successfully completed their weavings help their friends who were struggling. The key is that they are to help not do it for them. That's sometimes a concept they don't quite grasp.

Creating: Most of the time, the kids work at their assigned seats. Each of my tables seats four students and each table is assigned a color. On each table in one of the four corners is a star that coordinates with the color of the table and has a number on it, one thru four. During art class, we have "art jobs". You can kind of see a list of these written on the board in the demo photo. Sorry, should have taken a better photo. My jobs include: Art Room Sheriff and Deputy (in charge of keeping order and quiet voices); Table Caller (calling the best tables to line up first); Hosts of the Smartest Artist (the wrap-up game we attempt to play most days); and, everyone's favorite: The Clean Up Band...

The Clean Up Gong: If this doesn't motivate you to clean up your act, I mean art, nothing will. Hubs bought me this gong for our 10th wedding anniversary (yes, you read that correctly). The kids absolutely love it. Funny story:  I was running late (as usual) and so we were scrambling to clean up. My Clean Up Gong'er for the day was OTL (out-to-lunch) and forgot to do his job. So as the teacher walked in to collect her students, one little girl yelled at the Gong'er, "Hit the bong! It's time to hit the bong!" Yeah, I had a little bit of 'splainin'  to do that day.

Clean Up Drums: I don't play drums nor do I know how. I do know how to play a "fill" and that's what I taught the kids at the beginning of the year. So, when it's their turn to play the drums, they play that little beat. As you can tell, they kinda love it.

The Clean Up Chime: Crazy, right? But it's funny, the kids have this down. They'll usually play in this order: drums, gong, chime. They will all get in their places, look at me and when I say, "Hit it!" they have at it. Then I'll usually play "Celebrate" by Kool and the Gang. With all this racket, clean up time can be a little busy. Especially since we are usually down to the wire on time. Once the students have cleaned up, they are to stand behind their pushed-in chair. Then they wait for the Table Caller to tell them to line up.

Lining Up: This is the doorway which the students entered the art room. It's also the exit. What's not shown in this photo is that blue line of tape on the floor. You can read more about The Masterpiece Gallery here.

The Smartest Artist: So The Smartest Artist is this wrap up game we play at the end of class (if time allows). There's the host and hostess on the right with their microphones looking at the contestants standing on that blue line. In the foreground is our score keeper. You can read more about The Smartest Artist here.

At the End of the Day: I love my job. I don't love the clean up. Been trying to convince the book keeper that some of my art supply funds should go toward a housekeeper.

So there you have it, a peak into a half an hour of artsy'ness. I look forward to hearing what it is you do in your room that works like a charm. Because if it's one thing I've never been called, it's charming. Thanks for dropping by!

DIY: Felted Floral Sweater

Warning: This post is full of photos taken by my hubs. Usually the photos you see on this here blog are taken by me and my 10 second timer. Press the button, run in front of the camera, attempt to look natural and SNAP!, picture taken. With hubs, it's a little different. Strangely, I'm more self conscious. Probably because of the constant commentary which has me cracking up. My favorite? After I complained that the photos didn't look so hot, hubs quipped, "well, let's take some more and attempt to put some whipped cream on this crap-pie." And, yes, I do believe I was the crap-pie he was referring to. Sigh.

So, as usual, this DIY story begins with me drooling over some uber expensive piece at Anthropologie. Case in point: that lovely embroidered number on the left. Them crazies wanted something like $198 for that thang! Do you know how much whipped cream that would buy?! Why, I'd be the best tasting crap-pie in town. And I already had this thrifted Banana Republic sweater just sitting in my closet like a blank canvas. So, in normal Cassie fashion, I decided to copy that little piece. Like I said, same DIY story, different day.

I know what you're thinking: dang, girl, another felted sweater? Or maybe that's not what you're thinking, my ESP skills have always been lacking. Regardless, can you believe I've not gotten over this felting bug that bit me way back with this first Anthropologie DIY?  Since then, I've felted sweaters of birds, flowers and my cat. I've found I really enjoy the process because it combines two things that I love: creating pictures and creating clothing. 

But enough about that. Lemme show you the basics of how I crafted the flowers. To begin, hit the thrift store or your closet and get yourself some sweaterage. Wool roving and needle felting tools can be picked up at your local craft store. I began by pulling a long thin amount of roving and folding it over my finger as shown on the left. I slipped that off my finger and ended up with the loop on the right.

Lay it onto the sweater...

...and commence stabbing. As you punch the roving, it's fibers sink into and interlock with the sweater. This causes the size of the roving to shrink a bit. That's why the blue flower on the left looks so much smaller than the one I'm punching.

Once finished with one flower pedal, follow the same steps to create the second one. They resemble heart shapes and already have me thinking up a Valentine's Day sweater. Never too early to get a jump start, says me. For the dot in the middle, I used a very small piece of felt that I rolled between my fingers and punched into place.

For the flower stems, I initially used green roving. But I just couldn't get the felt to cooperate. So I discovered a stash of 100% wool yarn in my sewing room (the things I have buried in there!) and decided to try it instead. It works beautifully. In the photo above, I've simply laid the yarn out where I want it to be punched and started stabbing away.

And this is a little what the end result of that looks like. For such things as the flowers with multiple pedals, I followed the same steps as the heart shaped flower. Really, you can create any ole shape with roving. Just use your needle tool to shape the flower, strawberry, leaf, stem, you-name-it as you go.

Wait! This pie needs more whipped cream! By the way, that dip-dyed blouse under my sweater is yet another Anthro-copy that I plan to share with you next week.

Probably my favorite photo from our day out. You can see the back of the collar and the little sprinkle of flowers on my shoulders. Did I tell you I kinda love this sweater? You know what I really love? $198 in my pocket.

Now I'm not gonna lie, this sweater took me ages. Mostly because it was one of those work-on-here-and-there projects. But I'm happy I finished it even if I've only got a matter of weeks to wear it. You'll have to let me know if you've given felting a shot. I'd love to see what you've created!