Archive for June, 2011

This past week we got together with our cousins for a little tie dye activity.

We invited Jen, a tie dye expert, to come teach us how to tie dye.

Jen has been tie dying for a long time… she estimated she has dyed well over a thousand items.  She was so organized and knowledgeable it made our day incredibly fun… and not stressful in the least.

Jen started by having us toss our tees into a tub with water and sodium carbonate which is the main ingredient in washing soda.

We all provided our own tees.  The only criteria was they needed to be 98 – 100% cotton, but it really can be any natural fiber to take the dye.

The best part about tie dye is that you can “rescue” a stained or old shirt by giving it new life with dye.  Just carefully dye over the stain and voila… just like new.

The shirts only need a two minute soak… then we wrung them out….

And tossed them up on a drying rack.  The dye on a tee that is too wet will run all together.  Totally dry and the die will not soak in well.

Once the shirts are damp dry…

It was time to fold the shirts.  This was a cool method.  Lily is making a swirl by sticking a fork into the spot she wants the swirl to start, and then twisting.  Jen is making sure the shirt sort of folds neatly around the swirl.

Jen was amazing at knowing how the pattern would turn out and showed us how to make swirls, stripes, star bursts, and even hearts.

Here’s my husband’s tee, in the same swirl as the shirt above.  Then we put on the rubber bands like a pie that has been cut, a pie with three rubber bands to make six slices.  I dyed a different color of dye in each section.

Then it was time to dye.And dye some more.

Even the littler kids were able to dye their own shirts.  They LOVED it.

The hardest part was bagging up our shirts and waiting 24 hours to rinse them out and wash and dry them.

The suspense almost killed the kids.

All of the kids made their Tie Dye Shirts in Red, Blue, and Turquoise on their white shirts.

Come 4th of July we’ll all be sporting our tie dyed shirts at the neighborhood parade.

If you live in Utah County and are interested in having Jen create a tie dye event for you… here’s her contact information.  She provided everything we needed for our fun… including tables, a shade cover… and all the supplies except the shirts.  Her rates are very reasonable.   (PS.  it says St. George on her logo but she lives in Provo now.)

If you want to try dying on your own, there are lots of resources on the web.  Just Google how to tie dye.

Where do I start when writing a review for Arm and Hammer Baking Soda?

There are no two ways about it, baking soda is my favorite product for cleaning my home.  It is the most versatile and hardworking of any product I’ve ever tried.

A quick look through my cleaning posts and you’ll see what I mean… I use baking soda for everything from cleaning greasy pans to deodorizing carpets and laundry.

If you don’t use baking soda for cleaning you may be wondering, with so many fancy cleaning products out there, why do I turn to baking soda again and again?

There are a few reasons.

The first is cost.  Baking soda, especially when purchased in bulk from a warehouse store, or with a coupon, is such a good value.  It certainly costs less than buying a lot of separate cleaners.

The second reason is the eco-friendly impact it has on my home.  I’ve been able to replace highly toxic products with baking soda- a product I also use in pancakes and cookies.  After I became a mom, I started worrying about the products I was using around my kids. I didn’t want to “pollute” my home (and expose my family to toxic chemicals) in an attempt to clean.  So I started looking for safer solutions.  I tried different brands of environmentally friendly products, but cost was an issue.  Many of the “eco-friendly” products were too expensive to use on a regular basis, and some of them just didn’t work all that well.

Which brings me to the last, and best reason I turn to baking soda most often.  It works.

It really works.

It takes the odor out of stinky clothes.

It cuts through greasy splatters on my barbecue grill.

It removes crayon from walls and pencil smudges from my cream painted kitchen table.

It’ll scrub right through soap scum.

Basically it’s a rockin’ multipurpose cleaner… that really works.  And in the end that’s why I love Arm and Hammer Baking Soda.

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This is a sponsored post for Church & Dwight Co., Inc, the maker of ARM & HAMMER branded products, who is compensating me to try different products. Save 50¢ off two 2lb or 4lb boxes of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda. And be sure to visit The Switch & Save Challenge to tap into more resources and enter to win $25,000.