DIY: Dye It Yourself!

After a very busy week (having two jobs isn't all it's cracked up to be) I am back at it crafting for you all! Today's project was inspired by a link I saw on Pinterest. There is a tutorial on the Rit Dye website for dyeing your own buttons to custom colors. I have to admit I was intrigued, so I decided to test it out for all of you and here are my results:

First off, I found it next to impossible to find buttons that actually stated what they were made from, so I had to assume that the ones I found were nylon based and would take the dye. The package I bought was from Favorite Findings, and is purchasable at most craft and hobby stores I have been to. The package contains 130 buttons and is a mixture of white and clear buttons in a few different sizes. The white buttons took the dye just fine, the clear ones didn't take it at all ::sad trombone:: I was really hoping the clear ones would take the dye, as I am sure they would have made more vibrant colors. I will be on the look out for clear nylon buttons again soon and let you all know if I find some.

Next, my conclusion on their recipe itself: They recommend using your hottest tap water. I recommend boiling some. My buttons were sitting in their solution WAY longer than the recommended time (again, maybe my buttons are at fault) but you want to make sure you have boiling water to fully dissolve your dye (I used the powdered dye) and you want your water to stay hot for the majority of your dyeing process.

As for the time, the site recommended 2-5 minutes with constant stirring and observation. I will agree that you want to agitate your buttons fairly often for even coverage (though the splotchiness that can occur if you just leave them to sit on their own can be kinda neat on its own). However, my buttons all sat in their solution for at least 30 minutes and I still think some of the colors could have been more vibrant. For the curious, I bought three colors of dye, all powdered: Golden Yellow, Fuschia, and Teal. I mixed my fuschia and yellow to get a pretty orange, and the yellow and teal to get a nice green. I will probably try again with other buttons later on to make a purple out of my teal and fuschia.

So, for those of you wanting to know my final recipe for dyeing your own buttons here you go:

1 large disposable container for each color of dye you are using
1 pair rubber gloves (I used some cheapies I got at the dollar store)
1 cup boiling water (per dye solution)
2-3 teaspoons powdered dye (none of my colors were as vibrant as I wanted so I ended up using closer to 3 teaspoons)
Nylon buttons
Spoon for stirring (I used a plastic one)
Trash bag

I covered my work area with a plastic trash bag because it was handy, I recommend you do the same unless you happen to have a plastic tablecloth type thing handy. You definitely don't want to get dye on your nice counter tops or tables.

Next measure your water, boil, and use it to mix your dyes. You can test on a piece of scrap fabric or paper towel to see how dark your dye is and adjust accordingly (more dye if too light, more water if too dark).

Stir your buttons occasionally and check them to see if they have reached your desired color.

Once the desired color is reached, fish out your buttons and wash them with soap and warm water. Rinse well and lay on a paper towel to dry.




This is the image from the Rit website. As you can see, their colors seem to have turned out much nicer than mine. However, if you have some patience you can really make some nice colors of buttons for your projects. Speaking of, look for some cute projects using these newly dyed buttons next week!

DIY Gift Card Envelopes

Hey everyone! I have been taking a bit of a mental health break this week (off at both jobs!) but I decided to share a quick and easy craft with you today because I just can't stay away! These are cute little office style envelopes for gift cards. There is a template available at the bottom of the post, feel free to grab it and manipulate it to any size you want in your favorite image program. While I make these to wrap up gift cards, they would also be great to make a little larger and gift recipe cards to your friends any time of year. If you have a lot of gift cards you send out at the holidays, now is a perfect time to get started on a little stash to have on hand as well. When making your template, I recommend printing it out on card stock as it is easier to trace around and will last longer than printing on regular paper. Also, the gift card envelopes I made are 2.25 inches x 3.5 inches final size. One of these days I will learn how to upload pdf files so you get things the right size to start, I swear! However, these envelopes are great for not only gift cards, but regular cards, thank you's and, as previously mentioned, wrapping up tasty recipe cards as well, so you will likely want to adapt it to any size you want.

To make your own gift card envelopes you will need:

Scrap book paper in your favorite patterns (one 12"x12" sheet will yield you 4 envelopes)
Embroidery Floss in your favorite colors
Needle
Scissors
Xacto Knife
Pack of small buttons, various colors
Glue (any glue will work for this, so use what you have on hand or just buy a cheap all purpose glue. I generally spread mine thin with a paint brush, so a cheap one of those helps too but is not necessary)
Ruler

If you don't want to buy paper, I would recommend using magazines or store catalogs. These often have at least some pages that are thicker, but if you like the images on the very thin magazine paper, I suggest using a piece of tape on the backside or your envelope where you will be sewing your button into place to help avoid tearing your paper (you could also glue multiple sheets together but that makes this project much more complicated than it needs to be). The magazine paper is an extra cute idea if you make your envelope go with your gift card: card to Pottery Barn? Make it out of one of their ads or a page from their catalog, etc.

Once you have your paper cut out in the size you want, I generally use my Xacto knife to score my folds (very gently, I really don't even push, just drag the blade gently across the paper). I score the "pretty side" of my paper, not the back. A ruler helps to keep your lines straight, if you don't trust yourself scoring the paper, you can also line up your ruler and fold against it to keep your folds crisp.

Then, I select my buttons (I generally use matching buttons on each envelope, but it is not necessary) and my embroidery floss. Sew your button into place as marked on the pattern. If you have small grommets, you can use card stock circles and grommet them into place, but again, not necessary. I try to buy special equipment as rarely as possible. When sewing your button onto the top flap you will want to sew it securely, tie it off and then rather than clip your remaining thread, sew back through to the outside of your envelope and tie a knot around the base of your button, then leave the remaining string so you can fasten your envelope shut.

Once you have your buttons attached, you will need to glue your two side flaps together. To do this, I use a small paint brush to apply a very thin layer of glue onto the back side of the shorter flap (the one with the button sewn onto it). I then fold the envelope closed, long flap down, shorter flap on top to secure them. Be sure not to use too much glue as you don't want it seeping out and sticking your envelope closed to the point it is unusable. Then, with a small amount of glue, close the bottom flap over the two side flaps. You will use the buttons and string to close your final envelope (yes, it is reusable!).

I hope you all enjoyed this tutorial and have fun making these little envelopes yourselves! If you have any questions, let me know, as this all makes sense to me I would love any feedback on steps I could make clearer or if more images are needed to illustrate the process. :D

Happy Crafting!