Monday, July 26, 2010

Dyeing Hydrangeas

What a productive Saturday I had. Getting something done and posted however is another story.
I dug out my Hydrangeas that I dried from last year.




They were from a friends tree. They dried nicely hanging in the rafters of the Olde Stone House. I leave a long stem on them to hang them.


I wanted Royal Blue Hydrangeas.

This is where the experimenting began. I boiled water and mixed in a box of Rit dye. The directions on the Internet didn't give specifics for ratios of dye to water so I made up my own.



The really long stems came in handy. Some I laid in the bucket for a long time and others I just dipped till they took on color. I wanted varying shades of blue.




I wound rubber bands around the stems and hung them to dry. My old Amish drying rack came in handy. Too bad someone broke a dowel rod with their football......Jason.
But it worked. They didn't take long to dry either. Now they are ready to use in a wreath or arrangement.

Next I have Scarlet Red for the other bag of blooms.



A couple of things I learned.


1. Less water or more dye.

2. It was really fun and they turned out very pretty for not much effort.

3. Don't go for your pedicure after dyeing Royal Blue Hydrangeas in your bare feet. You might not have gotten all the blue spots off your legs and feet before you went.

Here's pool silliness.

How many floats does one teenager need??????????





And of course...............



ABU.......6 months. Notice he has his own quilt already. Spoiled.....Not??????



Enjoy your summer.
Blessings,
Rhonda

2 comments:

~Judy~ said...

This is something I am dyeing to try....no pun intended! HA HA ! The color is really pretty.

tarrah said...

They look beautiful...you did a great job on them. If only I could get some to dry as nicely as you did. May have to try it again so I can dye some too!
Thanks for the tutorial! :)