Kool-Aid Dying

I've been reading about playsilks a lot lately.  I'm all about toys that fuel imagination and don't require batteries, so I decided to get some for my daughter.  Then I read a blog post that pointed me here, where I read all about dying them with Kool-Aid.  Perfect!  I thought.  A craft that I might actually have time to accomplish!  So I ordered a bunch of scarves in various shapes and sizes from Dharma Trading Company, where they were uber-cheap (also made in China, unfortunately, but that's a rant for another day). 

I've had them for a few weeks, but last Thursday I was seriously procrastinating about cleaning the house, so I decided to give it a shot.  I started with grape, and dyed a couple of them purple. 

First, I got them really wet and decided how I wanted to color them.  The one on the left is a square, and I twisted and rubber banded it in tie-dye fashion.  The one on the right is oblong and I just left loose. 

Next, I sprinkled the Kool-Aid powder over the top of both scarves and squished it around until I got the level of color I wanted.  Then I stuck them each in a Ziploc bag and mostly sealed it, leaving a corner open to let the steam out.  I microwaved each one for two minutes, then took them out and left them in the bag to cool.

 

Once they were cool, I took them out of the bags, removed the rubber band from the square one, and rinsed.  Not a drop of color came out - the heat completely sealed them.  Finally, I hung them up to dry.  The next morning, there they were, just waiting for Caitlyn to play with!

Can't wait to try this again - I think next time I'll do solid color, and mix the Kool-Aid with some water first to make it more like real dye. 

Oh, and one word of warning - if you try this, wear gloves.  Otherwise you, too, may wind up with grape-flavored hands!  :-)