Nanny to Mommy

Everyone makes tie dye shirts for vacations and while I love a good matching family photo, last year we decided to make some tie dye beach towels with some old cheap towels. They have been such a huge hit! It was not only a fun warm weather activity, but it is something that we get asked about wherever we go. And with the weather warming back up and everyone ready to start float down a river, I thought I would share this fun family friendly activity.

First grab you a tie dye kit. They sell them on Amazon for cheap and you can honestly do so much with them. Grab you a pack of white t-shirts while you are at so you can make St. Patrick's Day shirts or even a pink shirt for your son when they want to last minute celebrate Pink Ribbon Week at school. 

So, here's what you do; grab an old towel and a box of tie dye paints. If you don't have any old towels or would like something fresh, you can use these white beach towels that are perfect for tie dying. You can twist it for a spiral effect. But there are actually tons of different types of ways you could prepare your towel. Here is a list of 17+ Tie Dye Patterns and Folding Techniques for shirts, but you could easily apply some of them to towels.

Make sure you wear gloves because the dye will easily stain your hands. After you wrap your towels with rubber bands (most likely in your kit), then you dye to your hearts content. My son wanted a fire effect, so we evenly put in yellow, red, and orange around the spiral. Each space had its only color for the most part. My daughter wanted a rainbow. She had to similar colors because her towel was thicker, and the bottles would run out. When you are done with the color, then you wrap your towel in Sarran wrap and let sit outside for twelve or more hours.

Once this process is done, you can unwrap and enjoy the reveal. Rinse your towel fully under COLD water. Once the water runs clear, then you can wash your towel in your washing machine by itself again on cold. Once you dry your towel, then you should be set. They may start to fade slightly over time but depending on how much paint your use or the thickness of your towel, the color could hold up well. Ours are almost a year old now, taken to the beach, lake, and pool all season long and are still holding up great.