Get the tie-dye look without the mess! Here's a new art technique your family or school-age kids will enjoy doing together using markers and rubbing alcohol. It's especially fun at a Fourth of July party because the bright colors burst in all directions like fireworks!
Here's the stuff you'll need:
Permanent markers, in bright colors, for clothing. Regular markers are fine for a decorative item.
100 percent plain white cotton items such as a bandanna, T-shirt, book bag or baseball cap. Or, cut a large square of fabric to frame and hang on the wall.
Rubbing alcohol.
Medicine dropper (available at drugstores in the infant-supply section).
Here's the fun:
Enjoy this activity outdoors at a picnic table or in a well-ventilated room with adult supervision. Cover your work surface with plain paper bags to protect the table underneath. Set fabric or the item you are decorating on the table and make a small drawing with the markers. Fill the dropper with rubbing alcohol, and then drip the rubbing alcohol in the center of the design. Within about 10 seconds, you'll observe the ink from the marker spreading outward to create a watercolor effect. Make additional drawings and apply the rubbing alcohol to one drawing at a time.
Let dry. To set colors, put the clothing item in the dryer for about 15 minutes, or an adult may heat-set it with an iron.
Note: If you are using a T-shirt, be sure to put a piece of cardboard between the layers so that the ink doesn't soak through to the other side. Scrunch up newspaper to fill the inside of a baseball cap while you work and while the hat dries.
Try these fun ideas:
Fireworks in the sky: Draw a round shape the size of a dime and fill it in with one bold color, such as red or blue. Draw lots of straight lines shooting out from the circle (like sun rays) in contrasting colors. When you drop the rubbing alcohol on the center circle, it's especially fun to watch the colors blend and move outward like fireworks.
Tie-dye designs: Draw a round shape and fill it in. With a contrasting color, draw a circle around the center, leaving a bit of white space between the two. Draw several more concentric circles. Drop the rubbing alcohol on the design to create a tie-dye look.
Word-dye: Write an alphabet letter, a word or your name with a marker. When you add a few drops of rubbing alcohol, it will blend the letters together slightly for an artistic "signature."
Write Donna with your questions and ideas at www.donnasday.com. Donna's latest book, "Donna Erickson's Fabulous Funstuff for Families," is available in bookstores nationwide. © Donna Erickson, Dist. by King Features Syndicate