Dyeing Doilies with Alcohol Ink

Hello my lovelies,

I've been on this alcohol ink kick lately, as you've probably guessed based on my previous posts DIY Alcohol Ink and DIY Shimmer Spritz Experiment.  Well, here's another!

I have been saving various vintage handkerchiefs and doilies that are stained, intending to do something cool with them.  In most cases I can use OxyClean and super hot water to remove any stains, but there are a few that just won't come clean.  Recently I decided to experiment with alcohol inks.

Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of my process so I'll just try to explain what I did.

Basically I just decided what pattern I wanted and which colors I wanted to go where.

I used the Wild Plum and Denim, combined with a hot pastel pink one that I made myself.

The Wild Plum is the darker purple color, the one I made myself is the lighter pink, and the blue parts are the denim ink.

 I started by dabbing the plum ink just inside of the border, a little at a time, allowing it to bleed and spread.

Then I did the denim on the petals.  Last I sprayed the hot pastel pink all over to help facilitate the ink to bleed and move and blend together.  I used the inks again to fill in any gaps.

Next, I did the same thing with this one, dabbing the alcohol ink directly from the bottle onto the doily and allowing it to bleed and blend before I added more.

I allowed the doilies to dry completely before I soaked them in boiling water.

In my final step I boiled some water and poured it into a plastic bowl that I didn't care about.

I did the 1st one first and allowed it to soak, stirring occasionally, until the water had completely cooled.  I then drained and rinsed it in cold water until the water was mostly clear.

Then, I repeated the process, adding this little round doily to the mix.  I realized the 1st time around that I was wasting ink in the heat setting process, and that I could probably be dyeing some more fabric at the same time.  I was right.  This came out so cute!

I just love how these look!  I'm definitely eager to make some more.

I'll be selling them in my booth at Antiques and Things, booth #19.

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Love,

Myria

DIY Shimmer Spritz Experiment

Hello My Pretties!

I'm pretty excited to show you all how I made these Shimmer Ink Sprays.

I recently went to Tuesday Morning and bought a bottle of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.  It was the only color they had, otherwise I would have bought more.

Only $2.49!  I got it home, used it, loved it!  Wanted more. 

 Then I got the bright idea to try to make my own.  I've had these Johne Headlights sprays for YEARS. I bought them at the International Beauty Show in New York for something like $1 or $2 per bottle.  I never used them because when you spray the glitter, as soon as the liquid dries the glitter falls off.  

Lame.

I saved them because I just knew that I would be able to use them for something crafty one day.

(in this photo I had already emptied out 1/2 of the liquid from most of the bottles)

I read the ingredients and it seemed pretty straight forward.  It is mostly made of botanicals, glitter, and alcohol.

I decided the best way to go about it would be to empty out 1/2 of the liquid

and add Mod Podge

I wasn't exactly sure how much to add so I started with a little bit, then spritzed it. 

 If the glitter didn't stick when it dried then I added more Mod Podge.

Here is the before photo of my sample tag.  

Keep in mind that I have inked the edges of this tag with a ColorBox Paintbox ink pad to match the stamp.

Here is the after photo.  Pretty!

I later got the idea to add some homemade Alcohol Inks to the mix.

These two turned out the best!

Up close photo of the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist...pretty!

 Photo of my pink glitter with pink alcohol ink added.

Photo of my blue glitter with pink and blue alcohol ink added.

(pink + blue = purple)

Verdict:  it works!

To recap, I don't have an actual recipe but the ingredients used are alcohol, glitter, mod podge, and Alcohol Inks - in that order.  If I had to, I'd say 60% Alcohol, 15% glitter, 15% mod podge, and 10% alcohol ink.

Keep in mind that $2.49 is not much to pay at all!  And if you can find the Glimmer Mists that cheap then buy them!  Don't bother making your own.  However, in a pinch if you really need some for a late night project then you can easily make your own.

Hope you enjoyed my post,

Love,

Myria