St. Patrick’s Day Activity: Shamrock Tie Dye
Today is your lucky day! This St. Patrick’s Day activity is fun for the whole family, and doesn’t require any work hunting for little guys in green. Craft Box Girls will show you how to make a shamrock tie-dye shirt using One-Step Dye and a resist technique with nontoxic glue. It’s easy enough for all ages, and everyone will have their own lucky T-shirt when the tie-dye fun is done!
What you need:
- Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye Kit in Green (1 kit per T-shirt)
- White 100% cotton T-shirt (for each person)
- Disposable plastic surface cover
- Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue
- Scissors
- Sealable plastic bag
- Pattern printed from this post
Before getting started on your St. Patrick’s Day activity, print out the shamrock pattern from this post and cut it out. (Or you can make your own!) Wash and dry your T-shirt without fabric softener, and protect your work surface with a disposable plastic table cover.
Lay the dry T-shirt flat on your work surface and place the shamrock pattern in the center of the shirt. Squeeze a thick line of Tacky Glue around the pattern, directly onto the shirt, then use your finger to help spread the glue and press it into the fabric. You’ll want about a 1-inch thick line of glue around your shamrock.
Peel away the pattern and let the glue dry completely before moving on to the next step. (Once dry, the glue will resist absorbing the dye when applied to the fabric.) Now onto the tie-dye portion of this fun St. Patrick’s Day activity!
Once the glue is dry, dampen the shirt, but do not oversaturate, as too much water will make the glue tack up again. Lay the damp shirt out flat on your work surface then pinch the fabric in the center and twist the entire shirt into a spiral shape.
Once the glue is dry, dampen the shirt, but do not oversaturate, as too much water will make the glue tack up again. Lay the damp shirt out flat on your work surface then pinch the fabric in the center and twist the entire shirt into a spiral shape.
Mix your tie dye according to instructions, then apply green dye onto the entire shirt, rotating as you apply the dye in order to get all sides.
Place the dyed T-shirt in a sealable plastic bag and let set for the time recommended in the instructions. After the dye sets, remove the rubber bands and rinse thoroughly under running water. Craft Box Girls recommends using your hands to help work the glue out of the fabric as you rinse. Then wash your new shamrock tie-dye T-shirt according to instructions!