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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

A Dye Success!

You might remember that I had an idea for getting the color sand that I wanted without having to pay crazy prices for it.  Well, it involved dye... and after the most recent dye disaster, I was a little pessimistic.  But, since I was already dyed partially blue, I thought it was worth a shot.  

I started out using food color.  I found a "recipe" for dying sand that said to just use food coloring and water.  That didn't work out so great.  I was going for navy, but the darkest I could get it was an aqua color.  
Then I tried the leftover RIT dye that I had.  That didn't work out so great either.  As you can imagine, it dyed the sand purple.  Go figure.  That RIT dye lies!  It is not navy!  

Anyway, I decided to combine the two.  And, surprisingly, it worked!  I ended up with a dark blue colored sand.  It may not be perfect, but I am SO happy with it!  
Drying on some paper towels.
I'll be sure to do a tutorial later since there weren't a whole lot of places that gave instructions on how to dye sand.  I was surprised at how easy it was!  For now, I've got even more projects to work on.  Phew!  Busy night!  :P

6 comments:

  1. I'm sorry that ur sand turned out that color but another way to color sand is fill up a jar with sand about half to 3 quarter away then use acrylics from Walmart the cheap ones in the little bottels don't just get one shade of blue but a few shades and the color black. After u put the sand in fill it up with water till the sand is covered and a tiny bit above it then stir the water in add more if it is not above the sand line after all the stirring. Start just going crazy with the paint till u get the color u want put a generous amount. Stir together wait about how ever long u want but no less then an hour to soak. I waited for at least 12 hrs but u don't have to. Then pour out the excess water or if u wait take the top film off pour all out onto paper towel and spread out as even as u can. It will look like a paste but it will dry in the sun. After it dries it will most likely be tough and like harden plaster just break apart and roll with a rolling pin it will break apart. And sift again here is a great trick use a fish net the blue one from Walmart or the pet store it is very fine. I hope this works if it is not as navy as u want it then u can repeat the process till u can get the color u want. I have tried sooooooooo many methods and so far this is the only one that works for me. Good Luck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Remember the darker u make it the more darker it will look i would try to shot close to black but not all the way. Or u can use sugar and black and blue chalk with a little bit of water it will look the same and quicker.

      Delete
    3. Remember the darker u make it the more darker it will look i would try to shot close to black but not all the way. Or u can use sugar and black and blue chalk with a little bit of water it will look the same and quicker.

      Delete
    4. Remember the darker u make it the more darker it will look into would try to shot for close to black but not all the way. Or u can use sugar and black and blue chalk with a little bit of water it will look the same and quicker.

      Delete
  2. I'm sorry that ur sand turned out that color but another way to color sand is fill up a jar with sand about half to 3 quarter away then use acrylics from Walmart the cheap ones in the little bottels don't just get one shade of blue but a few shades and the color black. After u put the sand in fill it up with water till the sand is covered and a tiny bit above it then stir the water in add more if it is not above the sand line after all the stirring. Start just going crazy with the paint till u get the color u want put a generous amount. Stir together wait about how ever long u want but no less then an hour to soak. I waited for at least 12 hrs but u don't have to. Then pour out the excess water or if u wait take the top film off pour all out onto paper towel and spread out as even as u can. It will look like a paste but it will dry in the sun. After it dries it will most likely be tough and like harden plaster just break apart and roll with a rolling pin it will break apart. And sift again here is a great trick use a fish net the blue one from Walmart or the pet store it is very fine. I hope this works if it is not as navy as u want it then u can repeat the process till u can get the color u want. I have tried sooooooooo many methods and so far this is the only one that works for me. Good Luck.

    ReplyDelete

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