{"id":59670,"date":"2016-01-19T00:09:05","date_gmt":"2016-01-19T08:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=59670"},"modified":"2016-01-19T00:09:05","modified_gmt":"2016-01-19T08:09:05","slug":"dyeing-for-color-merit-badge-beginner-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/59670","title":{"rendered":"Dyeing for Color Merit Badge, Beginner Level"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThe adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our<\/span> Sisterhood Merit Badge program<\/span><\/span><\/a>, now with\u00a06,760 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u20149,508 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Wondering who I am? I\u2019m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my<\/span> former life<\/span><\/span><\/a> \u2026\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For this week\u2019s Beginner Level Stitching and Crafting\/Dyeing for Color Merit Badge<\/u><\/a>, I was already a bit of an expert. I mean, I don\u2019t like to brag or anything (\u201cToot toot!\u201d That may or may not be the sound of my own horn.), but I have been dyeing for a long time now.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been a brunette, a strawberry blonde, a platinum bombshell, and every shade in between. I\u2019ve had highlights and lowlights, frosted tips, and bleached roots. I\u2019ve had Clairol and Garnier and L\u2019Oreal. I\u2019ve done \u2026<\/p>\n

Wait. That\u2019s not what we\u2019re going for?<\/p>\n

Well, color me embarrassed.<\/p>\n

(Get it? Color <\/em>me?)<\/p>\n

\"\"

photo by jerebu via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

But I could still use my hair color know-how and safety lessons learned in my newfound adventure of dyeing other things besides my tresses. For example: preparing your workstation (or head). Always put on an old shirt that you don\u2019t mind getting stained, and wear gloves, chickadees. Once I went Nicole Kidman-inspired red, and my palms were stained for days. It looked like I had murdered someone. I was housebound for a week, and by the time I could leave, my beautiful locks had faded to Carebear pink. Sigh. Learn from me.<\/p>\n

Another precaution before you start playing around <\/span>experimenting responsibly with dyes, is to choose products that won\u2019t trigger a headache or stomachache, if you are prone to those niggles when an overwhelming odor assaults you. Or, if you must use a chemical-laden dye, do it outside. No one will appreciate your shade of chartreuse on your hand-dyed bedspread if you are face down in it halfway through the procedure, gasping for breath like a fish out of water.<\/p>\n

For my first venture into the unknown of Dyeing for Color, I chose tea.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right …\u00a0tea. It\u2019s not just for breakfast anymore.<\/p>\n

\"\"

photo by Kayla Palmer via Flickr.com<\/p><\/div>\n

I decided to dye a lovely, vintage lace tablecloth that had a roast chicken stain smackdab in the center. Up ’til now, I had simply plonked a vase of flowers right over the offending mark, but now I had a better plan. Color the whole thing Roast Chicken Drippings.<\/p>\n

Side note: Crayola should probably hire me as a color namer. I\u2019m really good at it. Some of the others I\u2019m working on: Wet Seagull, Glistening Pepperoni, Vampire Skin, and Tuna Noodle Casserole Surprise.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I was hesitant to use a good-quality tea for something that wouldn\u2019t involve guzzling it, but then I remembered if you are cooking with wine, you should use a wine you\u2019d like to drink. So, I figured the same rule applied here, right? So, I poured myself a glass of wine and got to work. Hee hee.<\/p>\n

I brewed up a very large batch of Earl Grey, mixed with Oolong and just a sprinkling of Constant Comment. Your tablecloth may not be so particular, so go with your gut. Darker teas will, of course, dye your fabric a darker color, but don\u2019t worry, even Turkish coffee won\u2019t turn your fibers jet black.<\/p>\n

I swirled my tablecloth around in the tea, making sure it was properly submerged and tucking it in gently. Then I left it for about 60 minutes. You can go longer or shorter; just keep checking on your fabric.<\/p>\n

Rinse and wring out. If you don\u2019t like the smell of tea, you can wash it out. Although, if you don\u2019t like the smell of tea, well, there’s not a whole lot anyone can do for you.<\/p>\n

Line dry, and enjoy your pretty new creation.<\/p>\n

Now my tablecloth is less Roast Chicken Drippings, and more Recently Bathed Golden Retriever.<\/p>\n

Seriously. Someone get Crayola on the line. I\u2019m on fire.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with\u00a06,760 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u20149,508 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane\u00a0 Wondering who … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gladsome_sisters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}