This is a great DIY project for teachers! I can think of so many ways to use these dyed clothespins but, I think I will save that for another post. However, here is the process! It was easy and I'd do it again!
Materials:
- clothespins
- food colouring
- water
- vinegar
- mason jars
- paper towel
- something you can use to stir (I used a fork!)
I bought this pack of 60 clothespins from Dollarama. I believe the tag says $1.25. They are fairly good quality. If I were to do it again, I would probably spend a little more and buy some better ones.
The first thing I would suggest that you do is take off the springs. Although, the package said they wouldn't rust, I didn't want to take the chance! Spencer and I sat outside and took them apart together. He was much faster than me!
The next step is to prepare your dye. I filled a mason jar with water and added some vinegar (not sure why this helps). Then, I added
A LOT of food colouring because I wanted them to dark.
I let these blue ones sit overnight but, you can take them out much sooner than that. I stirred them to make sure they weren't stuck together.
I am not sure if there is a set time to wait. Other than the blue ones (which I left overnight) I waited until I felt they were the colour I wanted. The red and purple ones sat in the dye for about 4 hours.
The red ones looked amazing almost instantly!
I drained out the liquid into the sink and laid them out on some paper towel to dry. The colour became darker as they dried.
Here are the red and purple ones! The red are my favourite. The purple looked awful when I first laid them out (almost brown) but, they changed to a nicer purple when they were dry. Let them dry overnight (or as long as possible) and then put the springs back on!
Here they are!! :)
I am very excited to use them!
-Emily
