Make Your Own Tie Dyed Hammock

I love summer!  It’s fun to have my kids at home so we can play and do things outside.  I like to keep my kids busy with crafts and baking projects, and this year we’re going to tie-dye our summer.  One of our first activities was this colorful rainbow hammock that we can enjoy all summer long.

I purchased this hammock at an end of summer clearance two years ago.   It was plain, but at only $5 too good of a deal to pass up.  I’ve always wanted to liven it up a bit, though, and when I was sent a giant box of Tulip One-Step Tie Dye kits (America’s favorite tie dye!), I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  My dingy hammock was about to get a serious makeover!

Because it was a burlap colored hammock to begin with, the colors aren’t as bright as you might be used to seeing with tie-dye, but I’m thrilled with the end result.  I got exactly the color result I was hoping for.  I started out with stripes to mimic a serape, but the rainbow color reminded me of Lisa Frank stickers from my childhood.  (Anyone remember those?  Leapord spots on rainbow?)  So I added the butterflies.   The end result is a one of a kind hammock that my family can fight over share outdoors.

Supplies:

• 12 Color Tulip One-Step Tie Dye Kit
• Hammock
• Stencil

Step one:  Bundle the hammock into a long strip, and begin placing the rubber bands around it.  Since the hammock was long, I found it easier to tie the rubber bands around instead of looping them.

Step two:  Put on your gloves, add hot water to the tie dye powder in the bottle, and shake.  Seriously, it’s that easy!  Just add water for a bold, beautiful color!  The dyes are permanent and color fast, so they won’t fade in the wash (or in my case, the rain.)  I prepared all the colors that I was planning to use at once, except for the black.

Step three:  Apply color to one section of the hammock at a time.  I used all the red, then all the green, etc., until the hammock was full of color.

Step four:  Coil the hammock and wrap it in the plastic that comes with the kit.

Step five:  After 6-8 hours, rinse the hammock, wash it, and let it dry.

I was happy with my rainbow colored hammock, but I kept looking at the bottle of black dye and thinking of how I could use it.  I pulled out a butterfly stencil, and started on the next part of my project.

This time, I transferred the dye from the supplied bottle to a small spray bottle.  I sprayed the dye onto the stencil, then picked up the stencil and flicked the excess dye onto the hammock, to create the splatter marks.  (Kind of Lisa Frank sticker-ish, no?)  I repeated this process with the entire hammock, and let it set.  I rinsed the hammock again and hung it to dry.

Pretty, isn’t it?  I love to cuddle with my kids in this hammock as we watch the birds fly overhead.

We’ll enjoy many summer days in our tie-dyed hammock.  We’re even making tie-dye pillows to lounge on, too.  That tutorial is coming soon!

To learn more about Tulip One Step Tie-Dye and to get more tie dyed project ideas, check them out on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and their blog, I Love to Create.

Disclaimer:  This is a sponsored post, but all ideas, projects, and opinions are my own.