Monday, February 6, 2012

Ombre Canvas Totes {DIY}


I'm sure I'm not the only one that has noticed how the ombre trend is trickling into home decor. I have been enamored with it in fashion and I'm glad to see creative ideas for interiors too.


I'm a sucker for a good centerpiece, and I just love this one. Even the place cards are gradient!










This coverlet from Urban Outfitters is a perfect example (and ruffles too, hello!).













So, I had to try my hand at OMBRE! I had to start small....I mean I haven't dyed anything since doing tie-dye t-shirts in high school (and high school is becoming fuzzy), so canvas totes seemed like a good project. Can you handle one more project for the laundry room? I hope so! Before the Laundry Room redo, I used these canvas totes to organize light bulbs and extension cords. I didn't think they made the cut, but I still felt like I needed them, and too much storage you can never have. The problem was, when I put them in their current condition in the laundry room, they looked dingy.



I found this type of dye at Walmart, I didn't even know there was any other fabric dye other than Rit, but I decided to give Tulip a try. The color selection is limited, but they have turquoise and I looked no further.



I followed the directions, boiled a gallon of water (notice the steam) and stirred in the dye. I put the tote in the mixture and let the dye start absorbing. Like I said though, I have never really done this sort of thing...I thought that the canvas would just keep absorbing to the top, but it did not. After 45 minutes, the color never rose more than three or so inches



I was a little disappointed that the color didn't go further, but it was just a matter of inexperience. It finally dawned on me to get a lighter color, do a quick dunk in the dye.....so I dunked each side quickly in the dye bath (wear gloves!). To get it even lighter along the top, I used the sprayer and rinsed some of the dye out.


I did all three totes in the same bath and let them dry overnight. I am really pleased with the results!


I had to do a little rearranging on top of the cabinets, but they fit just fine!



They don't look dingy anymore!



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6 comments:

  1. Good job Michelle. Your laundry really looks good :-)
    Debby

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  2. Thank you so much for this tutorial! I am about to make an attempt at this. My canvas bins have a vinyl piece over where the label will go. Any idea how that will fair during the dyeing process? Thank you!

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  3. There are cute. The readymade canvase totes probably had 'sizing' in them thats why the dye couldn't diffuse. If I were to try this I would expereiment with a quick wash first becasue I would have no luck with such an even ombre look....you rock.

    Nice work

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  4. Oh, thanks for the idea! I have the EXACT same baskets, but larger, and I hate how dingy they look. I might try this one day :)

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Thank You for taking the time to comment! Because of the insane amount of spam comments, I had to stop anonymous comments-sorry for the inconvenience.
Michelle