D.I.Y Day: Tie Dye Heart Pillows

This weekend is Valentines day, but to be frank you can try this D.I.Y even if you hate Valentines, are single, and would rather marry your cat than a human being. It's fine, we have all been there, I don't mind it me and Baz have always been a low key couple so small tokens are the way we usual go. This year I thought I would make some gifts, sadly my other make is still not ready I may share it another day but at least you can try this as it only took a couple of hours. Any reason to tie dye something is reason enough for me. 

You Will Need: 

• 2x white cotton pillow cases (if you have two already even better)
• Pink Dye - I used Dylon Flamingo Pink*
• Red Dye - I used Dylon Tulip Red*
• String or rubber bands - Rubber bands are better for people not use to tie dye, as string can be tricky. 
• Scissors
• Paper
• Washable pen or eyeliner
• Two Tubes for mixing the dye
• Two spray bottles - you can use old cleaning product bottles just make sure to clean them out first. 

• Take your clean pillow cases and lay them out flat, check they are the right side up - You can tell this by checking on the inside, the extra length that goes over is the top. Take the paper and fold in half and cut out a heart shape - You can always use a temple if your not confident. Place your heart shape on the first pillow case in the centre, and draw around the heart with your washable pen or eyeliner. Repeat on second pillow case. 

• Fold the pillow case in half along the middle of the heart. Starting from the top of the heart start to make little folds, gathering each fold into a straight line till you reach the end. Take your rubber band or string and wrap around as tightly as possible. Repeat on second pillow case.

• Prepare the dye as instructed, and mix each colour into each tube. Fill up your spray bottles with dye and take your pillow case one at a time, and begin to apply dyes. Avoid the white heart centre if you like, or you can fill it up to you. I left mine as I'll be adding some detail after. 

• Once your happy with your apply dyes, leave the dye to take. I hang mine up to do this, but you can just lay them on some cardboard in a dry cupboard. I didn't leave my dye on for long (around 10 minutes) as I wanted it to be a bit lighter, but you can leave it a couple of hours.

• Rinse both with cold water, until the water runs almost clear. Than leave them to dry, once they are completely dry than you can take off the bands. The next steps are optional, as I think they add a little something extra to the pillow cases. 

Making it personal is a great idea, as you can put whatever you like on your pillow. Me and my other half are massive Spaced fans, and when we first met I forced him to watch them all and it fast became something we quoted non stop. Years later and it's still our fave, so naturally I picked a quote from Tim for Baz, and a quote from Daisy for me. It's really easy, so if you would like to do the same than:

You Will Need:

• Small paint brush
• Gold fabric paint ( or which other colour you prefer, I used Gold from Dylon*)
• The heart temple you used for drawing the heart
• Printing letter or slogan - You can do this easily make sure your pillow cases are not too thick, if they are you may have to do the writing completely free hand. 
• Some card or paper

• Place paper inside the pillow case, to some the dye transferring on the other side of the case. Than place your temple where you would like I started with the backside of the pillow, and paint around the heart trying to be as neat as you can. Take your time and use a little at a time, rather than coating too much on too quickly.

• Next place your slogan underneath, and slowly paint over the letters. I did this in the middle of the heart, than on the front painted the slogan. Let the paint completely dry before moving on to the other side, or you may end up smudging it. I than washed the pillowcases by hand, dried them just to make sure no dye would transfer off the case. 

This is really easy and fun,you can be as creative as you like. You can pick any colours you like and add trims and all sorts. Note: Just remember that you will be sleeping on it, so make sure it's not to lumpy and bumpy. So I hope you enjoyed this and if you try it please tweet me a photo I would love to see. Feel free to ask me any questions if you get stuck.