The Tie-Dyes That Bind

My mom is awesome. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I say it without hesitation or any sort of qualifier; she is just amazing. She's nice to everybody, she's a really good cook, she says very funny things, and she's pretty darn cute. This holiday season, she got the idea that she wanted to make tie-dyed t-shirts for everyone in the family (there is a logical explanation to this that doesn't really fit the story, so just use your imagination), and when she gets ideas like this, I try to be supportive, because, as previously mentioned, she is so darn cute. And herein lies one of the things that makes my mom amazing. She actually carried out the plan, which involved going to two different stores, researching how to tie-dye, and sitting outside for hours actually tie-dying a dozen shirts. If it had been my idea, it would have gone something like this: "Ok, here's the plan--we should have tie-dyed shirts. That's a great idea." Then when no tie-dyed shirts magically appeared on my doorstep the next day, I would think, "Ok, new plan. Let's NOT get tie-dyed t-shirts. That's a better idea."

But we actually did it and had a great time. We went out in the backyard so we didn't get dye on any furniture, and we carefully spread out our materials so everything could be accessed easily and nothing was in danger (we thought) of being accidentally dyed green. We had spent a lot of energy coming up with exactly how we were going to put the dye on the shirts, and we finally agreed that we wanted to leave the collars white so the dye didn't rub onto the necks of the people wearing the shirts. Just before we began, the following conversation took place:

Miss Berrie: Ok, don't forget. DON'T PUT DYE ON THE COLLAR.
Mom: Right. NOT the collar.
(Less than 30 seconds later)
Miss Berrie: I got dye on the collar.
Mom goes into a fit of silent giggles.
Miss Berrie follows into her own fit of silent giggles.
(About four seconds later)
Mom: I just got dye on this collar.

Despite that rousing start, we got better as we went along. It was fun being out there with her. The deer walked around the yard, and one came up and watched us. That was a bit unsettling. But then my little kitty came out to see us, and he rubbed all around us and got some green dye on his ear. It was very cute. By the last shirt, though, we were glad to be done and simply looked forward to seeing how they were going to turn out.

I learned a few things from this experience. First, there's a whole lot of deer poo in our yard. Like, more than you would ever imagine. Second, when tie-dying, it's important to get the dye down into the crack of the tied parts, or there will end up being far less color on the shirt than you think. And finally, if you're going to tie-dye, do it with my mom, because she is just so darn cute.