Years ago, my sister gave us a beautiful cream shower curtain. It was one that she was giving up, and I was glad to take it. It had lots of lovely trim on it, and I knew it would look great wherever it went.
When we moved into this house, the only place for the shower curtain was the girls' bathroom. Nothing wrong with that, except for a long while, we were giving only baths in the "splashing" tub, and the shower curtain was more of a nuisance than a helpful feature.
When CJ started taking regular showers, and we had turned the bathroom into a beachscape--with the girls' sealife art, their photos at the beach and real shells, I thought it might be time to bring the shower curtain back. After a summer at the beach, one in which we had tie-dyed T-shirts, I thought it would be cool to tie-dye the shower curtain blue, to match with the wavy look in the tub room.
Hardly an expert at the science of tie-dying--and there is more science than art, it turns out--I dyed the curtain. It was an awesome blue, and the rubber bands left some neat patterns. The next step was to wash the curtain in the washer. It was after this step that I realized a small problem. The shower curtain was not 100 percent cotton. In fact, it's 100 percent polyester! Think about trying to dye plastic. Hmm.... Blue dye ain't tomato sauce, and I was losing color!
Then, inventing what I thought would be a way to save what dye had managed to be absorbed (into what, I don't know), I ironed the curtain! The iron left quite an impression--literally!--in several places.
I put the shower curtain away again.
"OK, girls! Let's paint!!" I said.
I brought out every bottle, tube and marker of fabric paint that we own, and let the girls have at it.
Within minutes, we had an abstract beach scene, with sandcastle, boardwalk, shells, handprints in the sand and the brilliant colors of a tropical beach umbrella.
"You hung it up?!" said CJ.
Probably a better choice than putting it in the washer. Enjoy it while it lasts, girls.
When we moved into this house, the only place for the shower curtain was the girls' bathroom. Nothing wrong with that, except for a long while, we were giving only baths in the "splashing" tub, and the shower curtain was more of a nuisance than a helpful feature.
When CJ started taking regular showers, and we had turned the bathroom into a beachscape--with the girls' sealife art, their photos at the beach and real shells, I thought it might be time to bring the shower curtain back. After a summer at the beach, one in which we had tie-dyed T-shirts, I thought it would be cool to tie-dye the shower curtain blue, to match with the wavy look in the tub room.
Hardly an expert at the science of tie-dying--and there is more science than art, it turns out--I dyed the curtain. It was an awesome blue, and the rubber bands left some neat patterns. The next step was to wash the curtain in the washer. It was after this step that I realized a small problem. The shower curtain was not 100 percent cotton. In fact, it's 100 percent polyester! Think about trying to dye plastic. Hmm.... Blue dye ain't tomato sauce, and I was losing color!
Then, inventing what I thought would be a way to save what dye had managed to be absorbed (into what, I don't know), I ironed the curtain! The iron left quite an impression--literally!--in several places.
I put the shower curtain away again.
* * *
Last week, we had a nice afternoon rain shower than kept us all inside and itching for a project. I pulled out the shower curtain."OK, girls! Let's paint!!" I said.
I brought out every bottle, tube and marker of fabric paint that we own, and let the girls have at it.
Within minutes, we had an abstract beach scene, with sandcastle, boardwalk, shells, handprints in the sand and the brilliant colors of a tropical beach umbrella.
"You hung it up?!" said CJ.
Probably a better choice than putting it in the washer. Enjoy it while it lasts, girls.
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