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Friday, July 1, 2011

When Good Ideas Go Bad

Sigh.
So much hope for this lil' project, and so much FAIL came out of it.  To re-cap, we use cloth napkins a lot - and we're a bunch of messy eaters, so our napkins that some idiot (ME) bought in white, were stained like a mo fo.  I bleached them - nothing.  Maybe lightened the stains a little, but I didn't want to have to keep bleaching them, so I thought, why not dye them?  They were still in physically good condition, no tears or anything, so why not?  And why not use a natural dye?  Hey, they're already stained from a gazillion tea party spills, why not dye them with tea?
I looked up tea-dying online and found some tips, gathered my materials, and set forth

Here they are before:

 God, fighting back a teabagging joke.



Anddddd .... the finished product.  Blergh.

 Didn't cover the stains.  And they now look like they're permanently dirty.  Blergh indeed.
I'm thinking of using them in some kind of crafty way - maybe cloth flowers?  That antique-y look would work there.  Hmm.
And here, something that came out soooo much better.  The finished birdbath in it's new home

 It's a bit shallow, but the birdies don't seem to careI spray painted this with Krylon all-weather paint in Hammered Grey, which is kind of fabulous.  In fact, I then looked at this beautiful iron planter that I had, which was great except for the color.  It was painted hunter green, and it was fug.  Hmmm ...

How cute is that?!?!  I'm planting it today with some red,white, and blue flowers that I scored from Home Despot's dumpster, along with two gorgeous hanging baskets.  I mean, seriously - 

 I also got some perennials, and I'm thinking about adding a rain garden to the front of the house to catch the run off from another downspout.
Any plans for the holidays?  I'm convincing the Mister to get over his grill phobia and we're BBQ'ing it, then heading to my aunt's to watch fireworks.
Peace, love, and plants! :-)

9 comments:

  1. You are braver than i am lol I only bring out the cloth napkins on holidays! Well...they do look tea stained so you did that right. :) Keep them and they might make good Annie clothes?? I love how you have your garden also...damn i really miss mine!!

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  2. I wonder if you could dye them a wine color using wine. It'd probably turn them a lovely color. Not sure if it would wash out or not though.

    That terrine, serving bowl thingie looks so awesome! I bet it'll look better when you get those flowers in it!

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  3. I like Hailey's idea! Love the photos of the garden! Happy New Moon :)

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  4. tie dye them with berry colors...
    and when you go dumpster diving at Home Depot, do you literally just find their dumpster and climb in, looking for things? because I cannot believe the great things you've scored.

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  5. I second Katherine's question.

    The birdbath turned out beautiful.

    I still fantasize about a rain garden. I also still don't see it happening.

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  6. Katherine, they are usually on racks set out next to the dumpster. This year I've scored tons of annuals, flats of tomatoes and peppers, and entire arranged hanging baskets and planters. And this time, an employee actually watched me load my car up (the ENTIRE back) and waved when I drove away. There is a law that protects "trash picking" which technically, this is.

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  7. Ok, so the napkins didn't come out as planned...at least we both shared a chuckle over the untold tea bagging joke you didn't share. ;-)

    That bird bath came out just amazing! I really can't believe the difference from the yesterday photo. Other than the shape, it doesn't even look like the same item. Beautiful job!

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  8. Or dye the tea-colored napkins with red beet juice. I'm forever trying to avoid getting that on me when I open a can of beets. Then again, you probably grow your own beets ... but ... if you ever happen on a can of them, that stuff really stains!!

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  9. Lydia, darling. Really, I can't believe you've overlooked this. If you want the napkins dyed, give them to your children and leave them unattended for approximately 10 minutes.

    And also- I am crazy jealous of your garden.

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