
We’ve noticed that the holiday season seems to be starting earlier and earlier each year. Don’t be surprised if you hear “Jingle Bells” at the mall BEFORE Halloween. As part of jump-starting the holidays, we decided to make some fluorescent Tumble-dyed napkins which are great for any time of the year. And they’ll add a great punch of neon to your holiday dining table. And they’d look pretty darn cute alongside our Neon Stitched Tea Towels!
Materials:
– various colors of Tumble Dye
– white cloth napkins (we got ours on Amazon)
Tools:
– painter’s tape
– stencils
– alphabet stickers
Tumble Dye is easy to use. Unlike other material-dying techniques, there’s no need for boiling water and you won’t have blue stained hands for the next week. Hooray! This dye sprays right on, dries quickly, and washes off your hands (though not out of the material, don’t worry about that).
1. The Biker Napkin: We love bikes. We love fluorescent colors. This napkin is the best of both.
1. Place the bike stencil on top of the napkin.
2. Cover exposed part of the napkin with paper towels (or other scrap material).
3. Spray vertically with yellow Tumble Dye covering a third of the napkin.
4. Add a column of green covering the second third.
5. Move the stencil over .
6. Line up the last column of bikes with the first on the stencil .
7. Spray the last third with teal paint.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 until the napkin is covered in bikes.
When you place the stencil on the napkin, it can be helpful to tape it down so it doesn’t shift. Also, make sure you cover up the exposed parts of the napkin or you’ll wind up with a nice line from the edge of the stencil. You don’t want that! While spraying the dye, try to keep your hand at a consistent angle so that the dye doesn’t creep under the sides.
The dye will pool on the stencil, so be sure to blot it with a paper towel before moving the it. Continue to move the stencil around and spray the dye evenly.
Don’t the colors look awesome all mixed together? We think so.
2. The Plaid Napkin: Preppy patterns and neon? It’s like the ’80s exploded!
1. Line the napkin with painters tape in a plaid pattern.
2. Spray Tumble Dye filling each square with a color (we used three).
3. Let dye dry.
4. Peel tape!
We decided to coat these napkins with a lot of dye so that some of it would seep under the tape to achieve the look we wanted. Alternatively, you can lightly spray the dye which will create more of a spray painted look with more defined lines.
Really secure the tape onto the napkin before you start spraying. Then have at it with your colors. Since we are making a set, we stuck with fluorescent yellow, green, and teal. Then peel!
The most satisfying part is peeling the tape off of these babies. Don’t they look great?
3. The Lettered Napkin: We made two napkins; one that says “EAT” and one that says “YUM.” You know, just in case your guests don’t know what to do or think at the dinner table.
1. Decide which word you’d like to put on your napkin
2. Place letters making sure you put them where they’ll be seen when you fold the napkin
3. Spray around the letters with Tumble Dye
4. Let dry
5. Carefully peel off the letters
These are our favorite napkins – so cute with their single words and bursts of dye. You could easily cover the napkin in words, but we wanted to keep it simple.
Make sure you don’t spray too much dye on these guys or else the color will seep under the stickers. It’s important to have clean lines so that the words are legible.
Now that you’re a pro with the Tumble Dye, you can make tea towels, table runners or an apron. The possibilities are endless.
What will you try dyeing with Tumble Dye? Or any other dyes? Talk to us in the comments below.
It can be intimidating to step out on your own and build a business from the ground up. As part of our collaboration with Office Depot, we're talking with Selfmade alum and solopreneur Colette Lawrence, the faith-based motivator and relationship builder behind The M.E.E. Movement, about ways in which women in business can find success.
B + C: How did you know M.E.E. Movement was your business to start?
The M.E.E Movement represents motivation, empowerment, and encouragement for women. It is what represents me. I did not know at first that it was my business to start, but then the thought of monetizing what I loved came to me. It scared me, however. I registered the business in July 2020 and have been slowly building my wings since.
B + C: What's one strategy that's helped you start your business?
Thinking through and researching what the requirements are to start my business, and then asking questions of people who are in the business. Not all advice worked; however, it helped me to figure out what I needed to do and not to do.
B + C: Did you always know life coaching would be your entrepreneurial path?
(Smiles) No, I did not. I 'stumbled" on it. I knew that people were always coming to me for advice and I found that I loved having conversations with them, especially with women, young and old.
B + C: What was your most valuable takeaway from Selfmade?
My most valuable takeaway was the first day of training: Get out of your own way. There were a lot of great moments and important takeaways from every presenter. However, getting out of my own way, pushing past doubts, was for me my most valuable takeaway. Doing something that I had never done before took courage. If I do not focus on what is happening with me mentally then I cannot deliver to my clients successfully.
B + C: What's one piece of advice you would give to female entrepreneurs on the brink of starting?
Get out of your head. You have something to offer. You have what you need to succeed so go ahead and do it.
B + C: How do you stay motivated?
I stay motivated by listening to music and listening to motivational speakers, and sometimes someone will just reach out and talk about the impact that I made in their life. That adds the extra juice or sauce I need to pummel through the day.
B + C: What's your best organizational tip?
Keep a diary and journal. It's the best way for me to keep organized and it also provides a source motivation as I record not only my "losses" but my wins as well.
B + C: Who inspires you in the entrepreneurial space?
Shirley Toliver – She motivates and empowers and makes me always want to show up.
B + C: What has receiving the Office Depot scholarship to Selfmade done to help you start or grow your business?
The scholarship was a blessing in that all the areas that were covered offered valuable information that I needed, from social media to HR. As a new business owner, I needed to know this to increase my own personal awareness in what it takes to run a successful business. The candidness of the presenters made it easy to see myself in their shoes and helped me to realize that I can also get there.
Thanks Colette! You can follow The M.E.E. Movement on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Want to feel motivated to take the next step for your business? Let Office Depot OfficeMax give you the confidence you need with a suite of business services & solutions to help you put your best foot forward. Make a good first impression with business cards & build the business pitch of your dreams with custom presentations. With Office Depot OfficeMax you'll find the tools to reach new customers with confidence.
Head to Office Depot's Selfmade page to check out even more amazing business resources (and discounts!) to help you accomplish more on your entrepreneurial journey. These offers are available for a limited time only, so be sure to take advantage of all this goodness while supplies last. Want to join the next Selfmade cohort this summer? Check out all of the scholarship details right here.