Let's Get Re-Acquainted!

So I may or may not have completely neglected my blog for the past few months... I could give the old, cliched lame excuses of business or just plain laziness, but I figure if Justin Timberlake can take a break after N'SYNC and still have a major career comeback, so can I, so here's a currently post to get us re-acquainted.

What's New; My life has been pretty much a whirlwind of good news & exciting stuff. New car and new phone (granted, I had to completely shatter my iPhone & sob in a parking lot over it to get this new said iPhone 5 buuut), good news for the summer, and making ridiculous (but fun) plans for the future. I am literally very excited as I type this.
And running. Running is new (again), but this time it is going to stick ;)

Reading; I have been in one of those major reading funks where I can get through about 3 chapters (or half of the way) through a novel and I cannot (and I mean CANNOT) finish it for the life of me. These times completely annoy me, especially when I just want to chill out & read. But oh well, fingers crossed I abort this non-reading mission soon.

Watching; I have been watching many, many movies lately. And I mean many. Everything from Les Mis (which is one of the most genius movies I've seen in a while) to the finale in the Twilight Saga (also quite amazing). I have also been watching countless YouTube videos and I am currently being persuaded to start watching the Supernatural series by a new friend, which I will mostly likely fall in love with more non-existent people and become obsessed with yet another series. But hey! Why else do they give us great TV shows?

Thinking about; SUMMER. My summer plans are getting ridiculous, but it the best possible way. Many road trips, many days planned to be at the beach, many good times I can see ahead, and I literally can not wait.

Eating; Lately, I have been *attempting to eat more healthy than normal. Salads, greek yogurt, cutting out sweets as much as possible. However, I have had quite a few "cheats" lately. Thanks Five Guys, Easter, and friend's with birthdays!

Wishing for; An English Bulldog puppy. Yes, you read that right. I want a puppy soooo bad, it's awful. Well, actually, I want two. I even have their names picked out. I have a problem.

Listening to; Ed Sheeran. Ed Sheeran. and oh yeah, Ed Sheeran. I was going through  my old posts and I obviously will never get over this boy because he's all I've been listening to for the past 10 months.. But on the rare moment I haven't been listening to him, I've been listening to Mumford & Sons, Sleeping with Sirens, Lana del Rey, Hoodie Allen, Phillip Phillips, The Wombats, Nevershoutnever (oldie, but a goodie), Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, and MCR just to name a few. (I literally just looked at my Top 25 Most Played list on my iPhone.. lol)

enjoy this month lovelies!
mckenna k. xx

Tea Dyeing Success!

Hey bloggers!

If you have been following my tweets lately (username: McKennaK1) you will have seen my many attempts, trials, and failures at tea dyeing one of my white skirts.

After hours of soaking, rinsing, drying and starting over, I finally achieved the exact tea-colored skirt I had been hoping for. :) I wanted it to fade from white to a light brown in a ombre fashion, and I think I succeeded.

I am going to share my process with you below. :)



 Photo info:

*Rings off & tea bags ready to go! :)

*The original whiteness of my skirt

*The tea I used to get the color I wanted

I began by testing out different teas in white cups to see how dark the water would become in the dyeing process. I ended up choosing the one above, because it wasn't too light or dark, it was kind of in the middle.

Then, I soaked my skirt in a salt fixative, which is only boiling water and about a cup of salt dissolved in the water. This will allow the dye to adhere well to the fabric and to make sure whether there are any "dry pockets" where the tea will not get in the dyeing process.

I then put in six tea bags and let them boil for about 20 minutes before letting the water simmer. 

I then submerged the entire skirt in the dye mixture for 20 minutes; I only did 20 minutes because I wanted the skirt to be fairly light, but the longer the material soaks in the tea mixture, the dark it will get.

 After the timer went off, I took the skirt into the sink and rinsed it completely until the water running off of it was clear. Next, I rung it out until it was barely damp. I then set up sort of a prop to hold up the skirt while I did the next layer (for the next layer, I kept about 4 inches out of the water).

I repeated the previous steps about 4 times, until I had reached the last four inches of the skirt.

And ABRACADABRA!
The tea-dyed ombre skirt was born!

Feel free to try this as well, and if you find out other ways to naturally dye fabrics, make sure to share them with me! :)

details:

skirt (original white color) // Gap

top (actually my favorite romper tucked in) // Target

see ya tomorrow.

mckenna k. xx