Do You have a Budget like Mine Valentine? Save by dying Ribbon & Silk Flowers

Dying your own ribbon & primas not only saves you money, but it can also give you a custom look and huge variety of embellishments to work with.

I've been jonesin' to make some Valentine's cards, & all the lovelies I've been seeing have juicy pink ribbon. I do not. :0( The solution? D.I.Y. pink ribbon. I've shared this idea before, but I have new readers (thank you, you fabulous people!) so I thought I'd share it again in time for Valentine's Day crafting. If you didn't believe me the first time, believe me now ;0) heehee dying your own ribbon is easy and cheap!

Some of Stampin Up's ribbons that you might not think would dye well, but do:

--River Rock in-colour stitched ribbon (Soft Sky would work too I bet),
--White/ Very Vanilla Taffeta,
--White 1/4" Grosgrain,
--5/8" Grosgrain (only comes in Very Vanilla),
--and Twill Tape too

Of Course, you can use ribbon from anywhere: the craft store, the dollar store, a fabric or notions store. These places often have good quality ribbon but it's not usually in the hottest crafting colours. White or off white (or other light colours) will always work great. Here's a couple of my faves, a wide vintage taffeta and two dollar store ribbons:

You can dye rickrack, shaped and stitched ribbons for a great variety. They don't even have to be white: you can try starting with a colour close to the one you're aiming for--for instance, deepen a light orange ribbon to hot pink. I like to do a fair-sized batch of different ribbons in a glass dish, so that no reinker goes to waste & I maximize my efforts.

You can also dye silk flowers this way. Can't afford the pretties kit? Just go to the dollar store, or craft store and find a bunch of flowers you think will make good primas and take them off the stem & dye them.

How to do it??? Grab your favourite colour reinker (usually you need a shade darker than you think. Here, I used Rose Red to get Pink Passion) and check this out.

Thanks for taking time out of your day to stop by,
:0)
Mel

P.S. next I am going to try to dye felt ribbon (gotta get me some first, lol)

P.S.S. ETA: Tumble dry ribbon in a coffee cup with a heatgun by Susan
ETA: You can just brayer your ribbon!!! Tutorial by Andrea