The Craft Hut

If you read my summer camp post yesterday and were a little confused, you read it right: my sister and I went to a summer camp one year that had a ritual of burning secular music (it was voluntary, mind you). They don't advertise that "fun activity" on their website, I wonder if they still do it. As I told my sis, "Unfortunately the irony of throwing the devil's music into a fiery furnace was lost on me at that age. Perhaps they should try an ice bath in the future. "

She added, "And then all eat a slice of angel food cake and drink ice cold milk." Which I have to admit would've made the experience pretty awesome. I like me some angel food cake.


At that particular camp I spent some extra time in the craft hut. I think I came home with 2 or 3 painted ceramic bear coin banks. Perhaps this year I'll get to the craft hut fairly often? I'm thinking it's time to tie dye! But not the ol' hippie spiral dies in a rainbow of colors; I'm in more of a natural dies and folk traditions phase. The Ardent Thread has some gorgeous examples of Shibori on her blog. {I think I remember her from way back in the Wonderland Retreat days.}

Maybe this story is a little outdated, but it's funny. I didn't realize dip dye was called "Ombre" but it sure makes it sound fancy. . . and apparently increases the price of the garment quite a bit. Remodelista covered a few dip dye options more recently, but those curtains (second image down) capture the effortless elegance of dip dye so much better than the Anthro curtains they suggest checking out. The beauty of this dying method is in it's subtle horizon line reference: staring out at the edge of the ocean, the sun flares just barely visible through half-open eyes, drifting off to sleep on the soft sand covered shore. Can you feel the breeze?

Another quick google search and I found this awesome black and ecru version on Bunk's Blog. It's feels a little like dangling your toes from the dock into the lake, bluegills nipping at your feet. Remember those days tossing bread crumbs, watching the little fish come up to the surface for a treat?


But maybe, in the pure laziness of summer, buying a thrifted black tank top and dip dyeing with bleach would be crafty enough. Go the extra length a la Free People and applique some flowers in an unexpected spot and make your fibers professor proud!