Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Dyeing Pine Cones with RIT Dye


Last year, after Christmas, I bought some cinnamon pinecones at the craft store.

My daughter and husband do not enjoy the super strong cinnamon smell so I stored them in the shed.

I wanted to do some crafts with them.

Recently, I wondered how they would take dye.

I assembled them, some RIT dye (Scarlet) and an ice cream bucket.

I was trying to enjoy the last of the fall weather before the flakes start to fly.
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I also bought a whole basket of pine cones at the thrift store recently.

Some of them have been sprayed lightly with white paint.

I wanted to try Dark Green Dye as well.



I followed the directions on the dye bottle for mixing.

In to the dye bath they go.

The burlap is another post.

You can read about it here if you missed it...



I left them in the dye for about 30-50 minutes.

At this point, I cannot really see much of a difference.



I added some more to the dye.



I removed them and let them drain in the grass.

Then I put them on a box lid and took them into the house.

I put them next to the wood stove to reopen fully.

It took about a day to fully dry next to the wood stove.

  I have also read that you can bake them at low temperatures in the oven. 

 Or you can wait.

A long time.

I am impatient but cautious so the wood stove seemed the least dangerous and quickest method for me.

Once they opened they have a faint tint. 

Here are the green ones.


 I like it. 



 It is subtle.


I only soaked mine for about 30-50 minutes. 

 For deeper color, I am thinking overnight would work great.

  I am going to have to try it out.

Also keep in mind, someone lightly painted these with white paint before I picked them up at the thrift store.



Here are the red ones.


I think the red ones are my favorites....


I already have an idea of what to do with these....


Soon all of those cinnamon pine cones will be on clearance...

Pick up a bag and have some fun...


Thanks for stopping by...


4 comments:

Mandy Howey said...

I feel vindicated. I tried soaking them overnight and got some hints of red, but basically unchanged. I dried them and tried again with a more concentrated coloring product. A little redder...but not RED...like the pictures show. I thought I was a total failure.

I tried bleaching some other pinecones. They turned a muddy color...not beautiful like the pix show.

I am now taking the bleached cones and putting them in dye to see what happens. Not giving up!!

Unknown said...

How about diluting Christmas red paint, maybe 50/50. Dipping them, watch the time and see what happens

Unknown said...

How about diluting Christmas red paint, maybe 50/50. Dipping them, watch the time and see what happens

Becky Haugse said...

I tried the food coloring first too and they mostly just looked wet lol I went and got liquid rit dye but one of the food colors had a really fine glitter to it so I threw the fabric dye in there with it instead of changing the water. I thought I would have to leave it overnight but they looked good after 2 or 3 hours. They are still drying but I think they are going to turn out nice. I had od'd them on the food coloring also. Good luck