Batik-Dyed Patriotic Paper Pins

Step 1:

BATIK-DYEING ON PAPER

Preparing Rit Dye:
Liquid dye is concentrated and may be used directly from the bottle. Pour dye into a small container for easy use. For Powder dye, mix 2 teaspoons with ½ cup very hot tap water. Test color. Use more dye for more intense colors.

To Create Batik Effect with Dyes:
Use a foam brush to apply resist to stamps, then stamp repeatedly on paper, re-applying resist each time. Or paint resist directly on watercolor paper. Wash stamps immediately when done. Let resist air dry or dry with Heat Tool.

Sponge or paint Rit dyes liberally on paper. Heat dyes with Heat Tool. Or, line bottom of microwave with paper towels. Place dyed paper pieces in the microwave and set on High for one minute. When paper is completely dry, rinse off dye, rubbing gently with sea sponge and water to remove dye residue and resist. This results in a batik effect. Let paper air dry or dry with Heat Tool or in the microwave. Iron if desired.

PATRIOTIC PINS

FLAG PIN:
Cut a 2 ½” x 3 ½” rectangle from watercolor paper. Use foam brush to apply resist on Tiny Star stamp. Then press stamp several times in upper left corner of rectangle, re-applying resist each time. Clean stamp. Using resist, paint “white” stripes on flag with ¼” brush. Let air dry or use Heat Tool. When resist is dry, paint upper left corner of rectangle with Royal Blue Dye. Paint stripes with Scarlet Red Dye. Heat dye with Heat Tool or in microwave, rinse and dry paper. When Flag paper is completely dry, over-stamp stars on blue portion using black ink. Edge Flag with gold metallic pen. Attach pin to upper center of pin back.

STARBURST PIN:
Using resist straight from the bottle, tap a few dots onto paper to form center of starburst. With resist, draw curved lines coming out from this center in a starburst pattern. Let dry. When resist is dry, paint starburst lines using Scarlet Red and Royal Blue dyes. Follow general batik instructions to set dye.

When paper is dry, cut loosely around starburst lines to create the look of fireworks. Randomly stamp Tiny Star and Small Starburst from Cloud 9 Chocolate Chalet set, using black ink. Stamp Tiny Starburst from same set three times in center. Edge Starburst with gold pen. Glue three rhinestones to center of each tiny starburst. Attach pin to upper center on back of pin.

DOUBLE STAR PIN:
Cut 6” by 9” piece of watercolor paper. Use foam brush to apply resist onto Tiny Star. Press stamp randomly on watercolor paper, re-applying resist after each imprint. Clean stamp. Let resist dry.

When resist is dry, use foam brush to sponge Scarlet Red and Royal Blue dyes on paper in random pattern. Heat dyes with Heat Tool or in microwave following general directions. When paper is completely dry, cut a large and small star shape from dyed paper, using pattern provided. Stamp Tiny Star randomly on both stars using black ink. Stamp again using the small Starburst from Cloud 9. Edge stars with gold metallic ink. Attach small star to larger star using dimensional tape. Glue rhinestones to selected areas of pin. Attach pin back to upper center of pin.

Variation: Make any of these into a necklace by punching a hole in the top and adding a ribbon.