I Took An Inkblot Test... and Failed

Every once in a while I will stumble onto something that I know is longing to be pinned. It's usually a project or a recipe that has my name all over it. The other day I found something calling to me, almost demanding to be pinned. This pin caught fire --- HUGE fire. In a matter of an hour it was repinned 99 times. NINETY-NINE. I decided with that kind of pinning, I needed to give this one a shot. I should have ignored that thought. 


I saw this project from Made in Pretoria and it looked easy enough, the entire tutorial was six lines. That should have been my first sign of the things to come. I grabbed an old tank top that I used to wear to the gym (don't judge the used to part of the sentence, I'm getting back on the wagon... soon) just in case this project went awry. It was the only    smart thought I had during this process. I also happened to have some ink pad refills on hand so I was all set. Since I just so happen to have about a million boxes laying around, it seemed logical to stretch the shirt over a box. Quick and painless, right? Wait for it. 

I opened the ink and started dropping it on the shirt. It took about five minutes -- that includes the careful placement and artistic thought -- to do the shirt. When I was finished with it, Allen lovingly told me that it looked like someone had bled on my shirt. Sweet right? That should have been another clue. I let it dry overnight to be sure it was nice and dry before I soaked it. I woke up and still liked the look of the shirt. It seemed abstract and fun. And then the fun ended. 

Once the dye was soaked in and I put the shirt in cold water to let the dye set - just like it said. This is what happened in the washer immediately. Consider it an action shot from my handy dandy iphone. 


Yup, that's ink you see entering my washer. I was a little upset, but knowing that red is a quick color to run, I got over it. After two soaks the water was clear and figured I was home free. If only. 

I got all the water out of the shirt and threw it in the dryer to make sure that the ink was really set. I have had my share of pen stains on shirts and the dryer sets those bad boys in like a champ - how could this be different?


I was wrong, really really wrong. If you want to make a shirt look like you are a hard working mechanic - this is the way to do it. If you want a cool colored tank -- skip this. My shirt is a mangled disaster AND my dryer was also a casualty. I had to wipe my dryer down with a rag that is now various shades of black. I also threw in a load of towels for good measure. All in all - this was a messy messy ink fail. But my friends, never fear -- I am not one to say die. I am going to try this whole project again with some tweaks of my own and we'll see how that one goes. I'll keep you posted (of course!!)