Dye-ing for St Patty's Day

It's almost St. Patrick's Day!!! My family goes to the St. Patrick's Parade in Jackson every year. I even went when I was pregnant with Reeves! Here are a few pictures of the last couple of years....

(my mom and I)

(2009)

(2010)

(2011, pregnant!)

After we had Reeves we took a couple years off, but we are back this year baby! This will be Reeves's first parade, period. I'm super excited! 

I bought Reeves the cutest shirt from Sweet Potatoes. It's the cutest thing ever...

Told you it was cute!

The only thing that would make the shirt cuter was a pair of green pants. The only color I could find was hunter green. Not what I was going for. So guess what, I'm going to dye a pair!

I bought Reeves a pair of khakis last spring for my sister-in-laws graduation. Since he's only worn them once in a year, I figured they wouldn't be missed! 

Here are the steps....

My supplies...

I got a bottle of RIT Dye from Walmart. 

The directions say to use your washing machine, but that scares me! I dyed a pair of shorts for Reeves (I'll post about them at a later date), and this is how i did it. That pair of shorts turned out great, because they fit nicely in my tub without bunching. This pair of pants, not so much.  Here's what I did (wrong)... 

Step I: 

I put the hottest water in a tub (mistake #1, using the tub).

Step II:

Poured half of the dye in the tub (mistake #2).

Step III:

Put the pants in.

I used a straw to push them in the water so my hands wouldn't turn green! 

 I couldn't get the pants to stay submerged in the water!

 So I filled plastic cups with water and sat them on the pants (mistake #3)

 Step IV:

Set the timer for 30 minutes and left them alone.

Step V: 

Wash the pants until they run clear

Um..... That doesn't look right!!

At this point, I realized I messed up!

So, I start over. 

Step I:

Settings for my washing machine. I was totally freaked out about using it! I knew if Chad came home and the inside of our washing machine was green I was going to be in trouble! On the other hand,  Chad NEVER does laundry, so I went for it!

 And would you believe, after all the hard work of not turning my hands green, I did.

Step II:

I poured the rest of the dye in the washing machine. I wish that I had the whole bottle, because that's what the directions call for! This was SO SCARY! 

 In went the pants... The directions say to do a 30 minute cycle. I'm not sure if thats what I did, but it seemed to work out.... 

Luckily my washing machine look just as good as it did before this little project!

Not so much for my pants. I wish I had just done the washing machine method to begin with! They look a TON better than they did the first time. 

Back

Front

The color is spot on! I love the look!!!

I wish I could dye them one more time! We were leaving for my parent's house (they live 3 hours away, right outside of Jackson) the next morning. I ran to Walmart to get another bottle of dye, and they were OUT! 

I have two options... I can check out the Walmarts around my parents house or I can live with it. Guess we'll see on Saturday!!!

Happy early St. Patrick's Day!!!