Colorful lace tutorial. It's cold and dreary outside....

...but it's nice and bright in here!

(In case you are wondering what that is hanging from her neck. it's an antique key, tied to a strip of fabric...she's hoping to find the secret garden someday that it goes to. I don't question her.)

I've been making the girls and I a little stash of colorful headbands! I'll tell you how I did it.

 I always  keep the basic craft paint colors here like red, blue, white, and yellow; then I can mix those to get any color I want. I mix my colors in small bowls then I water it down a little with water and mix it well. Keep in mind that the color won't be as bright when it dries, so make it a little brighter than you think it should be. You want a watery consistency, but you don't want enough water to fade the color. Then I put the lace in and let it soak up all of the color, sometimes I have to kinda squeeze it into the lace if I didn't mix enough. After that I lay it over the sink to drain out all of the excess water.

When I feel like it's done dripping I hang them over the sink on my mini clothes line, you could use the shower rod (just be sure that you put it somewhere that if it does drip you will be able to clean it up easily). By the way- I almost didn't want to take these down because they looked so happy and colorful hanging there over the sink. I really think they made doing the dishes a little easier!

When they were completely dry I rinsed them out with a little fabric softener and hot water, let them hang dry again, and now they are colorful, soft, and ready for ribbons! Do you see that wide lace there on the spool in the background? I'm going to try a little something with that next. I'll keep you posted on that. The kids and I used this same method of watering down craft paint to make tie dyed shirts back in the summer and after being washed several times they still look good. There you are my dear friends, your very own how to color lace tutorial, now go forth and color your world! And then come back here and tell me about it!

Update: This is the exact brand of paint that I have, I got it a Wal-Mart.