I was going through my prop closet for an upcoming prop sale and came across these Ofelia blankets that I had dyed a while back. I’m quite addicted to the texture but the color choices are limited in the stores and spring was right around the corner so I wanted something colorful for those spring babies.
Items needed:
White Ikea Ofelia blanket
5 gallon bucket
Rit dye – you can find this in the laundry detergent section at Walmart or online for many more color options
Rubber gloves
Instructions:
I used the 5 gallon bucket method. Fill the bucket 3/4 full of hot water. Drop your dye in the water; the more dye you use the darker the blanket. I recommend 3/4 of the bottle because it will fade during washing. Slowly place the blanket into the water, little by little until it is fully saturated. With gloves on (yes, it will stain and it takes forever to come off your hands and nails, ha!) stir the blanket every 3-5 minutes for 45 minutes. When removing the blanket I placed the bucket in the bathtub and squeezed the water out of the blanket and then rinse bathtub immediately. Next, hang your blanket to dry. I hung mine outside overnight and it was dry the next morning, or you can place in the dryer since we are in the dead of winter.
Washing instruction:
Wash blanket on cold and it will fade a tad. Just repeat this process again for for the color to remain permanent.
My results:
The colors are endless, be creative and enjoy!
Until next time…
Kristen
by Kristen
[...] Custom Color Newborn Photography Prop Backdrop [...]
Darn you! You are costing me money! Lol! This is such a great idea! Thank you for sharing! I would have never thought to due these Ikea blankets even though I dye all my own cheesecloth baby wraps.
Another tip for others, while dying this blanket, take the time to dye some cheesecloth for matching affordable baby wraps. Also, before dumping the dye, I add water and dye another cheesecloth for a lighter shade but same color tone baby wrap. Then you get even more out of the cost of one dye.
Thanks again for sharing this idea!
[...] a few pictures so we can share what a great idea it is! You bet! The link for the blanket dye is http://www.sonkissedphotography.com/blog/archives/2521 and I recently did a DIY floor tutorial for photography and you can find that here: [...]
How awesome is that!!! Thanks for also mentioning the gloves
Oh thank you, thank you, thank you. I actually thought you guys overseas hade more colorchoises than us here in Ikea-land (Sweden) haha! I will definitly try this!
It will fade the first wash and then you will need to repeat the process and you should be good to go.
Thank you so much for sharing with others! This is such a wonderful idea, but I do have a question… Does it fade every time it is washed or is it really just the first wash that it fades? Thanks again!
such beauty captured!
Perfect! I’ve wondered where you find these great colored ofelia blankets! LOL …
Sucks we don’t have an Ikea here but I will be doing a photo shoot in Houston in March and I WILL be stocking up. Thanks for all your ideas!
I honestly love your ideas but I’ll probably never get around to doing half of them cause I’m so good at procrastinating.
Regardless, I admire you, and your willingness to share! So sweet of you to be so open with others! xo
Bless you for this, I always wondered how to dye this Ikea blanket (I call it my Marshmallow blankie – I have 4 of them and so want to dye a couple but being polyester its hard to find the dye in the UK. I’m going to try order some of this stuff online x Thank you.
thank you so much for sharing this, I’m not the most crafty person so seeing how easy this would be is great, thanks for always being so open with your amazing photography and great ideas!!
What a GREAT idea Kristen!!! I’ll definitely be doing this!
This is a great idea! You take such beautiful photographs