Olliebop Blog | Inspiration, Ideas and Information for Busy Families | Parenting Teens and Tweens

After the glorious Columbus Day Weekend {it’s becoming a distant memory, I know… but stay with me} I’m happy to share a new crafting discovery. Inkodye! It’s paint primarily for fabrics, that “turns sunshine into art.” We recently had a blast with it, and you can enter to win a $25 gift certificate to order Inkodye of your own!

But first, an introduction to Inkodye by our lovely assistants and demonstrators — Ella and her dear friend, Kate. Here they are on our Inkodye test day with their finished creations:

We first heard about Inkodye when I read this post by Jessica of the wonderful How About Orange. {And actually, Jessica’s post today which features fabric Sharpie markers introduces a fantastic detailing companion for Inkodye and fabric art.} Intrigued, I ordered these four fab colors:

I purchased four inexpensive canvas bags, and we consulted Inkodye’s how to page for instruction. Using Inkodye is much like using that sun-sensitive paper that has been around for years; just lay an item down in the sun and it creates a silhouette. In this case, the Inkodye is painted on first {we did this inside, on a newspaper covered tray}. Then, we laid down the shapes {here, decorative paper borders and plastic letter stickers} and carried the tray out to the sunny deck. This was the transition that we observed with Ella’s bag {painted yellow green} in just a few minutes. So satisfying!

Meanwhile, Kate used Blue Green on her bag, which made the canvas look like denim in a very cool way. The swirls that Kate used are metal paper clips. The girls had fun scouring the house for potential materials. Again, there was very rapid color change out on the sunny deck. This took about four minutes.

The key to Inkodye success is quick and thorough washing after exposure to the sun. We removed the shapes and plunged the bags into a bowl of hot soapy water, alternating with rinsing under the warm faucet. We also could have put them in the washer, as was suggested on the Inkodye site. I do wish that we had rinsed/washed a bit longer, as some of the white parts darkened just a little as the bags were drying. I would also advise to get the colors nice and dark in the sun, as some of the overall color does rinse out in the washing process.

Ollie enjoyed sunning himself on the deck and watching all of the hurried comings and goings of the girls doing their project. He looks so sweet and innocent here. This is the same dog that joyfully rolled all over the deck yesterday when it was covered in wet deck stain. It wasn’t pretty…

But Inkodye is pretty! It’s a non toxic kid-friendly craft material that’s fun and easy. We’re looking forward to more projects using this medium. The two tween testers, Kate and Ella, were delighted with their end result:

To Enter the $25 Inkodye Gift Certificate Giveaway:

Leave a comment in the box at the end of this post during the month of October.  In your comment, please tell us which Inkodye shade is your favorite! Click here to see the color choices. 

The fine print: This is all so official isn’t it?  A drawing will be held to include all commenters from October 12-31, 2011.  The winner will be randomly selected on November 1, using the true random generator on Random.org.  The winner will be notified through the provided email address and must respond to “bop@olliebop.com” to claim their gift certificate code.  It is recommended to add bop@olliebop.com to your contacts to avoid a junk mail classification. If a response is not received by midnight on November 3, 2011 a new winner will be chosen.  Open to US residents only. One entry per person.

Thank you to Inkodye for their contribution to this giveaway. Ollie and BOP do not profit in any way from your potential purchase of this product. We are just sharing because we like it! And we like you.