We're Not Complete Failures. Some Things Actually Turn Out Kinda Neat.

It's been established that I can't tie dye. But apparently bleaching is a far different category than tie dying and I can do that with some form of success.

Materials needed: one shirt, freezer paper, an iron, bleach, spray bottle, bucket of water.

Yep, I think that's it.

Directions: Make a picture of something on freezer paper, cut it out, and iron it onto the shirt you've got chosen. It really sticks (shiny side down!) but is very easy to peel off as well. I found this to be quite amazing. And no, wax paper will not work, nor will parchment paper. Trust me, I've tried.

We went simple and cut out a tree.

Once the design is ironed on, lay the shirt out flat on a surface that you don't mind bleaching, like grass. Or the driveway. Put a piece of cardboard inside the shirt to keep the bleach from bleeding through to the back.

When the shirt is laid out nicely (you'll want a non-windy day for this) simply spray around the ironed-on design with your bleach bottle. The more you spray, the whiter the shirt of course. The fine mist is the best setting, otherwise you'll have streaks of white rather than a slow fade.

When you see the shirt start to change from Pretty Fun Color to Starting To Fade, dunk that shirt in the bucket of water you have on hand for just that purpose. You'll want to neutralize the bleach when it starts working because otherwise it'll eat a hole right through the shirt, and that would be counterproductive.

After sufficiently soaking the shirt in water, peel off the freezer paper, wring the shirt out, and wash as usual.

Ta-da!