Hi Friends! It’s been a while…Covid and quarantining for the past few months has been something else. I’ve been spending some time working on non-blog projects (learning French, meditating, reading a LOT) and just taking some time off social media to unplug and digitally detox. I’ve missed making things and I’ve missed talking to all of you and am ready for some fun DIYs, outfit projects, and maybe a few other surprises that I’ve not really featured here before. Today’s project is one that I’ve been wanting to work on for a while and figured this weekend would be it!

I’m tie dyeing masks, but not just any kind of tie dye pattern, but a PIZZA themed one! I got inspired when I won a pizza from local pizzaiolo, Dough Daddy after donating to local charity Edible Gardens!! I wanted to wear a themed mask (BECAUSE I LIVE FOR A THEMED OUTFIT) to pick up our pie and to have in my mask stash for everyday wear.

I started with a blank cotton mask, three dye colors (red, yellow, orange), gloves, rubber bands, and a plastic lined tray to use as my work station. (I get MESSY so this has been my recent go-to trick for any outdoor dyeing I’ve done!)

I wet my mask and began pinching small circular sections and rubber banding them. These are going to be my “pepperoni” (or “vegan pep” - we don’t discriminate here!). I scattered my little pep-to-be sections around the mask.

I took some Scarlet powder dye and put it in a little dish with hot water and began application to the circular areas on the mask with a wooden coffee stirrer. (We just did a maje clean out of our “everything” drawer in our kitchen…YOU ALL KNOW THAT CLUTTERY NIGHTMARISH DRAWER…and I came across enough to start my own Starbucks! I figured why not use one of these as a paint brush of sorts to directly apply the red to the circles.

***Please note those additional red specks were not intentional - just a happy accident from opening my LaCroix too close to the dye where there was a fun mini explosion! 😂

Once the dye was applied, it was time to rubber band the rest of the mask, making sure the mask straps were included. (There’s no real rhyme or reason to this - have fun and just clump it all together or fold it like an accordion!)

I took the yellow dye which was already in a bottle applicator and started squirting the “cheese” all over the mask.

Next came the orange dye to really just pull together all the shades of gooey cheese mixed with sauce that we dream of.

When all the dye has been added, it’s time to let it dry. (I like to wait anywhere from six hours to overnight to really let the dye marinate!)

When you’re ready to remove the rubber bands you can either trim them off with scissors (this is my route when I’m really impatient 😂) or pull them off to reuse for your next dye project. Either way, before you wear your mask, make sure you run your piece under water until the dye runs clear. Then air dry or toss into your dryer before it’s wear time!