Our newest successful quarantine activity? Learning how to tie dye with red wine!

Quarantine has truly brought out the crafty DIY-ers within all of us. Between sourdough bread, whipped coffees and learning tik-tok dances, there are a few activities that a lot of us have been turning to while we’re spending more time at home. One of those activities? Tie dying! Our very own Natasha gave it a try, but instead of ordering specialty clothing dyes or tie-dye kits, she turned to a very special ingredient: cheap red wine.

We love this for so many reasons – that’s one less trip to the craft store (or one less order on Amazon!), it’s way cheaper than the alternative, the result is actually really pretty, and you can drink the leftovers. Win, win, win. Check out the easy steps below for how to tie dye with red wine!

Step 1: TWIST! Or you can try another method. A quick Google search of “tie dye folding” will yield so many different tie dye techniques, from folding to twisting to scrunching and everything in between. Choose your own method for your desired result!

Step 2: Tie it up. Using either rubber bands or butcher’s twine, tightly tie sections into your piece of clothing. This helps create sections of what parts will remain unsaturated and which parts will get color, so you can be strategic with your design.

Step 3: WINE TIME! Saturate your desired sections of the garment with wine. Pro-tip: you always need to use a little more than you think you do!

Step 4: Bake it. Pop it in the oven for about an hour at 170 degrees F. For smaller pieces of clothing, you can get away with less time – for bigger pieces, you’ll want to go the full hour.

Step 5: Admire! Congratulate yourself for completing a cute DIY project that was insanely easy to do. Wash your creation in the machine on cold for the first time to help the color stick!