2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

This post is sponsored by Tulip.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

The new year brings lots of new goals and planning for creative adventures and one thing that we’ve found that helps us focus and get productive is staying organized! We always have little bits and bobs around our craft studio and it doesn’t take long for the work table to be covered in supplies. Enter these colorful baskets!

We grabbed a few plain white rope baskets from the store and gave them a DIY makeover with a little help from Tulip’s Two-Minute Tie Dye Kit.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

With many dyes, you have to let the dyed project sit overnight to properly absorb the color but with a little bit of microwave magic, these tassels came together in almost no time at all! If like us, you’ve fallen in love with making pom poms, you’ll love crafting your own tassels too. We used a few fun shades of 100% cotton yarn to mix and match the colors with the vibrant dyes that come in the kit. Watch the full how-to video below, and keep reading for more tips and tricks.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

what you need:

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

how-to:

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 1
Cut a piece of cardboard to the length you’d like your tassels to be – we used a 3” square, but you can adjust this if you want a bigger or smaller tassel to best suit your baskets.

Cut a piece of yarn and tie it once around the cardboard tassel maker.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 2
Wrap yarn around the cardboard, perpendicular to the yarn you just tied, about 45 times. We used a variegated yarn here, but you can use any color you like, keeping in mind that lighter colors will show the dye better. You can even mix and match colors of yarn within one tassel if you want!

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 3
Untie the single yarn and pull out the one tail. Make a double knot with the two end, cinching the tassel together as shown.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 4
Slide the yarn off of the cardboard. In one hand, hold the tied section of the tassel – this will be the top – and your other hand use a pair of sharp scissors to cut through the loops of yarn, making sure to cut directly opposite the knot you’re holding.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets 2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 5
To make a nice and tidy-looking top for the tassel, split the yarn on one half down the center, almost like you’re parting hair. Fold the yarn over and spread it evenly around so that your tassel is even and resembles a cute yarn version of “Cousin It.”

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 6
Cut another piece of matching yarn and tie a double knot snugly around the top of the tassel. Use the long tail end to wrap around the tassel two more times and then use glue to secure it next to the knot at the back of the tassel. Trim any excess yarn.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 7
Use sharp scissors to even out the bottom of the tassel so it’s nice and even.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 8
Repeat using different yarn until you have as many tassels as you’d like for your baskets.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 9
Place the finished tassels in a bowl and fill with water, making sure every tassel is fully submersed and wet through.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 10
Time to prepare the dye! Simply add water to each of the bottles and shake until well combined.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 11
Wring the excess water from a tassel and hold it over a basin or your work surface. Gently squeeze dye onto the bottom of the tassel to create a dip-dye look.

Do this for all the tassels, using different color combinations and even dying the tops instead of the bottoms if you like!

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets 2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 12
Arrange the dyed tassels in the plastic containers included in your kit. We arrange the darker colors (blue and green) together in one and the yellow and fuschia in the other. Close the lids and, one at a time, follow the guidelines in the instruction booklet for your microwave.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 13
After allowing the containers to remain closed for 15 minutes as per the instructions, open them and allow to cool for 5 more minutes. Rinse the excess dye from each of the tassels and place into mesh laundry bags. Put in the washing machine on the gentle/delicate cycle and wash. We set our washer to the small load setting and added a few dark colored items to fill the load a little bit.

Remove the tassels from the mesh bag and shake them out and untangle them with your fingers as necessary. Arrange on a wire cooling rack and let dry overnight, or until completely dry.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Step 15
Hot glue onto the baskets as desired.

2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets 2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets 2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets 2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets 2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets 2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets 2-Minute Dye Tassel Baskets

Happy crafting!