52-Week Money Savings Challenge (with printable)

Yay, me!  I made a New Years' Resolution last year and actually stuck with it!  I didn't start working out, lose weight, or finally get my whole house organized.  I did, however, manage to save nearly $1,400 with a 52-Week Money Savings Plan.  It wasn't that hard at all and the money I put aside was able to completely pay for Christmas this year - all the gifts for kids, our family, and their teachers, a new tree, some decorations, and even dinners out during the busy December season.

Since it worked so well for me, I thought I'd share it.  It's the perfect way to save for the holidays, but it would also be great for vacation saving or any other big-ticket item.

First, here's the week-by-week plan... (Printable HERE)

Here's how I made it work for me...

1.  Save in reverse!

When I first saw this kind of plan last December, it started with $1 the first week, $2 the second week and so on until $52 was deposited on the last week.  A commenter mentioned that she was doing it in reverse and I adopted that version instead.  It worked out great doing it backwards for a few reasons... 

1. You start out with the bigger amounts in the beginning when you're all gung-ho and more eager to save.

 2.  Your money grows faster.  By the end of the first month you have $200 and after 25 weeks you've put aside $1000!! 

3.  If you put it in a savings account, you gain a little bit of interest over the course of a year.  (I ended up with about $6 in interest).

2.  Schedule your deposits for a savings account!

The original version I saw had you putting your cash in a jar every week.  I knew this wouldn't work for me because I'd never have the right amount of cash on hand and I'd be too tempted to dip into the jar when the kids needed money for something.  I do my banking with Capital One 360 (which I love)  so I just set up a savings account for this challenge.

Then I just sat down and scheduled transfers from my checking account to my new 52 Week Savings account for every Friday, starting with $52 on the first week, $51 the second, and so on.  It did take a little bit of time since each transfer was for a different amount and had to be entered separately, but it was totally worth it because then the money went in every week automatically.  If you use the printable above, just check it off as you set up the transfer.

That's it!  I really liked watching the amount grow and it was nice to only have to add a few dollars a week there towards the end.  Plus, let me tell you, it was a HUGE relief to know that I had more than enough set aside for everything I needed for the holidays this year - by the end, I had saved $1384.09 (including interest!)

Now, like I said, I have Capital One 360 (formerly ING Direct) and I really liked it for this challenge.  The transfers were easy to set up and I could quickly open a new savings account just for this purpose (they let you open up to 25 separate savings accounts!).  This isn't a sponsored post, it just really worked out great for me.  See if your bank has something similar or look into setting up your own account at Capital One 360.  (DISCLOSURE:  If you set up a new account through this link, I do get a bonus but so do you!)

Mockingjay the Movie

“I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Lions Gate. I received a book, products, and a promotional item to thank me for participating.”

Is anyone else as anxiously awaiting the Mockingjay Part 1 Movie as we are?  My two oldest and I have been counting down ever since we saw Catching Fire last fall!

 

I first read the Hunger Games trilogy myself a few years ago.  My kids were just in the early elementary grades and I was volunteering at the book fair at their school.  As we were working, another mom mentioned how much she'd loved the series.  At first I was hesitant... young adult fiction?  teens in a dystopian society battling to survive in a televised game?  I wasn't quite sure about the whole premise.  However, the other mom and I had similar tastes in other books we'd read so I picked up the Hunger Games and started reading.  I loved it, quickly read all three books, and started recommending the series to my friends (with a "no, really, trust me, you'll like it" when they had the same hesitation I did).  

As we chatted in the carpool lines about Katniss, Peeta and Gale, we all tended to agree that even though the series was initially marketed to teens, it appealed to us adults too.  The characters were strong, the storyline was really interesting, and as odd as the plot was, it kept us hooked.  I felt that it was more like regular adult fiction, but was appropriate for younger audiences too.

Fast forward to 2012.  My kids were a little bit older and there was a lot of buzz about the Hunger Games movie.   My two oldest were begging me to go see the movie everyone was talking about.  Since they were strong readers, I told them we could go see the movie IF they read the book first.  They eagerly read the Hunger Games book and then, just like mom, devoured the rest of the trilogy as well.  It was so cool to have a series that I liked and they liked.  We were able to talk about how strong Katniss was, how smart thinking could be even better than strength, how some choices could be both wrong and right at the same time.  Once we saw the movie, we were able to compare the similarities and differences between text and screen.

Last fall, when we left the theater after seeing Catching Fire, we were bummed that we had to wait a whole year to see the continuation when Mockingjay was coming to the big screen.  Now, that year is almost over and we're eagerly planning our return.  We've all seen the trailer ...





and the kids and I have been busy rereading Mockingjay to refresh our memories and getting a sneak peak at some of the characters on the Mockingjay website.  My oldest will be heading to the theaters with some of her middle school friends this Friday for the premier, and my son and I will be heading out to see it ourselves in the next week or two.

How about you?  Are you heading to the theaters?  Just yourselves or with your kids too?

Saltine Challenge: Can you eat 6 saltines in a minute?

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  We've had an overabundance of snow days this winter and the kids are actually getting tired of all the days off school.  When they don't want to play outside anymore and cabin fever is setting in, I've had to reach deep into my bag of tricks to keep us all sane and entertained.

Here was a little trick that brought lots of laughs (along with a few crumbs)...

This trick was from way back in my college days.  My friends and I learned about it somehow, then challenged people every chance we got.  In all the times we presented the challenge, we never had anyone who was able to do it (and we won tons of free meals and free drinks in the process!).

You most likely have the supplies on hand, a box of saltine crackers (salted, not unsalted), a timer, and some willing participants.

The challenge is simple... all you have to do is eat (and swallow) the six saltines before the minute timer goes off without getting a drink of water.  You can eat them one at a time, two at a time, or even all six at once.  It sounds easy and you might be feeling pretty confident after the first one or two.  However, you'll soon find that the salt produces extra saliva but then the dry crackers quickly absorb any and all moisture in your mouth.  By the time you get to the last cracker or two, you'll be laughing and crumbs will be flying everywhere.

Check out the fun the girls had with their friend...

We did have to run the vacuum to sweep up some crumbs, but it was a fun little break and brought lots of laughter and giggles.

Creamy Shrimp Alfredo

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Giant Eagle for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love seeing my kids grow and become more independent in the kitchen.  It's my hope that by the time they move out of my house, they're able to follow a simple recipe and be confident enough to make a decent variety of basic meals.  Over the past few years,  my girls especially have had a lot of fun using the stove and oven with some supervision and are now pretty adept at making their own cupcakes or simple pasta side dish.  (Now I just have to keep working on my son!).  

This Creamy Shrimp Alfredo dish was a great way to get them to expand their skills a little bit and make a yummy main dish for our dinner the other night.  The recipe starts with a packaged pasta side dish that they're used to making, but adds shrimp, tomatoes and spinach to make it a full meal.

Check it out...

Looks really delicious, doesn't it?  The girls kept commenting about how much it looked like "restaurant food."  They were so proud of how it turned out, but it was really quite easy and simple to make (even on a Monday night after homework.)

Here's all you need...

• 1 package Knorr® Pasta Sides™ - Alfredo (plus milk, water and butter to make)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 lb. uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

The prep was really simple, just peel the raw shrimp and half the cherry tomatoes.

Next, they headed to the stove.  Simply cook the Alfredo pasta according to the package directions and stir in the tomatoes and spinach during the last five minutes of cooking time.  Meanwhile, in another pan, heat the oil and cook the shrimp for about 5 minutes until pink, stirring occasionally.

That's it, once the pasta is tender and the shrimp are cooked, simply stir the shrimp into the pasta mixture, add a little parmesan cheese and serve.  

This new recipe was a delicious meal on our busy weekday night  yet was easy enough that even my 8 and 11-year olds could make it with just a little supervision.

You can find the Knorr Pasta Sides at Giant Eagle and they even have a Free Recipe Book with this recipe and several others to help kids (and adults) make simple yet tasty main dishes.

PERK up your car with a great Giveaway

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PERK for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you're anything like me, your car can be like your second home.  With three kids, I feel like I'm always in my van.  I shuttle them back and forth to school, to practices, and to sleepovers.  We go to the library, the movies, the grocery store, the doctor, the dentist - well you get the idea. 
 However, with all that running around and constantly getting in and out of the car heading one place or another, you can imagine how messy things can get.  Actually, I won't even make you imagine it,  I'll show you...



Embarrassing, isn't it?   Water bottles and crumbs all over the place, my son's basketball uniform from when he had to do a quick change in the car, my daughter's robe from her last sleepover, various books and papers - really a little of everything.  And even though I didn't take a picture, my section of the van isn't much better, with empty travel mugs of coffee, receipts, and a pile of books to return to the library.

Now, while we do clean out the van before things really start to smell (usually!), it definitely doesn't smell as nice as I'd like it to, especially considering how much time we spend in there.  That's when I was really excited to have the chance to try out this new kind of vent air freshener.



Now, I've tried other vent air fresheners in the van before, but it was always a pain to correctly open the container of liquid scent and get the clips to attach properly to the vents.  Nine times out of ten, I'd end up spilling it when I was trying to put in on or the whole thing would fall off the vent the first time I'd move the vent to adjust the air flow.

Look how simple this PERK Vent Wrap  is...



Each package comes with four individually wrapped vent wraps.  I chose the Absolute Zero scent (to go with our frigid temperatures we've been having lately) but they also come in New Car,  Clean Laundry, Lush Valley and Golden Vanilla.
All you have to do is open the small package and slide on the PERK Vent Wrap.  Instead of a messy liquid, the wrap is infused with StediScent® technology.  The wrap doesn't block the vent and you can still easily adjust the air flow without having to worry about it falling off.  Each individual PERK Vent Wrap lasts for about 2 weeks, so a package of four will last about 60 days.

Here's a video that gives even more information...


Don't forget to Like PERK on Facebook

Now, even if your car isn't quite as bad as mine, I'm sure you could appreciate some freshening up too.  Enter the giveaway below to win a 6 month supply of PERK Vent Wraps.  (Open to U.S. Residents Only.  Must be 18 or older)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fun Trick: Poke Pencils through a Plastic Bag of Water

We've had several snow days lately and this was the perfect quick and easy little trick to entertain the kids.  You more than likely have everything you need on hand and the kids can do it multiple times and still be thrilled by 

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Check it out...

 All you need is a ziploc bag, water, and some sharpened pencils (or wooden skewers, etc)

Once your bag is filled with water, simply push the sharpened end of the pencil straight through.  If you do it fairly smoothly, the bag will seal itself around the pencil and no water will leak out.  (However, I do recommend doing it over the sink or have a towel handy just in case.)  We found that if you change direction midway through or start poking through the back and then hesitate, you might spring a leak.  Most of the time, though, the pencil goes in one side and out the other without even a drip of water!!

It's lots of fun and we had a good time seeing just how many pencils we could put through before we got a leak.

There's some science behind this little trick.  We learned about the polymers in the plastic bag stretching without breaking here on Steve Spangler Science, but it was really just about the fun.

You can check out the fun in action in this little video...

You can see we did have a little leak at the end.  As we were rushing to get the bag over the sink, I said we may have done it too fast.  Instead, I think the last pencil came too close to one of the other holes and the plastic in that section just wasn't strong enough to seal around the hole.  Still fun, though!

Fun with LEGO Minifigure Families

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of LEGO for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Sending of lots of Happy Holiday wishes from us here at Come Together Kids!

 

How cute is our little Christmas postcard?  All of us are smiling and facing forward, our house is clean, there's a roaring fire in the fireplace and all our holiday decorations look great!   Aren't you impressed that this busy mom pulled it all off just days before Christmas?

Seriously, though, I had so much fun designing our cute little scene and it only took me a few minutes on the LEGO Minifigure Family website.

First, I simply added each member of our family, even our cat.

Then, I was able to customize each person.  I could change our skin tone, facial expressions, hair, and outfits.  Here I am with a nice smile on my face,  my hair nicely brushed,  and wearing a cute Mrs. Claus outfit.

The final touch was choosing the background scene and moving each of our LEGO minifigures into position.  I opted for a nice home scene, but there were several fun scenes to choose from.

 

When you're all finished, you can share your creation in an email, on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, or even download and save it!  Then you can go back on the site and make a bunch of other fun variations.

Check out my girls in their ski outfits at the North Pole and my son as a Yeti...

And now they're on a tropical beach ready to do some snorkeling...

Seriously, I could have fun with this for hours.  Check out the video if you'd like to make one for your own family.  It's perfect for LEGO fans, but also lots of fun for just about anyone.  (and it's FREE!!)

 

Eating Frozen Fruits and Veggies (and feeling good about it)

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Frozen Food Foundation for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I don't know about you, but taking all three of my kids with me to the grocery store is one of my worst nightmares.  When they were younger and I was staying home with them, the thought of loading everybody up in the car to go hit the aisles of the supermarket was like torture.  Now that they're older, they still don't want to be stuck in the grocery store with me and their school and activity schedule, combined with my work schedule makes it just as tough to have to run to the supermarket all the time.

That's why my freezer comes in handy.   I've learned that if I have what I need on hand, I can minimize those dreaded trips for last minute items.  I'll make up a bunch of pancakes and french toast to have on hand for breakfasts.   I'll buy meats and freeze them and even make up double batches of some of our main dishes so we can eat one and freeze the other.   I always wondered about the frozen fruits or veggies, though.  I knew it would be easier if I could keep the freezer stocked with those items too, but would they have the same nutritional value if frozen?

 

Luckily, this a recent study answered my question and helped put my mind at ease.  A study conduced by the Frozen Food Foundation and University of Georgia  tested a variety of fruits and vegetables most commonly purchased by families:   broccoli, corn, strawberries, blueberries, etc.  The researchers tested the produce under three different conditions:  frozen, fresh (on the day of purchase) and fresh-stored (after five days in a home refrigerator).   The study found that in many cases, the frozen foods retained more Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and folate than those which had been purchased fresh and stored for a few days before eating.   Fruits and veggies consumed right from the fields are awesome, but when you factor in the time from the farm, to the store, to your dinner table, frozen foods often have the advantage.  More details of the study (and other similar research) can be found by click on the link at the start of this paragraph or by visiting the Frozen Food Foundation Facebook  page or the Frozen Food Foundation Twitter  page.

A few of my favorite ways to use frozen fruits and veggies...

* frozen veggies and sides? right from the package as a quick and simple addition to our main dish

* frozen veggies? added to homemade soups and casseroles

 * frozen chopped onions?  They're just awesome.  So much easier than chopping regular onions everytime you need them for a dish.

* frozen edamame?  great in the kids' lunches.  I just put a handful still frozen in their lunchbox and it's thawed by lunchtime.

* frozen meals?  great for my lunches when I'm called in to sub at the last minute or when dinner plans unexpectedly change

* frozen fruit smoothies?  great for an after-school snack.  We take a handful of frozen fruit (strawberries, mixed berries, peaches, etc), add some lowfat milk and about half a packet of instant pudding mix.  Blend until everything is combined.  It's really yummy and the frozen fruits make it nice and chilled and the pudding mix makes it really creamy and sweet.

 

So there you go.  If you were like me and were worried that frozen fruits and vegetables were not as nutritional as fresh, you can rest assured that in most cases, they are just as healthful and sometimes even more. 

 

 

 

 

 

Tie Dye Cake

Lately for birthdays, I've just been making cupcakes and putting them on simple little homemade cupcake stands.  I can match the stand to the party's decor and it's a lot easier to frost a cupcake than it is to try to decorate a cake.  However, for my daughter's Tie-Dye Birthday Party, I decided to try my hand at making an actual Tie-Dye cake, instead of just cupcakes.  I happened to find this Shirt Cake Pan in my basement when I was looking for other party supplies in my basement, and it ended up working out perfectly.  Of course a regular cake shaped pan would be just as cute.

Check out our Tie-Dyed Cake...

Pretty cute, don't you think? 

Here's what you'll need (feel free to make any of this from scratch, I just used store-bought supplies)...

* box of white cake mix + ingredients to make it
* 2 containers of white frosting
* shirt cake pan or any other shape (I happened to get mine years ago at a garage sale and it seems Wilton no longer makes them, but you could check Ebay or Amazon (affiliate link)for used ones, or just make your own shape from a regular sheet cake pan)
* food coloring

Here's what to do...

1.  Mix up your white cake mix according to package directions.  Separate the batter into 4 separate bowls, then add food coloring to each bowl to make the colors you want  ( I think I used about 15 drops of coloring in each bowl)

2.  Pour your batter into your greased cake pan.  I just did a little bit of one color here and a little bit there, until the whole pan was filled with random blobs and swirls of color.

 

3.  Bake according to package directions and allow to cool.  Then invert your cake onto the tray that you'll be using for serving.  (Don't worry if the colors look a little brownish and muted, they're nice and colorful inside the cake.)

 

4. Spread a fairly thin layer of white frosting all over your cake, then divide your remaining frosting into separate bowls and tint with food coloring.

5.  Use a toothpick to sketch a rough tie-dye swirl design in your frosting.  (My photo of the toothpick sketch was too faint, so I've drawn on the design I followed)

 

6.  Add your tinted frosting to your cake following the swirl design you sketched.  I put all my colors on first, then filled in the sections so the colors were touching.  (Notice my fancy cake decorating plastic spoon, I told you I don't decorate cakes often! ;)  )

7.  Finally, use the end of your fancy cake decorating spoon to draw the color from one swirl to the other, wiping off the spoon after each time.

 

8.  That's it!  Stick in some candles, serve your colorful cake to your birthday kid and be proud of your handiwork.

Oh, and things were way too hectic at cake serving time to get a well-photographed shot of the tie-dyed inside, but here's a quick, somewhat blurry, photo I grabbed before the girls came back inside and I had to start cutting seconds.

You can read about all the other details of our Tie-Dye Birthday Party HERE!

Make-Your-Own Lollipops

We made these yummy lollipops at my daughter's recent Tie-Dye Birthday party.  They were a fun little treat for the girls, but they were so easy, they'd be a fun little treat to make anytime.

Check them out...

Now look at how easy they are to make!

Here's what you need...

* Hard candy (photo shows Jolly Ranchers and Lifesavers, but I found that the Jolly Ranchers "melted" the best)

* parchment paper (affiliate link) - found in the baking aisle

* a hard object (to smash the candies)

* sturdy plastic bags (small freezer bags worked great)

* lollipop sticks (affiliate link) - found in                                                   the cake decorating section of most craft stores




Here's what to do...

1. Unwrap your candies and separate by colors in your plastic bags.  Close up your bags then use a hard object to smash your candies into smaller pieces.  ( I used a large wrench ).  You don't want to pulverize them into candy dust, but a variety of smaller-sized chunks.  

2.  For our party, I put the crushed candies in a divided tray so the girls could easily scoop out each color, but you could just go straight from the plastic bags if you want.

3.  Cut a piece of parchment paper to be the size of your cookie sheet, then draw circles with Sharpies to be the guidelines for your lollipop size and placement.  (they do spread out a decent amount, so leave some room between each lollipop)  Flip your parchment paper over so the actual marker circles are underneath, but you can still see the shape - that way the Sharpie doesn't bleed onto your actual candy.

 

4.  Preheat your oven to 225*.  Then allow the kids to scoop out the colors/flavors of the choices and mound them onto the circle shapes.  If you're doing this with more than one kid, allow them to write their name in Sharpie next to their lollipops.

5.  Put your tray into your preheated 225* oven for approximately 10 minutes, or until candies are melted.  

6.  Carefully take out your tray and immediately add your lollipop sticks, rolling them in the melted candy to completely coat the top part of the stick.  Note:  The lollipops will harden quickly, so move pretty fast with this step.

You'll notice that some lollipops were unevenly melted, that was the Lifesavers candies.

I'd recommend just sticking with the Jolly Ranchers, or doing a test batch 

with other varieties of candy.

7.  The lollipops will be cooled and hardened in less than 5-10 minutes.  Just peel them off the parchment paper and they're ready to enjoy!

Sharing our lollipops at:
Tatertots and Jello
The Frugal Girls

How to Tie Dye with Acrylic Paints

When we were brainstorming different ideas for my 8-year old daughter's birthday party, we quickly settled upon having a tie dye theme.  In case you haven't been around 8 year olds lately, they can be all about tie-dye, peace signs, hearts and rainbows, so it seemed like the perfect plan.

However, once I thought about it a little more, I was worried it would be tricky to pull off.  Regular tie-dying often involves presoaking the fabric, dying it, wrapping it up and waiting several hours before rinsing it out.  That definitely would be tricky to pull off in a 3-hour time frame for our party.  Plus, it's often recommended to use 100% cotton fabrics, and that would rule out the pillowcases and socks we were hoping to tie dye.

Luckily, we decided on an alternative that worked out really well...  using watered-down acrylic paints instead of regular dye.

Check it out...

That rainbow of bottles was filled with the watered-down paint that was really easy to use and all those colorful shirts and pillowcases were ready to take home at the end of the party.  (NOTE:  They were still a little damp, but we simply put them in plastic bags as the girls left and they hung them up to finish drying when they got home.)

Here's what you'll need:

 * plastic squeeze bottles ( found ours in Walmart in the food storage section, but spray bottles could also work)

* acrylic paints (they're available in tons of colors and are often less than $1 a bottle)

* fabric textile medium ( found with the acrylic paints in most craft stores)  Optional but I'd recommend it

* smocks and containers to catch the paint (We use disposable lab coats as smocks and they're awesome!)

* variety of items to dye ( we did pillowcases, t-shirts, and socks) and rubber bands



Here's what to do...

1.  Add the water and fabric textile medium to your acrylic paint.  The textile medium is optional but it helps to soften up the paint so the shirt is not as stiff when it's dry.   For each of the colors, I poured  one bottle of acrylic paint and half a bottle of the textile medium into the squeeze containers.  Then I filled up the empty acrylic bottle three times with water and added that in.  (So the ratio is 1/2 part textile medium, 1 part paint, 3 parts water - but you can experiment with your own ratios)  Then shake well to mix. 

2.  Repeat with the other colors you'll be using on your shirts, pillowcases, etc.  (That's the other awesome thing about using acrylic paints, there are sooo many colors available so it's a lot easier to find the perfect colors for you)

3. If you're doing this for a party or group of kids, you'll want to get all your supplies together and try to minimize the mess.  Because the paint will stain clothes once it dries, I gave each of the girls a smock.  I actually used these disposable lab coats (affiliate link) and they worked great to really cover all their clothes. 

I covered my tables with plastic tablecloths.  Then  put out bowls of rubber bands and some spray bottles on one table and then the paints, trays and rubber gloves on another.

4.  Next it was time to get dying!  I had the girls lightly mist their shirts, pillowcases or socks with a spray bottle of water, then put on the rubber bands.   (I had to help some of them with the rubber banding step)  Once everything was all tied up, they were ready for the color.  I instructed the kids to hold the tip up the bottle right up against the fabric so the color went into the fabric instead of squirting everywhere, but we did do each color over the disposable pans so I could collect any extra paint and put it back in the containers.

A few tips I gave the kids...

* Try to stick to two or three colors for the best effects.
* Try not to put yellow/purple, blue/orange, or red/green next to each other or they may mix together to make a yucky brown.
* Try to make sure you get plenty of paint in each area, but not so much that it's dripping off or it'll run into the other colors.

5.  When the items were dyed, we put them on plastic trays and tablecloths to soak in and set the colors.  After about an hour, I took off the rubberbands and held up each masterpiece so the kids could "oooh" and "ahhh" as their designs were revealed.  I hung up each piece so it could dry a little before it was time to take it home.

(NOTE:  Most of the items were just wet, but some of the girls went a little overboard and their items were still pretty sopping wet when I undid the rubber bands.  I simply squeezed them a little with an old towel to sop up some of the extra liquid so they weren't actually dripping onto my deck while they dried.)

Our finished products...

I instructed the parents to allow the items to dry then throw them in the dryer to heat set the colors.  After that, you can wash the items just as you would your regular t-shirts or pillow cases.

One final note about fabrics.  One of the good things about acrylic paints is that they'll "stick" even if the fabric is not 100% cotton.  Some of the pillowcases we used were a 60/40 cotton blend and others were microfiber (all synthetic).  The colors on the microfiber ones didn't seem as bright as on the cotton blend.  It may have been the combination of colors used, but I'd recommend staying away from microfiber items or testing it out first if you want more vibrant colors. 



Check out all the other fun foods and activities from our Tie Dye Birthday Party HERE.

Sharing our tie dye tips at:

Tatertots and Jello
The Frugal Girls