When we needed a great craft project for a 10 year old girl's birthday party, we turned to The Double Daring Book for Girls for inspiration. The Birthday Girl chose batik-ing, a project which ended up being perfect for our small group.The Double Daring Book for Girls gave us all the basic instructions and we headed off to the craft store for beeswax, paraffin wax (ended up getting at hardware store in canning section), paintbrushes, RIT dye, and plain white cotton bandannas.
A few days before the party I washed (cold/delicate) & dried the bandannas. On the day of the party, I melted 2 parts paraffin to one part beeswax in a rinsed out metal can set in pot of water on low heat. We spread out an old tarp on the floor and the girls "painted" their designs on the bandannas with the melted wax. The girls loved working and being extremely silly - I mean, experimenting - with it.
When they finished, we soaked the bandannas in the RIT dye (dissolved in hot water, filled rest of bucket with cold water & a cup or so of white vinegar). The fabric soaked while the girls had their pizza and cake, then I gently squeezed out the extra water and put them on the porch to dry. Later during the movie, I ironed the wax out (old towel underneath, double layer of paper towels on top). The ironing was the hardest part of the whole project, but only because we had fourteen bandannas to iron... but finished just in time, and.... Voila! Very cutie bandannas to take home as part of their party swag.
The Daring Girls in our family highly recommend The Double Daring Book for Girls (and its original companion, The Daring Book for Girls) for girls (and their moms) who like to know How To Do Cool Stuff (batik, friendship bracelets, fortune telling, saying hello in other languages... the list goes on). Hint to aunties everywhere: they also make the perfect "aunt" gift. We know, because these were the perfect gift from The Birthday Girl's aunt!
The Double Daring Book for Girls, Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz, Collins, 2009
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