Crafts: Sharpie Tie Dye is a great craft to do with kids it is a low mess way of doing a tied dye. You make the tie dyed patterns using sharpies and alcohol. We made these shirts while teaching the bible story of Zacchaeus. The children ages ranged from 4-17 made the Sharpie tie dye zacchaeus crafts. This simple easy tie dye was a huge hit with the kids. The tree takes about an hour some kids took less time.
Sharpie tie dye : zacchaeus crafts
This craft was adapted from ArtGirlJackie 
Tools :
- Sharpies 16 pack with bright colors and florescent (removed the dark colors Browns, blacks, drk purples, navys)
- Tee Shirt white
- Large Plastic Cups(solo cups)
- Rubber Bands
- 91% Alcohol (the 70% does not bleed correctly- I found at Rite Aid)
- Small cup
- Eye Dropper
- Blow Dryer
- cardboard to fit inside the shirt
- Choose a well ventilated area or near an open window
- cut the cardboard inside the shirt to protect the back side of the shirt
- Place the solo cup under the upper part of the shirt open end of the cup up
- Place the rubber band over the shirt around the mouth of the cup
- Using the sharpie draw shapes on the tee, (only allow the lighter colors to be used hide the dark colors for the trunk till later)
- Try not to use complementary colors next to each other because they will turn muddy (blue:orange, Green:Red , Yellow:purple)
- Using 91% alcohol and eye dropper, drop alcohol on the sharpie.. and watch it bleed
- Place another cup with a the rubber band and move cup to another area of the shirt. Repeat the sharpie tie dyes.. it dyes quickly minutes, Just remove the rubber band when the area is damp.
- Repeat over and over, and you can overlap until you finish the canopy of the tree..
- Use the blow dyer if needed, to dry the upper part of the shirt
How to make the Sharpie Tie Dye Tree Trunk:
- Draw the trunk
- Make sure cardboard in between the shirt. Use the black sparingly because it does take over the tee.
- I recommend using alot of goldish color in with the brown to give the bark effect, and leave white space.
- Starting from the center of the tree, drag the 91% of alcohol down the center of the trunk .. add more slowly,
- As the alcohol spreads using the blow dryer stop the bleed at the edge of the trunk. Caution it spreads quickly.
Watch this video:
This was such a fun craft for the kids to make as a bible story crafts for story of Zacchaeus, the children wore the shirts as they preformed a play. The possibilities are endless with sharpies and alcohol . I love this idea be sure to watch for more Sharpie crafts.
Have fun creating your own sharpie tie dyed tee!
That is so neat and different!
It is a ton of fun with low mess the kids loved it.
that is SO CUTE!!!!
Your kids would love doing them. The great thing is you probably have all the materials to make them in your house. enjoy, thanks for stopping by.
oh wow – that is so clever! what a great idea.
Your little one can so make these.. super fun when supervised .. just hide the dark colors the little kids kept asking.. but I held off till the trunk was supervised
They look amazing! I’m so envious of that master Sharpie pack, but they’d need to under lock and key in my house, lol…
Gina- My sharpies are hidden.. because I dont want to hear.. I was just and I got them on..
Adorable!!!! And I must find that Sharpie 80’s glam pack. I am a Sharpie addict!!!!!
Heather you will love making sharpie tie dyed they are so much fun and a creative gals dream.. low mess. Enjoy
OMG LOVE THESE!!! I am thinking these would make for a great birthday party craft idea or a playdate with my daughters friends. Now I just need to get my hands on a big pack of those awesome colored Sharpies!
I got the sharpies at ac moore.. they were on sale for $16. Have fun making them cant wait to see how they turn out with the kids.
Oh my gosh, I so want to do this with my son. He would love it!
Oh I want to try this with my kids!!
Your kids will love it. Be sure to share the pictures when they make them I would love to see. Thanks for stopping by Sarah.
So clever! Love it!
Have fun trying it out the possibilities is endless. Thank for stopping by
This is so cute! I will have to pass this along!
It is a fun craft to share. thanks for doing so.
I just washed the great looking shirt that I made and the colors washed out. I did three dryer sessions for a total of an hour worth of heat. I am so bummed!
My daughter wore it ONCE. One washing and it’s all gone.
I did notice some fading with mine also. It did not wash away totally, It is still there. I wonder how much bleeding was yours. Because did not use a ton of alcohol. I will take a look at the original post I got the idea from artgirljackie and see if she has any more fixing suggestions. I am sorry your went away.