#TBCCrafters Craft Hop - Dyed Denim Wrapped Gift Bucket

Check it Out!  My husband is addicted to those soft peppermint puff candies and eats them by the bucket fulls!  Since these are handy buckets, I just can't throw them away so I have quite a few laying around and have been trying to think of ways to use them.  I use one on my craft table as a garbage bowl but was thinking they would make a great gift container as well.  

I have been working with Rit Dye the last few months, experimenting and trying it on different materials.  My latest experiment involved denim and Rit Dye. 

I had a pair of light colored jeans that I cut up to experiment with and decided to use my Scarlett Rit Liquid Dye to give it new life.  I cut the pockets, belt loops and a piece from the leg out.  I also dyed some white ribbon to match.  Once I got the pieces all dyed I realized that the leg fit one of my buckets perfectly and hence my idea was born!

Here is how I put the whole thing together.

My supplies included:

• Candy bucket
• Ribbons
• Buttons
• Glue - hot glue and glue dots
• Lace
• Rit Dye
• Supplies for dying - plastic tablecloth, bucket, plastic gloves, rubber bands, measuring cup and spoon,  wood sticks

 First I had to dye my denim.  Here is how I did it.

Step 1.  Mix up the dye according to the instructions in a plastic bucket.  I placed my wooden sticks in the dye to soak and absorb the dye

Step 2.  I then placed the dye soaked wooden sticks onto my denim piece 

Step 3.  I gathered the denim into folds around the sticks

Step 4.  Using rubber bands I secured the ends

Step 5.  Dip the ends into the dye, squeezing off the excess

Step 6.  I let my dye set on the denim for about 20- 30 minutes and then rinsed it with water

Step 7.  I also dyed the pockets and the belt loops, as well as the ribbon by dunking them completely.  Let everything dry completely before using.

Don't forget to use those plastic gloves and it's important to protect your surface.  This dye is permanent and will stain.  You can get lots of tips and other ideas for dying at https://www.ritstudio.com/.  They have a color studio and a technique section that gives all the basics for getting started. 

Since my dyed denim leg piece fit perfectly onto the bucket, I just slid the denim up the bucket all the way to the rim.  Even though it fit snuggly, I used a few glue dots around the top to make sure it stayed there. 

For the bottom of the bucket, I trimmed most of the excess off and glued down the edges.  I used hot glue and pushed all the pieces as flat as possible so the bucket will sit evenly.

Using a jar lid, I traced and cut 2 circles out of my excess denim.  One for the lid and one for the bottom.  I simply glued it over the center to finish it off.

I glued lace around the edges of the circle for the lid and also around the coin pocket.  I used fabric hot glue because it dries quickly and works really well.

Using fabric hot glue again, I glued 5 of the belt loops around the top edge of the bucket, spacing them out evenly.  I also glued the pocket on along one of the seams.  I wrapped my dyed ribbon around the bucket and through the belt loops and then tied the ends into a bow.  I layered 3 different buttons on the pocket to cover the emblem.

I glued the lace trimmed circle to the lid and then using my dyed ribbon along with 3 other ribbon colors, I created a ribbon flower and then layered buttons to create the center of the flower.  You can check out how I put these ribbon flowers together HERE.  They are easy and super fun to create.  I used glue to make this one though, because I get so frustrated with the needle and thread.  For me glue was faster and easier.  I added a few of the ribbon leaves to the pocket and when I give this as a gift, I thought the gift tag would fit perfectly in the pocket too!

Here is what my dyed denim looked like all the way around. I forgot to take a pic of the finished piece before I used it.