DIY: How to dye with tea!

I'm very excited to publish my first [ever] DIY post on Candy Louise! It's been a while since I last posted. My personal style has changed quite a bit, my interests, and just life in general is different. I'm very happy to be back in the blogging world though, and I hope you all enjoy this super easy method for dyeing (pretty much anything!) with tea. 

Step 1: Choose an item you want to dye. I picked my all time favorite lacy bra from Free People, the galloon lace halter bra. I bought it in the ivory color, and though I love pops of bright white, I wanted it to be a bit more muted. Any item that's light in color works for this! 

Step 2: Boil water in a pot that is large enough to fit your item. Also make sure there is enough water to fully submerge what you're dying! Once the water begins to boil, steep the tea. You can use any type of tea, but I used basic black tea for my first go around. For a small item, I used 2 bags. 

Step 3: Place your item in the pot! Try and find some sort of utensil to stir the item around while it's being dyed. Make sure that you let the tea soak into your item long enough. The material should be slightly darker than you want it to be before you take it out of the pot. 

Step 4: Rinse your item under cold water until the water runs clear. This will wash a bit of the dye out, so make sure it's a little darker than desired when you first dye it! 

Step 5: Let the item air dry. Mine took about a day! 

Alright guys, there you have it! This is such an addicting way to dye clothing. Since doing this bra, I've dyed a few of my shirts, and a slip! If you experiment with different types of tea, let me know how it goes. I'm excited to try some other types to see how it affects the final color of the fabric. Good luck in your dyeing endeavors!

Much love, 

Tess

Resolutions

• To be at ease with myself; my body, my ideas, my style. Everything. 
• Not to let the small, insignificant things get to me. 
• Commit to an all natural beauty routine. 
• Focus on each and every moment; not to get caught up in dwelling on the past or planning for the future. 
• Learn to laugh at myself, quirks and all. 
• Read a whole lot more. 
• Try to stay away from screens as much as possible. 
• Stop basing my decisions off other people's decisions. 

• To be free. 

Ten Thing Tuesday

1. I'm feeling horribly sick as I write this : headache, fever, and sore throat. 

2. This photo was taken by my lovely best friend, Serena. 

3. It's been snowing in Boston, and I'm terribly jealous of them. 

4. I woke up at 8am this morning; that's the earliest I've been up since I was in Costa Rica. 

5. Though I desperately want to switch all my cosmetics over to all natural ingredients, I'm very intimidated by the task. 

6. I can't for the life of me decide between studying abroad in Amsterdam, Netherlands or Segovia, Spain.

7. I love the smell of Christmas trees, and burn candles that smell like them all year round.

8. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I'm extremely excited that it's less than a month away!

9. I like Thanksgiving not for the food (since I hate Turkey) but because it's no doubt one of the coziest days of the year, and it means I can finally start watching Christmas movies. 

10. Thinking of 10 things that aren't totally mundane is pretty difficult, so I'll leave 10 as is. 

It's been a while.

Alrighty guys, I know it's been quite a while since I last posted. I was in Costa Rica for a while and by the time I got back, I just had forgotten the routine of regular posts. I've realized that I'd rather have this blog to post inspiration, my photography, projects I do, places I go, as well as my personal style interspersed throughout. 

I'm excited for this change; I think it will be better for everyone. 

Here are a few photos from recent fall exploration I went on. 

Hopefully you lovely people didn't forget about me!