Strings and Things

Summer is the time for so many fun things! There are special foods to eat that you have a harder time finding in winter: potato salad, hamburgers on the grill, sliced strawberries, cucumbers picked fresh from the garden. I'm getting hungry! Then there's iced tea, lemonade, and kool-aid.
Now, how good is that? The perfect meal for the perfect summer day. Now, how about the strings? I believe in the KISS method when making jewelry: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Yes, KISS, for short. Recognizing that, I love the idea of using silk strings when making jewelry with my beads! Silk feels so good next to your skin! Silk adds elegance to a design. When paired with the right color, silk fades into the background and allows the viewer to focus on the bead. Finding the right colors of silk strings and ribbons becomes the challenge. However, thanks to online tutorials and discussions on Lampworketc, I learned the craft of using kool-aid to dye my white silk strings for making jewelry. It's really very easy to do. I heated up 1 cup of water and 1/2 c of white vinegar in the microwave until the liquid began to boil. To that mixture, I added one package of Kool-Aid. I stirred the kool-aid until there were no more grains in the water. At that point, I added the silk strings. The strings then sat in the water for about 5 minutes. I took the strings out of the water, and I rinsed them in cool water until there was no more color coming from the strings. I then placed the strings in a zip lock bag, but I didn't seal the bag. I placed the bag in the microwave for 30 seconds. I did this 4 times. The purpose of this is to set the color. I think rinsed the strings again, and pressed them lightly. The colors absolutely blossomed! Memories of summer? Yes, another one to add to the list--kool aid and silk strings.