Hand-dyed Baubles

I had fun making these!! They were made from Tyvek envelopes that you can get from the postal service. I painted the white part of the envelope (the inside) with the same dyes I use on fabric. I wasn't sure if the dye was going to "stick" since Tyvek is a synthetic material made of high density polyethylene fibers. It did soak into the material a little bit (not much) & the rest dried upon the surface. After the dyes had dried, I sealed it with Mod Podge. I then rubber stamped some with Lumiere paint. After all was dry, I then added dyed threads to some & then wrapped the colored Tyvek around a metal screwdriver. Since I had plans to use my heat gun on the beads, the handle on the screw driver gave me something to hold onto while I applied the heat. (make sure you do this in a well ventilated area & wear a mask, you're pretty much melting plastic, so you don't need to be inhaling noxious fumes)

After the piece was "melted" to my satisfaction, since the metal on the screw driver was still hot, I slid the beads off with a pair of tweezers. You could, however, wait for the piece to cool before you remove it, but I was having so much fun, I didn't have the patience to wait.