Rainbow Dyed Wall Hanging

Watercolored Rope Wall Decor

Every single time I see a dip dyed rope wall hanging, my heart pitter pats ever so slightly. I’ve made macrame and love it something fierce. And I’ve picked up woven wall hangings at the flea market. But… I’ve never made a dip dyed one of my own!

One of the only things I’ve ever won from a blogger giveaway was actually from my friend and podcast partner Erin when she was giving away a set of this Folk Art Ultra Dye (affiliate)! It works on anything ‘porous’ that won’t need to be washed so… rainbow wall hanging coming right up!

Step 1. Rope

I’m using leftover rope from my macrame. I love the 3/4 inch woven rope because I can unwrap it to be more like a tassel but it definitely takes some time. I looped the rope over a dowel just like I would with macrame so quickly pop over to check out that post if you’re not sure how! I trimmed the edges straight, but that’s just aesthetic… you definitely don’t have to!

Step 2. Mix

Even though I had a pretty broad range of colors, I still mixed quite a few different options in the color spectrum. Using plastic cups and milk jugs, I watered the dye down a bit (maybe 1 part water to 3 parts dye?).

Step 3. Prep the surface

Cover a table with plastic and then a layer or two of paper towels. Lay the rope on top making sure you spread it out as evenly as possible.

Step 4. Spray

I wanted my rope to really absorb the colors like watercolors, so I sprayed it with quite a bit of water first. (I continued to spray it throughout the painting to help the colors mix together.)

Step 5. Dye!

Start with your darkest color at the bottom. Paint an even stripe along the bottom of the rope and spray to help the dye permeate the rope. Grab the next color and paint another stripe. I wanted the two colors to mix into each other so I painted over where the colors met and alternated with my spray bottle.

I continued with all my colors until I reached the top 10-inches of the rope. I wanted the rope to end uncolored, so I diluted the final color more and more as I painted towards the dowel until it was void of any color.

I left it flat on the table to dry overnight and then hung it on two hooks to finish drying the next day.

Have I mentioned that I LOOOOOOOVEE this?! Starting with wet rope meant the colors really washed into each other, but if you’re looking for a more exact color pattern, leave the water behind and just make sure that you saturate the rope with color enough for it to penetrate through all layers.

What do you think? Is the wall hanging trend on it’s way out, or does this lovely thing have a little more time to be on display?