Make a Tie-and-Dye snowflake

What can we use if we don't have a cotton bandana, squeeze bottles, or a plastic table cover?

If you don't have a square cotton bandana use a white 100% cotton T‑shirt or tea towel, substitute squeeze bottles with a cleaned ketchup bottle or turkey baster for applying washable dye, and protect your surface with garbage bags or layered newspaper instead of the plastic table cover.

My colors are bleeding together or the dye looks faint — what should I check or do differently?

If colors are bleeding, immediately blot large drips with a paper towel, make sure the folded triangle wedge is wrapped tightly with rubber bands, and if the dye looks faint confirm you used washable dye on cotton and let the fabric sit undisturbed for the full 6 to 8 hours before rinsing under cold running water.

How can I adapt this activity for younger children or older kids?

For younger children, pre-fold the cloth and pre-place the rubber bands and let them squeeze two pre-measured dye colors with close supervision, while older kids can fold the triangle into tighter thirds, use 4–6 rubber bands for more sections, experiment with more dye colors from the squeeze bottles, and handle the 6–8 hour setting and rinsing steps themselves.

How can we personalize or extend the finished snowflake?

After you gently unfold and hang the fabric to dry completely, personalize the revealed colorful snowflake with fabric markers or fabric paint accents, turn the bandana into a pillow or wall hanging, or share a photo of your finished piece on DIY.org as the instructions suggest.