Materials:- 4 ceramic coffee mugs
- 3 sm. containers of food coloring in red, yellow & blue
- 16 oz. salad macaroni or other small pasta of choice
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups rubbing alcohol
- 6 to 7 paper plates or dbl. layered paper towels
This project happens in two segments and yields pasta in six (or seven) distinct colors. (I developed this method after realizing that I had wasted an awful lot of rubbing alcohol the first time around.)
FIRST SEGMENT
1. Fill 3 mugs with 1/2 cup of rubbing alcohol.
2. Use one mug for each of the primary colors. I recommend 10-20 drops of food coloring for each.
3. Add approximately 1/2 cup of pasta to each mug or as much as that which can be completely covered by the liquid.
4. Leave the pasta to soak until satisfied with the color. The yellow permeates rather quickly whereas the red and blue take longer.
5. In the meantime, lay out six to seven paper plates (or six to seven doubled segments of paper towel) where the colors may dry.
6. When the pasta is ready remove with a plastic fork and lay them out in a single layer. Plan to let them dry for no less than two hours or overnight.
7. Repeat the process if you would like more pasta in red, yellow and blue!
Before beginning the second part of this project you may wish to add a very small amount of rubbing alcohol to each mug (and possibly one more drop of food coloring) as some of the liquid will have been lost in the soaking and draining process.
SECOND SEGMENT:
1. Remove approx. 1/4 cup of remaining red solution and pour into the empty coffee mug.
2. Create orange by adding approx. 1/4 cup of the yellow solution to the new mug. Don't forget to stir and then go ahead and add the pasta as directed above.
3. Now, remove 1/4 cup of remaining blue solution and pour into the remaining yellow solution to create green. Add pasta as directed above.
4. Lastly, combine remaining blue and red solutions to create purple. Add pasta as directed above.
5. When ready, remove pasta for drying.
6. Repeat as desired.
You may have remaining pasta. Feel free to repeat the process or even combine all colors to make brown if you like! I did attempt to make other colors but various shades of green, blue and red do not seem quite distinct from the original shades I created. Interestingly, the best looking colors were orange, green, yellow and purple, although purple required the longest soak time.
I loved this project! It's not the best for doing with small kids because of the alcohol, nonetheless, it's a great way to make beads for macaroni necklaces or for use as math manipulatives. (See more in post titled "Homemade Math Manipulatives.") I look forward to trying this with other types of pasta!
Note: If you would like to dye larger pieces of pasta you will want to increase the amount of solution you use!
To view the source I referenced for this project, go to: http://www.ehow.com/how_4850657_dye-pasta-beads-kids-crafts.html
