Colored Pasta & Rainbow Necklace Tutorial

Earlier this week I colored some pasta for my kids to do various art projects with. The initial idea was to do these shamrocks... but we also did rainbows on paper and rainbow necklaces. So much fun - and I have some pasta left over that will go into my kid's art supplies for when they feel that need to create.

Coloring Pasta

Materials:

• Plastic Ziplock bag
• Uncooked Pasta
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Food coloring
• Paper towels
• Small cup or bowl

I used just one bag - but colored the pasta in a specific order; yellow, orange, red, purple, blue and green. This way I didn't have to use multiple bags or wash them and dry them between each color.

Step 1: In a small cup or bowl mix about a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol with several drops of food coloring. I only used about a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol because I wasn't coloring a lot of pasta for each color. You can add more if you feel you aren't getting the desired coverage.

Step 2: Add pasta to plastic bag - I did about a cup to a cup and a half of pasta for each color.

Step 3: Add alcohol/food coloring mixture to the pasta in the bag.

Step 4: Seal the bag well and move the pasta around with your hands until the pasta is covered in the coloring and most drops of alcohol have been absorbed (a minute or two).

Step 5: Open the bag and spread the pasta onto paper towels. As long as you don't have a puddle of color in the bottom of you bag, you should only need one or two layers of towels. Be sure to spread the pasta out so that it can dry. Allow to dry for at least an hour. Repeat process for other colors.

Rainbow Necklace

Materials:

• Colored pasta (we used penne)
• String
• Bead
• Scissors

Step 1 - Cut three lengths of string about 75" long.

Step 2 - Put the strings together and fold them in half. At the half-way point tie a knot to keep all the strands together. Tie a loop at the top the size of your bead to fasten the necklace once it is complete. See picture below for example of what it would like like.

Step 3 - Have the kids string one color on each strand of string. I have found that this project is best for older kids as it was a challenge to keep the long strands from getting tangled. I helped them lay the strings out and separate them. Leave about 8-10 inches at the end and loop the string back through twice on the last pasta to keep the pasta from coming off the end while they are working on other colors.

Step 4 - Once all colors have been completed, gather all the ends and string them through the bead and knot it several times to secure it.

Here are some of the other things we did with our colored pasta!