How to Dye Elbow Macaroni Noodles for Crafts
Inside: The Fastest way to dye macaroni for crafts, and the most unique ways to craft with the colored macaroni
I spent my weekend learning how to dye macaroni noodles for crafts, so we could spend this week doing crafts. More on that at the end of this week.
This might be common knowledge to everyone, but I had no idea how EASY it was to dye macaroni noodles, and now that I know, I think I'm going to be dying a LOT more noodles in my future! It's so simple and easy!
If you're feeling really overwhelmed at even the idea of creating colored noodles, they do have colored noodles in a variety of shapes and colors, you can click here to visit Amazon and see them.
How do you dye pasta with food coloring?
Perhaps this is the first time you have heard of colored pasta. What a treat! To color pasta is so simple.
You'll need a bag, the noodles, rubbing alcohol (although some people use vinegar) and food coloring. After dying the noodles, you'll need something to dry them on, I used aluminum foil from the Dollar Tree!
- Put your pasta into a freezer bag
- Add a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol
- Close the bag and mix it all around until the pasta is all covered
- Open the bag, and add the color you'd like your pasta to be, the more you add the more vibrant the colors will be, but you don't need as much as you think
- Close the bag, and mix them around until everything is covered.
- Remove from bag and lay onto aluminum foil to dry.
I leave mine overnight, this is always a project I do before bed. But if you start your morning with dying noodles, I would say in about 2-3 hours, they should be ready to go.
How Do You Color Elbow Macaroni
Elbow macaroni is the first one that I have done, and I've found the best way to go about this is follow the directions above, but also make sure you are checking for noodles stuck together. They're pretty easy to get apart, you just have to pull on them. Sometimes they'll be so stuck they break, so be careful if whole macaroni is super important to you.
Another important difference in macaroni is while it's drying. I like to go back and make sure none are sticking together while they're drying. Noodles are super sticky when wet.
Ingredients to Dye Pasta
Here is where the possibiliities can truly be endless.
For my noodles, I used:
The best part about this, is you can giet everything at the grocery store. Right now we are all trying to limit the places we go, so you don't have to make an extra trip to get these items.
If you're on a budget, go to the Dollar Tree.
If you don't want to use rubbing alcohol, you can use vinegar instead.
Another option is hand sanitizer, if you have lots left over, or perhaps you are okay with sparing a teaspoon of it for children's activites.
Related: The Best Gifts for Preschoolers who Love to Draw
How do You Dye Macaroni For Crafts?
Okay, one more tip for creating dyed macaroni for crafts.
Instead of a plastic bag, you can also use a plastic container. This way, your little can help with the process. If you have a container you don't care if it's ruined, this is the ideal time to use it. Food dye tends to . . . dye things.
Put your noodles in the plastic container, then add rubbing alcohol, close it, and get to shaking. After 25 shakes, open it up and add the food coloring you'd like to use, then shake it up some more.
When you've coated the whole noodle, dump it onto an aluminum foil sheet, or wax paper and spread it into a thin layer to let it dry.
This is a great way to get your little involved. They love shaking and noise making. Plus, it's a fun experience to open it up after the noodles are all colored. It's basically magic.
What Crafts Can You Do With Dyed Elbow Macaroni?
Elbow macaroni has a unique shape that's perfect for crafting. You can:
I also found this adorable book about a little girl who loves noodles. You and your little can learn about the diffferent noodle types in this hilarious and adorable book. My youngest has “crazy hair” too, so he loved it the most! Here is a link to the book on Amazon, check it out by clicking here.
