I'd had a lot of fun dying rice and small pasta for other projects, but was quite taken with the sophisticated colors and fun design of this piece, and wanted to make one for myself to wear to upcoming Frugal Foodie events. I'm not above looking a little silly to make an impression, but would like to keep a modicum of chic.
Luckily I've got lots of Wilton Icing Colors so I could achieve rich, interesting colors like Moss Green and Delphinium Blue that would be hard to get with your basic McCormick set of droppers.
To Dye The Noodles
Using water to die rice and very small pasta like orzo works fine, but for larger shapes use enough rubbing alcohol to soak the pasta, and enough food coloring to make a deep dye. Add about 1/3 cup alcohol and 1-2 toothpicks of paste food coloring into a zip-loc baggie for a large handful of pasta.
Mush the pasta around until its soaked, and let it rest for about 15 minutes. Turn and kneed it a couple of times.
Drain the dye from the bag, and spread the noodles on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Set in the sun to dry. Will take about 1/2 an hour depending on the weather.
Oodles of pretty noodles! For the Necklace
3 strands of 18 Tortiglioni noodles (not easy to find -I got some at United Market)
3 x 30" lengths of of mono filament wire
Tie all of the strings of mono filament wire together at one end, leaving about 2-1/2 inches that you'll use to attach the clasp.
String 18 pieces of pasta on each of the strings - one color on each strand, or mix 'em up.
Tie-off the other strings into a knot. Tie on a toggle or spring-type clasp.
For the green one, I braided the strands before I tied them off
And because what separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize, I made matching bracelets:
To Make the Bracelet
30 Piccolino Rotelle a.k.a mini wagon wheels
12" stretchy elastic string
Clip a binder clip to one end of the string to keep the noodles from slipping off. String the "beads" onto the string. Tie off and voila!
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