How to Dye Pasta for Crafts
Learn how to dye pasta for crafts with this simple tutorial, and use the colorful noodles for sensory bins, crafts and more activities!
Colorful noodles are so great for crafts! You can dye them in batches and use the noodles in so many different activities and craft projects with your kids.
If you’re looking for an incredibly easy way to make your at home craft time even more fun, learning how to dye pasta is exactly what you’ve been looking for. Pasta crafts are so fun and easy!
I was searching for a last-minute new craft idea for Black Friday with my toddlers, using items we already had at home. I realized dyed pasta noodles would be a great addition to our Christmas crafting plans, and would be great to have on hand for future rainy days, too.
Dyeing pasta is actually super simple and only requires a few of ingredients (and they’re probably items you already have in your home).
When it comes to sensory bin filler, be sure you decide first if uncooked pasta is a safe choice for your own child. For example,, I know my 3 year old can play with this pretty independently, but my 2 year old who thinks literally everything he sees is food will need much more supervision.
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How to Dye Pasta Noodles
Supplies needed:
Dry pasta noodles
Parchment Paper or paper towels
Cookie sheet
How to Dye the Noodles
Dying pasta for crafts is incredibly easy! Start by pouring your dry pasta and a little food coloring into a large ziplock bag, with one bag per color.
Pour in some rubbing alcohol, about 3-4 tablespoons, as well as some squirts or drops of food coloring. The amount of food coloring you need will depend on how much pasta you’ve put in the bag. The more food coloring you put in the bag, the darker/more vibrant the color will be.
If you don’t want to use rubbing alcohol/isopropyl alcohol then you can substitute white vinegar. However, start with less vinegar to start as it can make the noodle soggy my quickly. Also, your noodles will need more time to dry if you use vinegar.
Shake the bag up gently to mix the food coloring really well with the rubbing alcohol and pasta. This will help make sure the pasta gets covered in color. If you want the color to be darker or more vibrant just add more food coloring!
Let the noodles sit for 10 minutes, shaking the bag every so often to move the noodles around and make sure the dye is being spread around too.
While the noodles are sitting in the bags, cover the baking sheets with parchment paper. If you don’t have parchment paper, feel free to use paper towels or even wax paper or aluminum foil instead.
Pour out the baggies onto the covered baking sheet, leaving space for each color to be in one chunk so the darker color dyed noodles don’t dye the lighter ones.
If you want your noodles to dry faster, carefully drain out the rubbing alcohol into your kitchen sink before pour the noodles onto the baking sheet. The less liquid that is on the drying rack, the faster the noodles will dry.
Once your noodles are totally dry, you’re ready to use them for play!
What colors you choose to use and what amounts of pasta are fully up to you and your project. I chose to put different pasta shapes in different freezer bags for this project, dying each shape a single color. I also thought full cups of pasta would be too much, so I used about half a cup of pasta in each bag of pasta.
How to Store Colored Pasta
The dyed pasta will keep indefinitely as long as you are sure to store it in a dry place. We keep ours in a storage container with a well-fitting lid, airtight container or a ziploc bag. It’s great to have on hand throughout the year for projects or sensory bins.
How to Dye Pasta for Crafts
Learn how to dye pasta for crafts with this simple tutorial, and use the colorful noodles for sensory bins, crafts and more activities!
Materials
- Rubbing alcohol
- Food Coloring
- Dry pasta noodles
- Ziplock bags
- Parchment Paper or paper towels
- Cookie sheet
Instructions
- Start by pouring about 3-4 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol into a gallon size freezer bag, as well as some squirts or drops of food coloring. The more food coloring you put in the bag, the darker/more vibrant the color will be.
- Pour in the pasta. Shake the bag up gently to mix the food coloring really well with the rubbing alcohol and pasta. This will help make sure the pasta gets covered in color.
- Let the noodles sit for 10 minutes, shaking the bag every so often to move the noodles around and make sure the dye is being spread around too.
- While the noodles are sitting in the bag, cover the baking sheets with parchment paper. If you don’t have parchment paper, feel free to use paper towels or even wax paper instead. Pour out the baggie onto the covered baking sheet, leaving space for each color to be in one chunk so the darker color dyed noodles don’t dye the lighter ones. Let them dry for about an hour.
- Once your noodles are totally dry, you’re ready to use them for play!
Notes
- If you don’t want to use rubbing alcohol than you can substitute white vinegar. However, start with less vinegar to start as it can make the noodle soggy quickly. Also, your noodles will need more time to dry if you use vinegar.
- If you want the color to be darker or more vibrant just add more food coloring!
- If you want your noodles to dry faster, carefully drain out the rubbing alcohol into your kitchen sink before you pour the noodles onto the baking sheet. The less liquid that is on the drying rack, the faster the noodles will dry.
Dying pasta noodles is fun and easy!
Dying pasta for crafts is a great way to have an easy to customize craft supply whenever you want! The different shapes and rainbow noodles are great to use in a wide variety of projects and perfect for kids crafts like frames, decorating and of course pasta necklaces (which gives them a chance to work on fine motor skills too)! The colorful pasta also make a perfect addition to sensory tables or another sensory play activity.
What your favorite thing to create with dyed pasta for crafts?
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