Last year, my son made me a beautiful dyed macaroni necklace in school to surprise me on Mother’s Day.Needless to say, it’s one of my prized pieces of jewelry and I wore it for a week. Macaroni necklaces seem to have come a long way since I was in school.
This craft is easy to replicate with your child (maybe Auntie or Nana need one in their jewelry box?). The pasta is dyed a vibrant hue, which puts a fun new twist on an old classic. You can use any kind of pasta shape that has a hole (the wagon wheels are pretty cute) and can create all kinds of accessories—necklaces, headbands, bracelets—the possibilities are endless! It’s also a great activity to hone fine motor skills with your little ones and patterns and colors with your older kids. Fun for the whole family, especially mom!
Here’s what you need to get started:
Alcohol
Food coloring
Dried pasta shapes
Yarn
Paper towels
Ziplock bags
Piece of paper
Colored pencils/markers/crayons
1. Place pasta in a Ziploc bag and fill with alcohol until pasta is covered. Add lots of food coloring. Close bags and let them sit until the pasta is the color you want (at least five minutes).
2. Carefully remove pasta from bags and allow to completely dry on paper towels. It’s also best to leave by a window or outside for a few hours so the smell of the alcohol subsides. The color sets and the alcohol evaporates, making it completely safe for the kiddos.
3. Thread pasta shapes onto yarn. Tie one of the pasta shapes at the end to stop the others from falling off.
4. String pasta onto the yarn.
5. Fasten ends together when finished
6. Fold your piece of paper in half to make a card (no present is complete without one) with your favorite art materials!
By Kacy Lubell
Kacy Lubell is a letterpress stationery designer and owner of bespoke letterpress company