Editor's Note: I started getting homesick thinking about May Day, so I came across this craft and loved that it uses noodles! A perfect Macaroni Kid lei! The author kindly agreed to let me share this with you. Mahalo, Tonii!
[Reprinted with permission. Excerpts are from the original post by Tonii Johnson in Blue Skies Ahead.]
The kids kept asking me where Hawaii was, and what it was like there, so I thought it would be fun to [spend a week on Hawaiian-themed activities to] teach them about Hawaii! They had a great time and I LOVED this craft. It is a combo of a few different ideas I had seen, and it came together just as I had hoped.
I'll walk you through how we made these...starting with the funky colored noodles! I found a post about dyeing pasta to use for beads. I have had it for a while and was excited to finally give it a go! I used penne pasta for the spaces in-between the flowers, and opted to dye the noodles and then just have white flowers...I love the effect!
It was super easy to color the pasta, all you do is mix 2 TBSP rubbing alcohol in a plastic bag. Then add your food coloring...I doubled what [was] recommended[ed] :) I wanted those colors to POP :) Then you add 1 C of pasta to your bag and shake until completely coated. After that, you spread your pasta out on a cookie sheet to dry, and then you have your own hand-dyed beads! Seriously...people are SO smart! I am never buying beads for kids crafts again!
Once our noodles were all ready to go, I simply used a large flower punch to create the white flowers, hole-punched them in the center, and then we started stringing!
I love activities like this because you have something usable to play with, it's great to work on colors and patterns with your kids, and it's just plain fun! :)
These would be fun party favors or crafts to do at any type of luau or Hawaiian-themed party. You could make anklets or bracelets, as well. [With] a little bit of prep they are actually quite simple.
Thanks for checking out our Homemade Leis!
[You can read this article in it's entirety at Tonii's blog.]
[Reprinted with permission. Excerpts are from the original post by Tonii Johnson in Blue Skies Ahead.]
The kids kept asking me where Hawaii was, and what it was like there, so I thought it would be fun to [spend a week on Hawaiian-themed activities to] teach them about Hawaii! They had a great time and I LOVED this craft. It is a combo of a few different ideas I had seen, and it came together just as I had hoped.
I'll walk you through how we made these...starting with the funky colored noodles! I found a post about dyeing pasta to use for beads. I have had it for a while and was excited to finally give it a go! I used penne pasta for the spaces in-between the flowers, and opted to dye the noodles and then just have white flowers...I love the effect!
It was super easy to color the pasta, all you do is mix 2 TBSP rubbing alcohol in a plastic bag. Then add your food coloring...I doubled what [was] recommended[ed] :) I wanted those colors to POP :) Then you add 1 C of pasta to your bag and shake until completely coated. After that, you spread your pasta out on a cookie sheet to dry, and then you have your own hand-dyed beads! Seriously...people are SO smart! I am never buying beads for kids crafts again!
Once our noodles were all ready to go, I simply used a large flower punch to create the white flowers, hole-punched them in the center, and then we started stringing!
I love activities like this because you have something usable to play with, it's great to work on colors and patterns with your kids, and it's just plain fun! :)
These would be fun party favors or crafts to do at any type of luau or Hawaiian-themed party. You could make anklets or bracelets, as well. [With] a little bit of prep they are actually quite simple.
Thanks for checking out our Homemade Leis!
[You can read this article in it's entirety at Tonii's blog.]
