Pasta & Pipe Cleaner Crafts

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The other day my daughter was digging through a chest of drawers and came across a bamboo necklace that I bought when we were in the Bahamas. The necklace was just a simple beaded necklace on craft wire. My daughter was having a great time sliding the bamboo beads back & forth. She wanted to break it open and play with the beads, but I did not want to ruin my necklace. Instead we had another idea.

The beads on the necklace reminded me of Ditalini pasta. We had a couple of boxes of it to spare, so we decided to make bracelets with our Ditalini.

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First we dyed our pasta by tossing it a cup at a time into a plastic baggie with food coloring. Spread out the pasta on a paper towel & let it dry.

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pasta beads and fine motor skills

(For a more rustic look, toss all your beads together while wet & try baking your beads for 30 minutes at 275-300 degrees. It will change the color & shape of the bead for a rougher look.)

Mai saw all the pasta laid out to dry and got excited. “Mama, we do project.” We do love our projects. Once the food coloring dried, my daughter was ready to dive in. We poured all the pasta beads into a shoe box & mixed them up. Mai had a little difficulty using string to make our bracelets, so we pipe cleaners instead. This worked much better. She was able to string them up with ease. This is a great activity for hand-eye coordination & Mai really enjoyed this.

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Measure the pipe cleaner around the wrist to find the desired size for you bracelet. Snip the pipe cleaner about an inch longer than you need it.

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Twist the two ends together tightly & slide the bead around the newly joined section.

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We made one more bead craft before our night was done. The colored pasta is not just for crafting, it also great for sensory boxes, color sorting and counting games.

pastaandpipecleaner

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2 comments

  1. Got to say looks like another winner to me. My girls love any kind of jewelry as I am I to jewelry too, so they get it from me. Another one now that I want to try from you. Thanks 🙂

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