Macaroni Colors

On a whim, I decided to try coloring macaroni last night with the kids. I looked up the directions online (consensus was 2 tbsp of rubbing alcohol combined with lots of food coloring in a ziplock with 1 cup of macaroni - then pour out onto wax paper and dry overnight). I have lots of macaroni around. I just scooped some out of the macaroni bin I made a couple of months ago. The kids had a blast helping. They held the ziplock open while I added the rubbing alcohol and food coloring to it. They put the macaroni into the bag and then squished all the contents around once I sealed it. Then they oohed and ahhed over the results.

I learned several things.

• This amount of liquid allows you to dye 2 cups of macaroni - not one.
• Do not use wax paper. It gets soggy with the extra liquid and then sticks to your macaroni. Use aluminum foil instead.
• When using blue food coloring, it mixes with the natural yellow of the macaroni for a result of green - not blue.

I now have several trays of colored macaroni drying overnight. I'm not really sure what to do with them though. Any ideas for fun projects with colored macaroni? Anyone know how to overcome the problem with the macaroni being naturally yellow in order to make blue or purple macaroni?