Monday, August 11, 2014

noodle bead curtain

Now that I am a mom and Lucy is getting older, I am SO enjoying incorporating kid friendly design into our house. While it may not be for everyone, I find so much joy in decorating and accessorizing with things that make Lucy happy and bring a little fun into each room- I've got the rest of my life to be serious about decorating! Recently I had the idea to make a colorful beaded curtain completely out of pasta noodles. I thought it would be a fun accessory for the hallway and the perfect project to work on as a family (hello sorting, colors, counting and stringing beads). 

You might remember in the past that I painted noodles but this time around I needed so many noodles so the easiest technique was to dye them.

I filled ziplock bags with noodles, dropped about a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of food coloring.

I zipped up the bag and shook everything up until all the noodles were soaked in color (the longer you leave them in the bag the more saturated color you will have).



I quickly got pretty bored with the 4 colors of food coloring so I pulled out my Dylusions Ink Sprays (I have tons of colors) and add a few drops and came up with all kinds of fun colors!

I let the noodles dry in the sun all day.

Once they were dry Lucy and I sorted them by color.

Then we got busy beading! It took a while but we worked on beaded strands here and there over a couple of days and finally made enough to make a simple curtain.

The last step was to create the curtain- I tied all the strands to a tension rod that we hung in the hallway. 

So far the curtain has been a big hit! Lucy's been playing all kinds of silly little games when she walks into the hallway. And even though they are just noodle beads, I am LOVING the color it adds to the hallway!




31 comments:

Unknown said...

They are super cute! I love them!

mamimade said...

Italy.. in a double meaning :-)

Joan Princing Art said...

Way TOO cool. Love them. What a perfect "Kids" craft.

Virginia said...

Fabulous idea!

oklyous said...

Uh I love colours. What a nice result!
I would have loved it as a kid. Now, my cat would just ruin it in a minute;)

Abby Davis said...

Love this curtain! You make such cute and pretty projects with your daughter!

Anonymous said...

Love your work and this also looks great but....... I can't help to think that those beautifull beads are food.

Alisa Burke said...

well, as much as I would have loved to have used real beads, we just don't have the budget, so using bags of 50 cent pasta was the most economical option for us :)

studioGypsy said...

sooo LOVE this!! and could this be fodder for a future book by you? :D xoxoxxo

Acorn to Oak said...

How fun! I love the noodle bead curtain! I used to color pasta for my daughter to craft with when she was little. Great memories!

CarolAnn said...

Since it will be too hot to play outside in the afternoons this week here in Portland, and I have 4 busy little grandkids to enjoy, I am off to the store to buy pasta! Sadly, I have no 'stringable' pasta in my cupboard but all the other necessary supplies are handy. Thank you for all the great kid friendly ideas. We are enjoying our summer even more because of them!

CarolAnn said...

Also, could you add a button or even a keyword to these kid craft posts so that we can easily find all our favorites when we want to do a project?

Val said...

What a great idea, and it turned out beautifully! You must have incredible patience to sort all those colors - I think I would have just strung them randomly to get it over with!

Elisabetta Brustio said...

Grande idea! Anche io e il mio bimbo abbiamo realizzato delle collane con la pasta, ispirandoci ad un tuo vecchio post: il risultato è sorprendente! La tenda è bellissima!!!! Adoro i colori e come state arredando in modo personalizzato casa vostra... complimenti, Bravi!

Great idea! Even me and my baby we made necklaces with pasta, drawing inspiration from one of your old posts: the result is amazing! The tent is beautiful !!!! I love the colors and how you are decorating your home in a personalized way ... Bravi!

Stephanie said...

fab!

Unknown said...

Oh my god! So clever!!! I so wish to do that when I have my own house and kids :) Love them! Love all your posts

CJG said...

This brings back memories of my own childhood! My grandmother had a bead curtain in one of the doorways of her house, and I used to love to walk through it just so I could hear the sounds of the beads clicking together. I love this project!

ingridp said...

Need somehing for My daughter who is afraid to sleep with her balcony door open, afraid that birds could fly in accidentally. This would solve this problem of hers. Thanks

LL said...

These look great, and the fact that they are pasta is exactly why I love them! A nice alternative (not to mention healthier for people and the planet) to similar looking plastic beads.

AlexM said...

Love this idea! Wish Tristan could stay two days beading pastas:) But we could start with a necklace...Thanks for the inspiration, as usual

Crooked Feather Studio said...

I love this I'll have to give it a try with my boys! Hopefully once it's up it stays there...they can get wild.

Robin Cooper said...

Love it!!

Carin Winkelman said...

This is so clever! I love it!

HANDMAKERY said...

Love you imaginative + artistic + ever so clever creations Alisa Burke! The art you do always amazes! Thank you for your inspiration!!! Love seeing your work, especially with children!!!

Anonymous said...

Do the noodles have an alcohol smell? I love the idea but am sensitive to odors. Thanks!

bigeyedchick said...

These are great! I wonder if I can use fabric dye. I have a lot on hand from some recent tie dying.

Kim Carter said...

Plastic beads are not very environmentally friendly. These are biodegradable, noodles, string, the whole shebang (minus the rod). People throw out more leftover food in a few meals than this. Now THAT'S an actual waste. This has been used to decorate someone's home, foster creativity in a child, and as bonding activity between a mother and daughter. I can think of about a million things to be critical of in the world before this :)

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