Colored rice, or tapioca balls.

Hey there!! Today I wanted to share with you one of my favorite craft projects. I learned it from an amazing woman who was  my mommy-and-me teacher. Mrs. George. My son, Z2, and I were so fortunate to spend almost 2 full years with her. Unfortunately, thanks to corrupt Los Angeles bureaucraps bureaucrats, funding for mommy-and-me programs, as well as other useful programs, have been severely cut and she was forced encouraged to retire. Any way, we still keep in touch, because she is awesome like that and she has more time for her family. Alls well that ends well!

So back to the project. Ever wondered what to do with that rice that saved your iPhone/smart phone from death-by-toilet-water? STOP!! DON'T DUMP IT!! Give it new life by coloring it! Yes, you can color it. Actually, what Mrs. George taught us in class was to use tapioca balls. It's actually better for little hands to pick up, glue, and stick in place. If you have kids under 5 and have access to tapioca balls, use it. But, if you have pee-rice on hand and older kids who can handle the advanced motor skills needed to decorate with rice, then go with the rice. The process for coloring rice and tapioca balls are exactly the same, so what you use is entirely up to you. Heres what I did with the rice that gave my phone a second chance at texting, calling, e-mailing, and wasting my time-ing (o:

First you need: 

Rice or tapioca balls

Rubbing alcohol 

Food coloring in liquid form ( I got mine from the US, but I'm sure it's here in the UAE.)

A measuring cup (I used 1/4 cup)

A bowl to mix in

Follow the directions on the box to get desired color. I needed 6 drops of yellow and then added one cap of rubbing alcohol. However, amounts of drops may vary with each color. Basically, the rubbing alcohol evaporates, thus leaving the rice/tapioca balls with color and not soggy and soft from the liquid. 

I mixed the food coloring and alcohol a little...

...added just a little over 1/4 cup of rice...

Mix it very well so the rice/ tapioca balls take the color evenly.

Note: Make sure your kids take off their school uniform/ nice clothes like I did. Food coloring stains like no other. FYI. 

Kids had a lot of fun mixing.

Repeat each step for each color. Also, I quickly rinsed the bowl after each color to prevent new and weird color formations. If, after mixing the rice, the color isn't to your liking feel free to add more drops of color.  For example, I followed the directions for red, but it made the rice pink so I added 10 or so more drops than what the box called for. You can't go wrong with this project. It's so simple.

After you mix the colors and rice/tapioca balls, lay it flat on a tray and leave it out side to dry. It only takes 15 min or so, deepening on the temperature outside, to dry. And....

....Ta DAA! You have beautiful colored rice ( or tapico balls) at your decorating hearts leisure. You can make holiday signs, signs with your kids name's on it, shapes. The ideas are endless. Hopefully my kids will decide soon what they want to do with their rice and I'll share their projects. Hope you liked this craft as much as we did!! 

And a big thanks to Mrs. George for sharing this with our class!!!

Would love to read what you think. Please leave a comment below!!

-Debora