With all of the squash eating going on around here, we’ve had a surplus of seeds. Some we roast for eating. Did you know that all squash seeds are edible, not just pumpkin? With slight but interesting differences in flavor and texture? Some have been carefully set aside for the garden for next year. And some we’ve just been playing with. A squash seed when squeezed between your forefinger and thumb can really go rocketing across the room!
During our nature study week we took things a bit further and started wearing our seeds. We decided to make them a bit more interesting with a little dye. First we washed the seeds and patted them dry. Using some disposable cups that we had left over from an experiment, we added in a couple drops of food coloring and swirled the seeds around to cover them. Then we let them sit and soak up the color overnight.
In the morning we laid them out to dry. I tried to speed the process along by putting them in a warm oven, but they started sticking to the pans so we ended up just letting them air dry on the counter.
Using long needles, we then strung them on hemp string.
We did find that with a whole lot of handling, some of the dye came off. The younger the crafter, the more likely they were to pop the thin skin of dye off the seed. All the same, it was still a project enjoyed by everyone.
Love this idea! Great colors – will the color eventually wear off or run in any way?
It doesn’t run at all, but if you were to say rub one back and forth in your hands for a while the color would kind of peel off like a skin. So far wearing them doesn’t seem to have done any damage, but care had to be used while stringing them so as not to accidentally peel them. Though the ones that peeled were neat looking too and mixed well with the colored ones, so we weren’t very bothered by it. I actually didn’t have any trouble with peeling, but the little kids had a harder time.