Sugar Crystals With Custom Colors {Hand-Dyed}

 

I hosted a party last November that I forgot to blog about.  Big shocker, right? If I had a dollar for every event or photo shoot I didn't post about, I'd have enough money for the J.Crew boots I'm currently coveting.  

Anyway.  It was a coloring party, so I used a rainbow color palate for the decor and made my first rainbow cake.  I pulled all my sprinkles from my pantry and realized that I had the entire rainbow, except for yellow. So I decided to try dying clear sugar crystals.  

On my quest to create the perfect shade of golden yellow,  I ended up with about 6 different shades of yellow, and absolutely loved the creative process.   When I compared my gorgeous yellow to my store-bought sprinkles, my heart sunk.  Ugh.  Hideous.

How had I not thought of this before! So I turned back to my clear sugar crystals, and using the base of the yellow, I created green, then used part of the green to make blue, etc.  It was amazing and so much fun to create a rainbow of colors that suited my style better.  Instead of true primaries, my colors ended up a bit more earthy and natural.  You can see a sneak peek of the party with the cupcakes above, but rest assured there will be more rainbow sprinkle goodness when I post the rest of the images.  

The possibilities are endless- try it!

How to:

In a small bowl, mix a small amount of colored dye with the sugar crystals, and then leave them out on wax paper to dry. 

Tips:

•  A small glass prep bowl and a baby spoon worked perfectly for mixing.

• The Wilton paste dye works better than liquid dye (you can find it at most craft stores and cake supply stores)   

• Start small with the dye- even the tiniest drop will go far

• As mentioned, I started with yellow and worked my way around the rainbow, allowing for custom colors at every step.  If you want true primaries and secondaries, start with pure red, yellow, and blue.  Mix the colors together while the dye is still wet.

 

p.s. For some reason I always gets bursts of inspiration on Fridays.  I always make time for creative endeavors on the weekend, so perhaps that's why.  This weekend I'm going to try making Panna Cotta with passionfruit sauce and create Jones' Halloween Costume. Wish me luck!