Add Some Flavor To Your Summer- D.I.Y Color Toss Tutorial #BeNotBland

Now that Summer is in full swing I've heard a bit of restlessness from the masses.

Serious relaxation can be exhausting, ironically. But one thing it should never be is dull. That goes for your afternoon plans AND your beverage. Whether you're watching that beach bod, or simply craving the best variety of flavor to take on your Summer adventures Sparkling ICE should be your official drink of the season. With 10 tempting zero calorie flavors of Sparkling ICE water you'll never get bored of the colorful options to keep you hydrated.

Even better, for those practicing doing absolutely nothing, you can have your favorite Sparkling ICE varieties delivered right to your door, thanks to Amazon Prime. Members can even save up to 15% on each delivery when they sign up to Subscribe and Save!

But Summer's much more than delicious sips and sparkling fizz- it's important that you truly un-bland your Summer with creative adventures and wild celebrations. You don't need a reason to let loose, the season is reason enough! That's why we're grabbing our Sparkling ICE and taking to color like water droplets on a freshly popped bottle. Yup- it's time to paint the sky, and the grass, and ourselves with a little help from a D.I.Y color toss!

Much like sparkling flavor shouldn't have to come at the cost of calories, a good old-fashioned modern color toss shouldn't be something reserved for a once a year event on city streets. No, I need flavor AND color in my life, and I need them in a big way. How fun would it be to stage gender announcements with a color toss photo-shoot? Or host a color wars themed family reunion party? Heck, even the kids would have a barrel of a good time watching a cloud of color shoot through the sky for no reason other than it's Tuesday. So I bring you the very simple process for making your own Color Toss powder at home-

1. Begin with some basic materials- You are going to want 4-5 Cups of basic cornstarch, depending on how much, and how many colors, you are attempting to yield. You will also need stain resistant mixing bowls (1 for each color,) gloves to protect your hands from staining, gel based food colors of choice, and Water. Here is the supply breakdown for 1 batch (Approximately 1 Cup of Color Toss):

1 C Cornstarch

1/3 C Room Temperature Water

6-8 Drops Gel Based Food Color

Stain Resistant Mixing Bowl

Gloves

Baking Sheet (For Drying)

2. Begin by placing 1 Cup of cornstarch in a mixing bowl. Add the water slowly, but steadily, stirring as you add. This may be easiest to do with a second pair of hands to pour as you stir. The mixture will want to seize and turn into a substance referred to as 'Oooblek'. Keeping the motion constant will help the mixture maintain its’ liquid-like properties and allow all of the cornstarch to be evenly absorbed. You may need to add more water if the mixture thickens beyond a rough slurry. You will know you have reached the correct consistency when the mixture oozes off a spoon rapidly, but with enough thickness to coat it in entirety.

3. If you are lucky, and have that second pair of hands, you can add your food color without ever stopping stirring. Make the color of the mixture significantly darker than your desired result as most of the liquid will evaporate out during the drying process and the powder will be several shades lighter when done.

4. Repeat this process for each color your desire to make. As you go you will quickly find a simple technique and water ratio that works best for you. By my 4th color I was a pro. Once all of the colors are mixed place the bowls in a dry place where they can rest for several days. If you are using large bowls and your liquid pool is shallow your colors will dry much quicker than smaller, taller, bowls. 

In most cases the colors will be ready for the next step in 2-3 days- you can 'drain' the excess liquid every few hours after the color has initially set, to help speed the process. Otherwise, set them aside and check back in several days for surface cracks. This is how you will know the color is 'done'. Why not pop onto Amazon and refill your supply of Sparkling ICE while you wait? You don't want to be out of delicious sparkling refreshments when it comes time to reveal your big color toss!

5. Flip the color 'cakes' out onto a clean baking/cookie sheet. The color should crumble with light texture and will feel like soft, cool, red clay to the touch. The texture should remind you of chalk. Pre-heat your oven to 200F and crumble your color 'cakes' while you wait. Try and make the crumble as fine and even as possible, spreading it out in a thin layer along the sheet.

6. Bake your color in a 200F pre-heated oven for 45-60 minutes. Depending on how moist your color was upon crumbling, you may need to adjust this time more or less. The heating process will draw any remaining moisture out. It is important that you allow your color to 'cool' before the next step or any humidity from the heating process could make your final product clumpy or gritty.

7. For this last step you're going to want a nice food processor. Something meant to puree. Carefully add one tray's contents to the bin of a food processor or blender, securing the lid tightly- the color will 'puff' and 'smoke' around any open edge- you've been warned. Hit a quick 'pulse' then puree or blend on the highest setting for 30 seconds. Over processing can cause heat and, again, release any residual moisture, so be careful to take your time and check your product in between steps.

8. Now you should have a very fine, chalk dust, powder that steaks your hands when pressed between a few fingers. The color should lift from most surfaces with ease, unless moisture is added. While it is made with food grade ingredients you may also want to wear eye-wear, such as sunglasses, and be mindful of faces when tossing to minimize inhalation. Unless you don't mind sneezing colors for the next few days, that is.

You may be wondering what on Earth a person would do with colored powder, or why in heavens they'd want to stain everything in sight with it. If you are, then you and I are completely different people. This is okay.

One of the greatest things about this project is that the color can be stored in air tight containers for months. Pull some out for a photo-shoot, celebration, or simply to brighten an otherwise dull day. And yes, you could even smuggle it into your favorite color marathon event. I can only imagine the color combinations and color creations that are possible when one mixes all the beautiful vivid food colors available on Amazon! It's kind of like the range of 10 vibrant calorie-free flavors of Sparkling ICE available on Amazon Prime!

If you're still on the fence- and if you read my blog you're probably ALL OVER THIS and making the shopping list now, but IF you are I have a few things to say...

Because this color toss recipe is made with simple food grade ingredients, children, pets, grandparents, neighbors, cars, and more can get in on the fun. Yes, the powder is VERY fine, and wind WILL give it a mind of it's own-but the majority of the color lifts WITH the powder and will wipe off of nearly any surface so long as moisture isn't involved. A leaf blower, vacuum, or box fan makes clean up a breeze- any residual color, outdoors, dissipates naturally within a few days.

I've had a lot of experience shooting color clouds and color events. We spent about 10 minutes on this photo shoot because my week has been bananas, and I captured some pretty fun shots. My best tips for staging photos is to use a high burst setting. If you're going to shoot outdoors obscured direct lighting is best- shoot for a background that is high contrast light or high contrast dark. The less going on, the more action your color will have. Cool tones, such as lime green and electric blue tend to pop the most on camera. The color will offer a beautiful cloud effect immediately as it hits a surface, followed by an entirely un-readable haze. Be fast.

One thing I really want to do is get our friends together for a cookout this Summer and play flag football, tug of war, and other team sports. I think it would be fun to kick our events off with a color toss to 'mark' our team. Can you imagine the group photos? Even better, since I can easily re-order my Sparkling ICE favorites with my Amazon dash button, I'll have plenty of flavor for my guests to sip while we infuse a little extra color, and flavor, into our Summer.

So there you have it, 2 great ways to infuse flavor and color into your Summer plans. Both are even better when shared with family or friends, but we won't fault you if you want to keep all the fun to yourself!