My daughter’s Jr. High teacher assigned the class to make a a color wheel. It could as simple as a crayon coloring or as intricate as they wanted to make it. The teacher even said they could make it edible. So of course, my daughter decided to make a color wheel from gelatin with 12 different colored flowers all made with different tips.
First, she made a clear gelatin base in a vintage jello ring Tupperware mold. Click here for the recipe for a great tasting clear gelatin base. Or scroll to the bottom for both recipes used in this project.
Second she made the colored gelatin with the three primary colors and a white base. Click here for the colored gelatin recipe or scroll to the bottom.
We put the colored gelatin in cups in a large saucepan of warm water on low heat on the stove. This keeps the gelatin at a liquid state giving her time to create the intricate designs and flowers. We also put a cup with just water in it in the warm water. We use this to clean out the syringes and needles so that the gelatin doesn’t dry and clog the needles.
Before beginning the flowers, she marked 12 places around the gelatin for each flower and carved out a little of the gelatin at each spot. This helped her make sure each flower was evenly spaced. Carving out the gelatin helps keep the excess gelatin from running all over the top of the clear gelatin and makes a center for the flowers.
For her assignment, she had to include the primary colors, secondary colors, and the tertiary colors. She used liquid food coloring to make the primary colors and then mixed the three colors to get the desired secondary and tertiary colors. She also wanted to play around with different tips for the jello flowers and used a different tip for each color.
The result was a stunning rainbow of colors in a beautiful clear gelatin. It turned out fabulous and it was made by a 12 year old!
She took it to school and got an A for a great project with top marks for creativity and uniqueness.
Her teacher kept the jello in the foods fridge throughout the day and she picked it up after school. She shared it with her friends at the school play practice and it disappeared quickly. The plate still showed remnants of the fun color wheel when she got home.
Want to make your own color wheel jello? It’s pretty easy. First make the recipe for clear gelatin in a ring mold or bowl of your choice. Then make the Colored Base Gelatin to make the colored flowers.
You can use a clean sterile syringe and straight needle or you can check out some of these beginner tools on Amazon to get you started:
*Yes, I have an Amazon Influencer’s account and make a tiny commission off of your purchase. Honestly, it’s not much, last month (December 2020, I made about $20.00.) I greatly appreciate your add clicks and purchases, they help to offset the cost of running a private blog.
Clear Gelatin
Equipment
- medium saucepan
- medicine dropper
- bowl
- small whisk
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp clear gelatin powder
- 2 C sugar
- 4 C water
- 1 tsp citric acid powder
- 3 drops clear food flavoring
Instructions
- Mix gelatin with 1 cup of the cold water in a small bowl and let it sit for 10 minutes. In a saucepan, heat sugar with citric acid powder and remaining 3 cups of water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat when vapor begins to appear above the surface. Do not let it come to a boil. Take off heat.Add gelatin to saucepan and stir until completely dissolved. Using a medicine dropper, stir in just 3 drops of food flavoring. Go ahead and taste it to make sure flavor is right. Pour into desired containers and leave in the refridgerator until set.
Colored Base for Gelatin Flowers
Equipment
- Syringes
- Needles or Flower Tips
- Pan on the stove with a warm water bath to keep gelatin from setting up
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp gelatin powder
- 3 Tbsp cold water
- 1 Cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 Cup sugar
- 1 drop food flavoring
- 3/4 Tbsp white food coloring
Instructions
- First, make the clear gelatin recipe and make sure it is set before you begin creating the colored gelatin for the flowers.
- Mix gelatin with cold water and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Heat sugar with 1/2 Cup of cream in a sauce pan, stirring constantly. Remove from heat when vapor appears above the surface, do not let it boil.
- Add gelatin and stir until completely dissolved, then add the remaining 1/2 Cup of cream.
- Stir in one drop of food flavoring.
- Mix in the white food coloring using an emulsion blender, or a regular blender if you don't have an emulsion blender.
- Put back onto the stove on a very low heat to keep the gelatin warm. Stir occasionally.
- Get the clear gelatin out of the refridgerator. Cut a small circular hole in the middle of the top of the set clear gelatin.
- Pour some of the colored gelatin base into a small bowl or glass. Color it with food coloring.
- Using a syringe and a needle, inject the colored gelatin into the clear gelatin base. Play around with different techniques and designs and colors. It is easier than it looks and fun to create.
- Keep the colored gelatin woarm in the water bath while you are creating with other colors. You don't want the gelatin too hot or too cold. Also having boiling water in a couple other cups in the water bath is good to clean the needles and syringes when needed so they don't get clogged.
- Have fun!
Super Bowl Party Football Jello
Want to bring the most epic jello to your next Super Bowl Party? This 3D football jello is a show stopper that your family and friends will rave about.
To start, I made one recipe of clear gelatin base and poured it into a deep 9×13 glass pan. Find the recipe here. I flavored the gelatin with coconut flavoring, it was so good!
After the gelatin is set, I made 1/6th of the recipe for the colored base to make the white laces and the stripes in the field. Find the recipe here.
After I made the laces, I made another recipe of the clear gelatin base , let it cool for a few minutes then poured it on top.
To make the football, I made a chocolate color base. It’s so yummy! Tastes just like chocolate!
Chocolate Color Base
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp gelatin powder
- 3 Tbsp cold water
- 1 Cup whipping cream
- 4 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 Cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Bloom the gelatin by mixing the gelatin and cold water together in a small bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- Add the sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and 1/2 cup whipping cream to a sauce pan. Heat while stirring constantly until just about boiling. Don't let it come to a full boil.
- Add bloomed gelatin to sauce pan and stir until completely dissolved. Add the remaining 1/2 cup whipping cream.
- Strain the mixture to remove any clumps.
- Let it cool slightly before using.
To make the green grass, I used a regular Lime Jell-O package and made it with the speed set instructions. However, I don’t think I would use the speed set again because the gelatin was setting up too quickly. By the time I made all the grass in the clear gelatin, the Jell-O was pretty set up and clumpy so I had to make another batch of it to. have a nice smooth bottom.
Getting the jello out of the pan proved to be a crazy mess. We almost lost it a few times. Thankfully, I was able to get it all out, although not quite as nicely as I would have liked.
I cleaned out the sink and filled it with hot, boiling water. Then dipped the pan in the water for a while until the edges of the jello seamed to be pulling away from the pan.
Unfortunately, the top layer come out but not the bottom layer. Yikes! So I had to put the pan back in the hot water until the bottom layer started to come out too.
Next time, I’ll make sure both layers are ready to come out of the pan.
What’s your favorite dish to bring to your Super Bowl Party?
I’d love to hear from you and see your jello creations.
Thanks! – Danica
Colored Base for Gelatin Flowers
You will want this recipe for eye-catching, beautiful flowers that stand out from within the clear gelatin base.
When I first started making gelatin flowers, I started with ingredients that I already had in my pantry. However, the colors were translucent and not very vibrant. A few of the must have ingredients that I use to create beautiful colors for the gelatin base are whipping cream and white food coloring.
At first I used milk instead of cream, however, once seeing the difference in the flowers and especially tasting the difference, I use whipping cream instead. It makes so much of a difference.
Next, I started adding white food coloring. It just made the colors pop and so beautiful. Here are a couple links to some on Amazon. The Americolor is a better deal for 6 oz. But the Wilton 2 oz. bottle is enough to get you started.
You will also need some syringes and needles before you get started. I have seen posts where people use cut straws to do this, but it is so much easier with the right tools. There are tons on Amazon to choose from, but here are some of my favorites. Also, if you want a starter kit will all of the things you need to get going, Check out the Gelatin Art Starter Kit.
Colored Base for Gelatin Flowers
Equipment
- Syringes
- Needles or Flower Tips
- Pan on the stove with a warm water bath to keep gelatin from setting up
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp gelatin powder
- 3 Tbsp cold water
- 1 Cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 Cup sugar
- 1 drop food flavoring
- 3/4 Tbsp white food coloring
Instructions
- First, make the clear gelatin recipe and make sure it is set before you begin creating the colored gelatin for the flowers.
- Mix gelatin with cold water and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Heat sugar with 1/2 Cup of cream in a sauce pan, stirring constantly. Remove from heat when vapor appears above the surface, do not let it boil.
- Add gelatin and stir until completely dissolved, then add the remaining 1/2 Cup of cream.
- Stir in one drop of food flavoring.
- Mix in the white food coloring using an emulsion blender, or a regular blender if you don't have an emulsion blender.
- Put back onto the stove on a very low heat to keep the gelatin warm. Stir occasionally.
- Get the clear gelatin out of the refridgerator. Cut a small circular hole in the middle of the top of the set clear gelatin.
- Pour some of the colored gelatin base into a small bowl or glass. Color it with food coloring.
- Using a syringe and a needle, inject the colored gelatin into the clear gelatin base. Play around with different techniques and designs and colors. It is easier than it looks and fun to create.
- Keep the colored gelatin woarm in the water bath while you are creating with other colors. You don't want the gelatin too hot or too cold. Also having boiling water in a couple other cups in the water bath is good to clean the needles and syringes when needed so they don't get clogged.
- Have fun!
Creating a mess is just part of the fun! Here’s a behind the scenes picture of the mess I create while making a flower.
Can you tell which flowers were made without white food coloring and used milk instead of heavy whipping cream? I can. The first two flowers are so much more translucent than the last two flowers. Trust me. There’s is a huge difference in real life.
Jello Like You’ve Never Seen Before
Well Hello! I am so excited that you are here! Dreams really are coming true because I have dreamed of starting this website so many years. To introduce myself, my name is Danica and I love creating fun jello dishes and jello art.
It has been a hobby of mine for over 20 years. I started by bringing a jello trifle to missionary farewells of family and friends. It was a super yummy jello with strawberry or raspberry jello, strawberries and bananas, and banana pudding. Super easy and very good. Pretty soon, family started requesting me to bring the jello.
Now, Christmas Eve would not be the same without my 16 Layer Jello Trifle. Over the years, my jello creations have become sort of a challenge for me to always see if I can one up my jello from last year. I have looked around the internet and nobody does a jello trifle quite like mine.
They keep telling me that I need to write a jello cookbook. And I’d love to. That is another dream of mine. For now, I decided to start this blog as a stepping stone to that elusive cookbook one day.
Earlier this year I started the Jello Home on Instagram and on Youtube. My kids love getting involved in the videos on Youtube. I am still trying to figure things out, but hey everyone has to start somewhere. But if there is one thing I do know, it’s jello. I’m super excited to start sharing some of my favorites with you and I’d love to see your jello and gelatin dishes too.
Be excited for more fun to come!
Contact Us
We would love to hear from you and possible work with your company.
Contact Danica at thejellohome@gmail.com.
Check us out:
Instagram – @thejellohome
Youtube – thejellohome https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV2fBD9Jmc3a9XbcRJfDvuw