The 48 Hour Color Experiment

Organization or Procrastination . . . which category do you fit into?  Those who know me know I hate to procrastinate, for it gives me MAJOR anxiety and usually leads to bad juju.  I like to be prepared for anything that comes my way . . . the good, the bad and the ugly.  If you are a born procrastinator, you know that being organized is easier said than done.
However, change is good and being organized has its benefits for sure.  
You will see . . . for I will prove it to you!

When I have a cookie order to get out, I always start the week beforehand.  
Why???  Well, I just downright despise nasty surprises and when I procrastinate . . . it never fails.  I have woken up to darker colors, millions of air bubbles, craters the size of the moon and cracks that take up the whole darn cookie.  Some things can't be prevented and still remain a mystery to us all.  The one thing that you can prevent from happening, is having your colors change on you.  Food colors need time to settle to their right shade, so taking the time to prepare them in advance will keep you from those nasty surprises and the bonus is . . . less food coloring in your icing.
Colors that contain primary colors seem to darken fairly quickly, but colors like black and brown take some extra time to deepen.  I mentioned on my very first post how patience is key during mixing icing . . . and that is oh so true!!!

I woke up the other day and had this bright idea to do a color experiment to show the progression of color changes over a 48 hour period.  For the experiment, I used two tablespoons of royal icing and two drops of food coloring.  I let the colors sit in airtight containers to darken and then photographed them at timed intervals for a full 48 hours.  Please note:  I would've done 12 hour and 18 hour intervals, but I was in a deep sleep dreaming about colorful rainbows and gummy bears:-)

The start of the experiment was done Tuesday August 19, 2014 at 10:45 am.

This was taken 8 hours later on Tuesday August 19, 2014 at 6:45 pm.

This was taken 24 hours later on Wednesday August 20, 2014 at 10:45 am.

This was taken 48 hours later on Thursday August 21, 2014 at 10:45 am.

Super Red

Orange

Lemon Yellow

Leaf Green

 Royal Blue

Regal Purple

Deep Pink

Chocolate Brown

Super Black

Conclusion:  The start color is the lightest shade and by the 8th hour it progresses to a darker shade.  The color maintains the same shade at the 24th hour as it was at the 8th hour, but darkens significantly by the 48th hour.  

What does this all mean???  Well . . .  it means that you can get the colors you want simply by mixing your colors early, without having to add more food color.  It also means, no pouting when your colors don't come out the way you planned because you planned ahead.  WIN/WIN!!!   

Have a wonderful and colorful week:-)