Melting Pony Beads

Have tons of plastic beads laying around and not sure what to do with them?  MELT THEM!  

If you are a mom of a little girl you probably already have tons of plastic beads laying around.

If you don't already have a stash of pony beads (or other plastic beads) laying around, no worries....they are easily found at all craft stores, even Walmart :-)

Here are the ones I purchased at Michaels.  They are 1lb containers for $5.99.  You can find these in smaller containers or in big bags as well. 

You can make many things by melting pony beads, here are a few ideas:

- bowls

- coasters

- placemats 

- center pieces

- sun catchers

Here is what you need to get started:

- Non stick pans

- Plastic beads

- Oven (preheat to 400 degrees)

- Good ventilation (it STINKS!)  

Step ONE:

Start arranging your beads in your pan.

You can do this anyway you want.  Make a design, random or even just dump them in all messy.  Just make sure you keep them as a SINGLE layer in the pan.

STEP 2:

All done, ready for the oven.

Put them in the oven.  Temp should be preheated at 400 degrees.  They will need to stay in for 20-30 minutes.  I set the timer for 20 minutes and then kept a close eye on them until they looked ready (all melted and nice and smooth).  You could also do this in a toaster oven set outside.

 Step 3:

Take it out of the oven and let it cool off.  It actually cooled off really quickly. 

Once it cools, it just pops right out. 

At this point you can do anything you want with it.  It would make a great center piece, cookie platter, decorative plate etc.  You could also put it back in the oven sitting on top of a rounded (oven safe) cup or bowl (upside down).  The heat will melt this down around the shape of the bowl and you will have a bead bowl :-)  This would make an amazing large sun catcher if you used some clear beads in there. 

We wanted to make a few smaller sun catchers.  So we used a muffin tin and some of the clear/colored pony beads.  

A few have asked about the edges.  NO, there is nothing added to the edges.  That is just how they look once melted :-)  VERY COOL, I think!

Now, if you want to hang them, you can just drill a small hole near one edge.  Get some thin floral wire (or any kind of string or wire will work) and some little suction cups....ta da, you have made a beautiful sun catcher.