Melted Bead Suncatchers

When I saw this idea for melted bead suncatchers a few weeks ago at The Artful Parent, I put it right at the top of our "must do" list.  We had the plastic pony beads and the baking tins already, so we were good to go.  Following a suggestion in the comments of Jean's post, we decided to melt our beads outside on our gas grill instead of inside in the oven.  The beads melted quite quickly and there was very little melting plastic smell to worry about.

Check it out...

Here are the simple supplies needed:

That's right.  Just some plastic beads (we used a combination of translucent colored beads and some pastel glow-in-the-dark ones) and metal baking pans ( I happened to have some heart-shaped pans as well as regular mini muffin pans)


Here's what to do:

1.  Preheat your oven or grill to about 450 degrees. (I used our grill, put the burners on high, then shut the lid.)

2.  Arrange your beads in a single layer in the bottom of your pan.  We did some patterns and some just random.

3.  Put your pans with your beads in the hot oven or grill.  If you're using a grill, close the lid to help keep in the heat and speed up the process.  Check the progress every few minutes.  (The suncatchers we did in the mini muffin trays took about 5 minutes, the ones in the bigger pans took closer to 10 minutes).  You will smell some melting plastic, but it's not too overpowering outdoors.  

You can see how the beads in the pans on the left are just starting to melt, while the ones on the right are fully melted.

4. When the beads have melted completely, CAREFULLY remove the pan.  It will be VERY hot!  Set it aside until it cools completely.  (Doesn't take long, maybe 10-15 minutes).   Then, simply tap the bottom of the pan and the suncatcher will pop right out.

 5.  Using a drill, make a small hole in your suncatchers so you can hang them up.

 Attach some strings and that's it, your suncatchers are ready to sparkle and shine in the sunlight!

  
Oh, and remember how I said we used some glow-in-the-dark beads too?  While they weren't quite as colorful hanging up in the sunlight, they do look pretty cool glowing at night.

My kids had so much fun making these and we'll definitely be trying them again!

Sharing our suncatchers at:

 
The Frugal Girls 
Sun Scholars 
The Sunday Showcase 
No Time for Flashcards