Melted Bead Suncatcher tutorial.....Melting Beads.....it's oh so fun!

If you have girls you probably have a huge collection of various plastic beads. At some point your girls will probably out grow the desire to string endless strands of pony bead necklaces and you will be left wondering.......What do I do with all these left over beads?

I have the answer for you.........

You melt them!

By doing a little web surfing I found out that you can transform plastic beads into bowls, sun catchers, lamp shapes, night lights, jewelry and cool Christmas ornaments!

For our first melted bead projects we made a few sun catchers.

Here is what I did.

1. First, decide on a shape you want your sun catcher to be. I used some light weight disposable Reynolds molds that I bought at the 99 cents store.

You can also use cookie cutters, pie tins or just free form it!

2. Place the beads in a single layer on the bottom of the form. Try to fill the entire area the best you can to avoid holes (but holes can be cool).

3. I melt my beads at 425 for approximately 25 minutes. The time needed to melt the beads will depend on a few factors, size of your beads and your oven. Less melting times = the beads holding more of their original shape. More melting time = more blending.

Warning**Melting beads lets off toxic fumes that are strong enough to lower your IQ!

I highly recommend that you melt your beads in an old toaster oven that is placed on your back patio or another well ventilated area.  Seriously people, these stink and I'm sure the fumes are bad for you.

If you aren't worried about your IQ and use your indoor oven make sure you have plenty of ventilation by opening the doors, windows and running a fan or two.

Just the little whiff's I got by opening the door to the toaster oven was enough to make me feel like I had probably lost a few brain cells in the process (but it is worth it).

More molds!

4. After we melted our beads we let them cool and then peeled them out of their tin foil forms. I also tried using a cookie cuter and the cooled plastic popped right out of it.

5. Next I grabbed my supply of soft 24 gauge wire to wrap around the girls creations.

After a few wraps and curly-q's.

A sun catcher was born!

After looking at these completed sun catchers I was thinking how cute they would look with some coordinating seed beads added to the wire.

The possibilities are endless.

***added 2/15/12 -- If you want to pin this craft on Pinterest....Yee haw and thank you.  However, could you just pin a picture and refrain from copying all of my text into the pin.  Thanks and happy crafting.

Here are some links to some other melted bead tutorials:

Bowls
Bracelet & ring
Art
Lampshade
Night light cover

Happy Crafting!

WW - A Thanksgiving to be remembered

My most memorable Thanksgiving would have to be the Thanksgiving that Jim and I enjoyed a romantic lobster dinner for two.

In the hospital!

Ok, it wasn't really all that romantic, but it was a special lobster dinner and one I will remember for the rest of my life.

You see, 11 years ago on the day before Thanksgiving my beautiful daughter Kate was born.


Kate wasn't supposed to arrive until December 5th and she wasn't supposed to arrive when her Daddy was a 4 hours drive away (that's another story).

But as all parents know by now, kids don't always play by the rules.

Back to the lobster dinner.

Since Kate made her appearance the day before Thanksgiving that meant that I would be spending my Thanksgiving in the hospital.

The hospital I gave birth at used to provide all new parents with a special dinner before the were discharged.

One of those choices was a lobster dinner, wheeled into your room on a beautifully set table.


This wasn't your ordinary hospital food! It was delicious!

I found out later that the hospital was going to discontinue offering Lobster as a dinner choice after November 30th.

So it was a good thing that she came 10 days early!

After all having a baby without drugs deserves more than your standard hospital food.

But Thank you little Bee for speeding into my life.

And on this day I want to wish you a Happy 11th Birthday!

Wordful Wednesday!

WW - Not following the rules

Braces Schmaces!

{PS: that is rock candy, not corn on the cob}

WW -- Could be a new obsession

The other day while I was surfing around the web I discovered Ttv photography.

Ttv photography stands for through the viewfinder.

You use your SLR to shot a picture through the lens of a Kodak Duraflex (or similar type camera).

The shots taken this way are super artsy fartsy and right up my alley.

Who doesn't like being artsy fartsy?

Just my luck......I have my Grandparents old Kodak Duraflex camera!

I got it out, but didn't dust it off (you want a little smootz on the lens), and started shooting.

I have a lot to learn and need to practice, but here is my first attempt.

I have been practicing and learning how to use photoshop CS3.

Here is my homespun cross process.

And a slight sepia effect!

So what do you think?

Does shooting through the lens of another camera sound like fun?

Wordful Wednesday

PSF - We have been labeled!

I love my dogs, but they have issues.

They do not enjoy visits from the mail carrier....a common dog phobia.

They pose no threat to the mailman, they just like to bark like lunatics when the mail carrier comes to the door......and Xena sort of throws herself against the screen.

Truth be told, Xena doesn't discriminate. She does barks at every visitor.

Because my dogs go a little nuts when people come to the front door we installed a heavy duty security screen door. I hate the way it looks, but it was necessary to keep Xena from break down the screen door when she is being possessed by the devil.

I figured that the heavy duty security door and the fact that Xena has never taken a nibble of any of our mail carriers would provide all carriers with a sense of security.

Today I discovered differently!

Our mail comes with a warning!

This Dog Warning Card was accidentally left in our mailbox today.

I say accidentally because on the form it says "Case in front of mail for address where dog poses a threat -- do not deliver this form." Whoopsie!

We have had a string of sub's lately, so I understand the need for the form.

If you approach my door while day dreaming you might have the hooey scared out of you by a psychotic poodle and chihuahua.

Hosted by Cecily and Emily

WW - Field Hockey Mom

After nearly 7 years of being a Soccer mom I can proudly say that I am now a full fledged Field Hockey mom.

Reid is two games away from completing her first season playing Field Hockey for her High Schools Junior Varsity team.

Their team was young and inexperienced, but despite that they played well and have improved tremendously since the beginning of the season.

The short clip below is of the two goals Reid scored in their game against La Jolla.

She is number 9 and is on the far side of the field. You can see her more clearly after she scores the first goal.

The person who scores gets to retrieve the ball from the goalie box and run it up to the mid field.

Reid certainly isn't shy about celebrating her victory. Maybe we need to work on her modesty!

This shot was taken after another game that ended in a tie. The girls lost their fair share of games this season, but it never seems to get them down. It is fun to win, but it is also great to enjoy playing the game.

This Field Hockey mom is certainly looking forward to the next season.

For more wordful wednesday entries visit Angie at 7 clown circus!

**If you want to see more of my shots, scroll down and check out my entries for the October photo hunt challenge.

October Photo Hunt

Here are my entries for Kristi's October Photo Hunt Challenge.

This month Kristi put the C in challenge. But I had a good time trying to find shots to represent each of the challenge categories. I hope you enjoy what I came up with.

Click on any of the images to view them larger.

1. Fall Activity

Decorating for Halloween is one of my favorite fall activities!

2. Fall Treat

What my friends is better than bathing yourself in 7lbs of Halloween candy?

3. A Harvest

A shot from Pikes place market in Seattle (archive).

4. Leaves

5. Fall Color

This is what fall color looks like in the desert!

6. Something Orange

I tried to avoid the pumpkin shot! :)

7. Something Spooky

Would you believe that I got a little creeped out taking this skeletons picture?

8. A Cemetery

One of the oldest cemetery's in San Diego. Located in Old Town.

9. A Costume

I couldn't help myself!

10. A black and White Photo

Kate playing in the car with some plastic crap she bought in a vending machine.

11. A Critter

This little bugger is digging up the High School fields!

12. Symmetry

Not your ordinary ballerina!

13. Contrast

14. Texture

15. Logo & Mascot :)

16. Neon

17. Inspiring

I find taking pictures of the things around me very inspiring.

18. Entertaining

We have passes to Sea World and no matter how many times I watch the Shamu show I always find it entertaining. I took this shot in July!

19. Something Fast

Crazy spinning ride at the board walk down by the beach.

20. Something Slow

A little honey for your tea??