Bead Ornaments

Homemade Sun Catchers with Plastic Beads

It is relatively cheap and easy to make your own sun catchers or wind chimes to add to the warmth of your yard.

Supplies you will need:

• A bag or two of cheap, colorful plastic beads
• Muffin pans, cake pans of different shapes and sizes (you decided how big you want to go)
• Small screw or small drill bit
• An oven preheated to 450 degrees
  String or fishing line

First each person needs to decide what they want to make. Making a sun catcher will only require one pan but, if anyone wants to make a wind chime they are going to need a larger pan for the base and probably a muffin pan for the chimes. The great thing is that now you can get muffin pans in different shapes to add creativity to the chimes.
Place the beads in the pan either just randomly or you can make special designs with different colors but, keep in mind that when they melt it will have an abstract appearance which adds to the character of the piece.

After the beads are set in the pan place them in the preheated oven and let them bake until completely melted. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before removing from the pan. Warning: this isn’t the most pleasant smell in the world but, it will be worth it.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until beads have melted. Allow to sit and cool off.

Using the screw or a small drill bit put a hole in the top in order to put a string through to hang it with. If you are making a wind chime each chime will need a hole as well. Do not place the hole too close to the edge to avoid cracking.

Bead Ornaments

Follow the directions above using metal cookie cutters. Place cookie cutters on a cookie sheet. Add beads in whatever color or patterns you'd like.
Add to preheated 450 degree oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until beads have melted.

Allow to sit and cool off. Remove cookie cutters. To hang, use a screw or a small drill bit to put a hole in the top in order to put a string through it to hang.