Melting Things

I'm not usually one to run out and try the latest Pinterest craze, since many of the really cool ideas seem too good to be true or require too much time or money. However, since I already had all the materials on hand, I thought I'd better try making some of my own enamel dots- à la Pinterest.

Only I didn't have exactly what I needed on hand...

Of the million things you will find to make enamel dots from when you do a search on Pinterest- mine does not seem to be listed. You see perler beads seem to work fine, and what I had were just really big versions of perler beads (My First Hama Maxi Beads). I liked the idea of really big fun dots, so I decided to give it a go.

So at 375 degrees ( Farenheit)  on a foil lined cookie sheet, I baked my beads... and baked them..and baked them. They just didn't want to close up in the centers. ( photo above shows unbaked in my hand, and probably 20 minutes baked on the cookie sheet).  I returned them to the hot oven and checked every 5 minutes or so until they resembled smooth Life Saver candies.

 At first I was feeling like a Pinterest failure, but I realized how awesome these cute little rings would be on my pages.

Then I played around with a medium sized bead I found at Michaels made by Creatology that was labeled as a pony bead, but just looked like a medium straight sided perler bead. **( This is also where I discovered that foil is not the best choice for baking, as the beads were hard to remove).

These made rings as well, but smaller thinner ones. ( baked at 375 for approx 15 minutes).

Then of course I made a ton of tiny beads from real perler beads this time using an old heat resistant splat mat in lieu of foil.

...then I discovered I could place a small perler inside the center of the medium bead and make duo tone dots!!

Here's a little breakdown of the sizes achieved from each bead:

 

 I've also read tips that you can cut the beads in half to get yet  another size variation.

I'm all set now, and have already used these on several projects. Unfortunately my kids might have to find a new favorite craft since I've acquired their supplies!