Melty Bead Bowls, The Conclusion

As I mentioned, my first melted bead bowl attempt was a bit of trial and error so here I am, continuing the saga. When the first bowl started to fall apart and separate, I jacked the heat and tossed it back in the oven, only to forget about it. For quite some time. Ooops! I suspect the beads were never suppose to become quite that hot and probably leached carcinogens into my oven, kitchen and habitat. But on the upside, they really and truly melted!

Which would explain why this bowl HOLDS WATER. Yes folks, I made a bead bowl that is so melded together that it will reliably hold liquid. I suspect this is not normal for such melty bead crafts. A few of the beads are slightly dimpled and give a hint of the fact that the colored dot was, once upon a time, a bead with a hole and not some other amorphous thing.

My kids were intrigued by the whole process, so we decided to make some more. I used the same glass bowl as the first time and made two more, taller, versions and I used a Pyrex bowl for yet another, fourth, version. The Pyrex one melted the best and most uniformly which could be because it is actually oven proof glass that heats more evenly. Or it could be because of the shape which has straight, not slanted, sides. All three of the bowls were baked at 400°F until they looked slick and slightly gooey which was about 20 mins. I took them out of the oven and immediately used a ladle, sprayed with cooking spray, to gently mush down the beads. They did not fuse into a solid substance like the first bowl, but they didn't fall apart either. Once cooled they have held together. And they look like melted beads. The big burning question now ...

WHAT IN THE HELL ARE WE GONNA DO WITH FOUR MELTY BEAD BOWLS?

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I could use them as yarn holders I suppose. But instead I have plans to ditch give away three of the bowls. And the last one? It has been assimilated into the kid kitchen. I suspect that in a few days I won't ever see again. If that is the case, well, I will just have to make more!

Too Homespun

Pre-school Valentines and the need to not have the lamest Valentine ever can be a little scary.  Or perhaps I am just a little crazy?  Let's split the difference and go with both, m'kay?  I KNOW.  HUSH.  Move on from my crazy!

Our pre-school has a 'no candy' policy, but J1's teachers, knowing that the Valentine's will not be opened until the kids are home and out of class when the parents can parent, have a 'what happens in the Orange Room stays in the Orange Room philosophy.'  So, we could easily have slapped some candy on a store-bought Valentine and called it a day.  In hindsight, this is a smart way to go.  In any event maybe it is my inherent need to follow the rules, even when the rules are allowed to be broken, which is in total opposition to my driving/speed limit actions, but whatever, I didn't want to do candy Valentines.  This is why I decided J1 and I should get our craft on for Valentine's Day and decided to go with the recycled/homemade heart crayon Valentine idea that a friend recommended.  I perused Pinterest for further inspiration and thought I had a clear idea of what we were doing.

Clearly I did not, though when you look at our Valentines en mass, they seem fine.  But in reality, or at least in my perfectionist not-three-and-a-half-years-old brain, they are a little too homespun.  J1, however, is pleased so I am going to concentrate on that.  Should I ever decide to undertake this venture again, a few notes to myself ...


Select more similar colors.  Yes, your kid LOVES purple, it is her favorite color in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD, but even a color blind person could see that the red and purple crayons look somewhat awful together.  That is not going to change when they bake.

Some people have glitter that bakes and stays glittery.  You are not one of those people.  Your sparkly red glitter will turn to black.  Black dots in homemade crayons look like dirt.  Your kid knows the black dirt dots were glitter and doesn't see this dirt dilemma, the other parents will.  GLITTER = FAIL.

Craft foam may seem like an awesome medium to attach things to and maybe it is.  It is not an awesome medium to print on.  My printer will not print on craft foam.  It will print on labels but those labels will not stick to craft foam.  So, unless you have a hankering to find your sharpest Sharpie and write some lame poem a dozen times, a poem that seemed not so lame until you wrote it a dozen times and then seems like the lamest thing ever, find a different medium.  This will also help with reducing the tears factor, when at some point your kid will have a hard time writing her name on craft foam and will goof up one, or four, of your Sharpie poemed masterpieces.  You will, tired of writing the stupid poem, snap.  She will cry.  Lesson? Craft foam is bad for this.

Your hole puncher has about a one inch reach.  You can not get it to punch three or four inches in from an edge and your three hole punch which may be able to do this has vanished. While it is incredibly crafty to let your kid rummage through your yarn stash and pick out some hand-dyed superwash sock yarn which you then will thread through a darning needle and use to sew your crayon onto your Valentine, it is only crafty for you.  And you know, it is not your crafty Valentine, it is your kid's.