Pinteresting Summer

Challenge 5-Pony Bead Suncatcher

I saw this pin a few weeks ago and three things popped into my mind; how cool does that look, that sounds too easy, and how bad is this going to make my kitchen smell. This pin was a picture and a link to a crafting message board that talked about making these pony bead sun catchers.


Photo from
 http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=185741.0

Instructions: Cheap plastic pony beads, thin layer in pan, 400 degrees for about 20 min., when cool just invert, fall right out

Now the message board gives more information about making these suncatchers. They can be made in any oven ready pan but the beads need to be in a single layer. They suggested using clear beads along with the colored pony beads as well as smaller bead versus bigger ones.

The beads I had were a container of 3200 beads that I bought at Michael's for an estimation station at work. The downside of these beads is that there were no clear beads in the container, but I was too excited to try this out. I contemplated which pan I should use, hoping that the instructions and message board were correct and the creation would just pop right out of the pan when cool. I chose an older metal pie tin that I was willing to sacrifice in the name of Pinterest experimentation. I poured the beads in and spent about 5 minutes picking out the beads and shaking the pan gently, making sure I had a single layer and the bead covered the whole bottom of the tin.

The oven was preset to 400 and in went the pie pan. I was concerned about the potential scent that melting plastic would make in the apartment, but again I was willing to make a sacrifice (I also had the windows cracked just in case). I checked the pan around minute ten and could see the beads beginning to melt. With the oven open there was a bit of a plasticy smell but nothing too terrible. After the timer went off at minute 20, the beads were fully melted and I placed them on the counter to cool.

I let it cool for about 10 minutes and much to my surprise (and relief) it did pop right out of the pan. It felt cool and reminded me a lot of one of my daughter's plastic kiddie plates. It turned out great and was super easy, my only negative was that because I didn't use any clear beads it wasn't very transparent or suncatcher like. The green beads were semi-transparent so those areas were the most transparent when held up to the light. I am totally making these again, this time making sure I buy clear or semi-transparent beads and I might try to make some sort of pattern or design. The message board recommended drilling a hole in the top and the stringing them up with fishing line. I'm not exactly sure what I will be doing with mine yet but at the moment I think it will make a great pot holder or snack tray.

Oooo Pretty



I think it makes a great pot holder or party tray :)