Playing with beads

I have tried to make this post once before, but the pictures didn't work with me so I trashed it. This time I accidently deleted one of the pictures, but nothing will stop me now! :) I use my tablet with touch screen, and some of the tools simply aren't touchable! Annoying, but since the blogger app isn't any better, I guess I'm stuck with it. But I'm telling you, it would be much more fun blogging if it went smoothly. Anyway...

Some weeks ago, I went to a blogg called pysselbacken to check it out. I found that she had made a fun and very colourful little bowl from melted hama beads. I had never heard about this before, and started looking around to see what was possible. As my daughter was ill a few days later, this seemed like the perfect thing to do together. The picture I deleted showed single beads placed on a baking sheet just like the flowers below. In the oven they went for six minutes in 200 degrees Celsius.The beads just flattened out, to beads perfect for bracelets.

To make the flowers, we simply put five beads close to a yellow bead. Put one on a hair clip, or where ever you need some happy flowers.

We also made bowls. Use a bowl that stands the heat of the oven. Grease the inside of the bowl, I used some cooking oil. It keeps the beads from melting onto the bowl forever, and it also keeps them in place during the process of placing them evenly in the bowl. The beads should cover the bottom, only one layer of beads. I put the beads with the hole up in my bowl. Very time consuming.

My daughter simply spread the beads out evenly, no matter what side was facing up. Much faster and it created a more interesting surface. I can really recommend this, if you want to craft with kids. Even fairly young children can spread out beads in a bowl. Give it a try, it's really fun! And since these beads are made to be melted together with an iron, there are no toxic fumes when they melt.