• Now that it’s Spring Cleaning at our house, my mom handed me a box filled with old plastic pony bead bracelets. I made so many that I’d only wear for a week or so before tossing them to the side. I’ve outgrown most of them and was about to throw them out when it hit me that I can use them to make a really cool suncatcher. And with Mother’s Day right around the corner I thought, what a better way to dispose of these things than to give them right back to her, just in another form, of course! Brilliant, isn’t it? So, I got to work.

    What you’ll need:
    – Colored plastic beads
    – 24 gauge wire
    – Tinfoil tray
    – Scissors

    Let’s get started!

    1. Tie a knot to one end of your wire, so they don’t end up all over the floor.

    2. String the beads with your colors of choice. Make it as long as you’d like but make sure it’s still manageable. Remember they do have to go into the oven.

    3. Leave enough wire at the end of your project to tie both ends together as to make a little hanging loop, so you can hang it up. Make sure the beads are strung closely together so that they are touching and can melt together.

    4. Then form your beads in the shape of a heart or whatever floats your boat.

    5. Now put it in your tinfoil tray and cook these babies at 500 degrees for 20-30 minutes depending on your oven. WARNING! Melting plastic is highly toxic so use an old toaster over outside on the patio or make sure the space where you are melting them is well ventilated and that you do not inhale the fumes. So, wear a mask or hold your breath to check on them to see that the plastic beads have melted together. Then allow them to cool for 30 minutes.

    6. Now go find a cute picture of yourself to tape to your frame and hang up by a window. There you go. Instant homemade Mother’s Day gift!

    BTW, I also wrote my mom this short poem (see below), which I attached to the suncatcher. I thought you’d get a kick out of it. Then I hung it up on a window in the kitchen and my mom just loved it!

    Dear Mom,

    With my little fingers, I did string

    The colorful beads, my mother did bring

    I strung it on a wire shaped into a heart,

    And placed it on a baking sheet at 500 sharp.

    Out of the oven, with no mess or disaster

    The beads! They melted! And turned into a…Suncatcher!

    So, hang it on a window to capture the light

    That my heart feels for you each day and every night.

    Happy Mother’s Day 2014

    Love,

    Your little sunshine

    ps – I got rid of the beads. Good luck with them!