Make Your Own Suncatchers With Pony Beads

Looking for a cute way to decorate your home? Make Your Own Suncatchers With Pony Beads! It’s a simple fun craft to do on a rainy afternoon with your kids.

Now that I feel safe saying that Old Man Winter is (finally!) behind us, I am finding every way I can to celebrate the sunshine.  I originally saw these suncatchers on Pinterest, and I felt that they were a perfect homage to our long awaited springtime!

I did this craft with my 3-year old son and I found it was a lot of fun for younger kids. I also think it would be REALLY fun to make your own suncatchers with older kids who can really get into creating images and patterns with the beads.

This was one of the most enjoyable crafts I’ve done in a long time; not only was it insanely easy, it was incredibly relaxing, and they look beautiful hanging in our windows.  And the possibilities are endless! I anticipate making many more of them in the future – let us know what you come up with, too!

KID’S CRAFT: MAKE YOUR OWN SUNCATCHERS

Materials:

• Translucent Pony Beads
• Clear Pony Beads
• Cake/Cupcake pans

Note: If you would like, you can separate the pony beads by color.  This helps with younger children especially, as you can limit their choices (my son chose green, red, and pink)

MAKE YOUR OWN SUNCATCHERS WITH PONY BEADS

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Step 2: First, you do not have to line the pan with any kind of parchment or oil; these will pop out easily after cooling and leave nothing behind.  Arrange the beads in your cake or cupcake pans in a pattern of your choosing.  You can also choose the method of my little Tornado, which was to grab fistfuls of beads and drop them in the pan – pattern or not, these turn out beautifully.

A few  things to note:

• Make sure your beads are facing up.
• Leave a space between your outermost ring of beads and the edge of the cake pan.   I arranged my beads straight up to the edge, and when they cooled after the oven, I was left with a slightly curled up edge and a ring of plastic around my cake pan.  Had I not arranged the beads straight to the edge, the suncatchers would have left no residue behind.
• Use plenty of the clear beads; this is what ‘catches’ the sun in the window!

Step 3: Once you finish your patterns, put the pan in the oven for 25 minutes.  Open a few windows, run a few fans, and maybe head outside.  The smell of melting plastic didn’t bother my husband in the least, but I did not enjoy it.  The good news is that as soon as you take your suncatchers out of the oven, the smell disappears almost entirely.

Step 4: Carefully remove pans from the oven.  I took ours straight outside to cool.  Allow to cool for roughly 10-20 minutes; you want them to cool entirely before trying to remove them.

Step 5: Turn your pan upside down and your suncatcher should fall right out.

Step 6: Place your suncatcher on a piece of wood; a block or leftover chunk of something will suffice.  You just want the stability for drilling.  Using a 1/8” drill bit, drill a hole straight through your suncatcher.  Add string or ribbon, hang in front of your window, and enjoy!

Thanks for Reading,

Brianne

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