We’re making as many decorations as we can this year, all with our red and white theme. I really wanted to try melting plastic beads inside cookie cutters, so we did.

Melted bead decorations

I wasn’t sure what the toddler would make of the colourful plastic beads but at 33 months he really enjoyed it. Granted, I’ve been finding them caught in the floor boards ever since, but he enjoyed himself and that’s all that really matters. I picked up a huge box of small plastic beads at my local charity shop so this was a cheap and easy craft.

First of all we separated the red and white beads and carefully placed them inside a selection of cookie cutters on a sheet of greaseproof paper on a baking tray.

I then placed the baking tray in the oven at 180° for 20 minutes. When I checked them they had barely softened so I left them in the oven, checking every 10 minutes for an hour.

When it was obvious they weren’t going to melt any more I took them out and left them to cool. Then I carefully pushed them out of the cutters.

I think they look lovely and as the beads didn’t fully melt it was easy to make a hanging cord by pushing a needle and thread through the top of each one. If we do this again I’ll make sure to put the temperature of the oven up so they melt quicker!

This blog post is an entry into the Tots100/Experience Days Christmas Craft Competition