Hello fellow craftians! I’m Jessy, one of the other main voices around “these parts”. I’ve been putting off writing my first tutorial partly due to severe bronchitis…but mainly the stage fright of writing my first post. But here I am…and I’m gonna just dive in and do it.
BAKED MARBLES!
Materials:
- Decorative round glass marbles
- Cookie sheet
- Bowl of ice water
- Bead caps
- Findings starter kit
- E6000 jewelry glue
- Necklace
- Earring wire (optional)
- (cost: $10-15; makes 20+)
So here is something that I’ve seen around Pinterest and have been dying to try. I never thought it would actually work til I heard these little things sizzling in the ice water.
First, I spent a few weeks looking for marbles that would actually work. Finally, I found the clear marbles needed in the floral section with the container fillers of Hobby Lobby. Once I got them home and some time to myself, I grabbed all my materials and set to work.
I tried a few different temperatures that I had seen around the internet, and after a few trial and error attempts I figured out that hotter was better. I set my oven for 500, and spread half the bag of marbles on the cookie sheet.
I cooked them for about 20-30 minutes then immediately poured them into a glass bowl of ice water….sszzzzzzzz It was a nice sound to hear, tells you that it’s working. Let them cool for 20 minutes or so, then I poured them (carefully) onto a paper towel to dry.
At this point, they are fragile, so expect a few or more to break. Please be careful when handling these!!
While they were drying off, I played around with the bead caps and anchoring them with wire. It took some playing and I’m still not sure if I’m doing it right, but it holds!
I took the wire and threaded it through the bead cap, then twisted it into a flat spiral to lock it in, then glued the cap onto the marble.
I let it sit out kitty’s reach for 24 hours and voila! From there you can either put them on a necklace, or earring wire or hang them from some sting in your window to make some pretty sparkles room to brighten it up!
Go grab some marbles and let your imagination lead the way!!
Please show us what you’ve come up with and link to the pictures in the comments. I can’t wait to see what amazing things you do with them!
Jessy ^-^
Coffee Break Creations 
When the pendants are finished, are they flat or round still?
They are round. The heat from a normal kitchen oven isn’t hot enough to melt glass.
How can I flatten the marbles for glass?
I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to reply, school has been very hectic! Ok, now to your question.. I don’t think you can flatten them, but you could try the flat bottomed clear glass pieces located in the floral dept. As long as they are glass and not plastic, I don’t see any reason it wouldn’t work too! Good Luck!
Does the wire actually go through the glass marble (how would you create the hole) or
is the small cap glued onto the marble? If glue, what kind? If hole, how do you guarantee the marble get’s a hole when it’s heating/cooling?
Thanks, Heather
The bead cap along with the wire is held on with e6000 glue. I suppose you could use a diamond drill bit and drill a hole through the marble, but it might just shatter during the baking and or cooling process. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
I make stain glass and I have numerous diamond drill bits, have yet to be successful in drilling a hole through any marbles.
I suggest adding a facebook like button for the blog!
I love it but I have a few questions.. the wire pictures were too small for me to tell…
Where these marbles round to start with? The only ones I found are flat sided… Did you push the wire THROUGH the glass, creating a hole? Or just bunched up under the cap?
Susan,
These are round marbles. I could only find them at craft stores, walmart didn’t have them. However, the flat gems we “bakable” too. I threw some of those in there too, and they turned out great. I am using the flat gems for magnets.And no, it’s glass, I just bunched the wire up under the cap to “anchor” the wire.
Awesome! I am going to have to try this… thank you so much.. want to try this with blue one 🙂
Oh me too, but I couldn’t find the blue ones. Make sure they are blue glass though and not painted. You won’t be about to see the crackles in the painted marbles.
I actually found a bag of round, clear marbles at walmart today (for $4.28). So they do have them. They were back with all the flowers and other such things.