Fire BAD!

One of my close friends, Ruby, invited us over to celebrate her birthday last Wednesday night. She was thinking that the chaos in the next couple of weeks would make it difficult for us to find a time to see one another.

"But Melanie," she said. "Please don't spend any money on me."

Immediately, my mind started racing. Did she mean that, really? She sounded really sincere. Obviously, we're giving her something.  How can I get around this? How can I bend the rule without breaking it?

"You got really quiet there," Ruby observed, laughing. She knows me too well. She went on to explain that she'd already told her kids and her husband that there was nothing she wanted. But, she conceded, we could make her something for her birthday. Ah ha!

So then it was just a matter of looking at the projects I have pinned on Pinterest and finding the one that meets the following requirements:
1) I had to already have all the components. I did promise not to buy anything. Well, plus I'm broke and most stores don't work on a barter system.
2) I had to be able to complete it in less than one day. Ruby called Tuesday evening to invite us over Wednesday night - it was going to have to be quick.
3) In a perfect world, the project would involve Alex, my 2 1/2 year old son. This would allow me to work on it while he was awake (instead of tearing through it during the nap he might refuse to take), it would be a great experience for him, and Ruby would enjoy that he helped out. Everybody wins.

After considering and discarding several ideas (the upside being that I know what to do for Ruby's Christmas gift), I decided on sun catchers made from melted beads. The project seemed simple and straight forward and Alex could help me make a pretty pattern with the beads in the pan. If I could keep him from eating the beads. I was pleased with myself for finding such a perfect and thoughtful gift. Oh pride!

So cute, right?

The trouble began when I realized that the only beads in the universe that I do not have in my possession are pony beads. I shrugged it off; I have a ton of plastic beads. What's the difference? Also, somehow I don't have regular muffin pans - only minis. Weird, but not really a problem.

I grabbed some beads that seemed likely candidates, preheated the oven, and got Alex started on his part. He started out oohing and ahhing over the beads and was beyond excited that I was letting him play with such strange, tiny toys. Then: chaos. I don't know about your 2 year old, but mine does not understand about designing and laying out a single layer of colorful beads in a pie pan. I know - why was I shocked? HE'S 2!! He can't tell the difference when I say "Jesus" and "cheeses" - how would he follow my ridiculous instructions? I tried to scale back my expectations because I want him to be creative and love arts and crafts and not fear his perfectionist, nutcase mom. But I'm also a perfectionist and a nutcase so this is a struggle for me. I finally just let him dump messy fistfuls of beads into the pie pan and try to be encouraging about that.

Anyhoo, I eventually get the first pan into the oven. In reading the instructions, I'd noted that one family was really concerned about the chemical smell emanating from the melting beads but a second family really pooh-poohed the (overpowering) odor and the (probable) danger of inhaling the (toxic) fumes. Based on the evil scent pouring out of my kitchen after only 5 minutes, I turned off the oven, opened the back door, and tried to find another way to melt plastic. One mom did it on a grill - awesome! Grills are like outdoor ovens right? I got instructions from my husband on how to start the gas grill and set those beads a-cookin'. I'm inside, complimenting Alex on filling the pie pan to the brim with beads when I see the black smoke rising steadily.

I ran outside and used an oven mitt to throw back the lid. Oxygen rushed in and set ablaze everything that wasn't already on fire. Part of my brain was just dumbfounded. But the rest of it was pretty much "Oh crap." The functional part turned off the burners and dashed back inside to grab the fire extinguisher. I briefly considered just letting the plastic burn itself out but there was enough smoke and chemical smell that someone might have call the fire department. So, I gave the fire a couple bursts from my extinguisher.

The next logical question (for me) was "How do I explain this to my husband?"

So then this happened:

What a lucky fellow to have landed me!

Whelp - that about sums it up. Even with the fire, I totally recommend this project. I also recommend using a toaster oven outside to avoid the fumes and, you know, flames. Also, the Dremel worked well to make holes although the bit we used did melt the plastic onto it. Beyond that, using the larger jelly-bean-looking beads weakened the structure since they didn't melt as completely as the others. But they look so pretty! Here's the outcome:

Typically, I didn't take a picture of the finished product (ugh) but I'll get one from Ruby and post it soon. Hopefully Ruby enjoys having our first run sun-catcher and thinks of us when she sees it :)

XOXO,
Melanie