Crafty question and ir eally need your help!!????!!???!!!?
okay so i made this recipe for bead( it was like a dough) they baked for 2 hours. i need to use sand paper to make them smooth, but the holes closed up a lot. how can i Re-due the holes after they have been baked. i know i ask lame questions about crafts but crafts are a big [art of my life, so your help is VERY much appreciated.
thanks.
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!1 miz lamb
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10 Free Jewellery Design Ideas From Bedazzle Beads - May 2012Here is the next in our series of jewellery design ideas for you. These designs were created in May 2012 by Lisa Jagger of Bedazzle Beads. Use these stunning designs as inspiration for your own design ideas. Enjoy
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You may need to use a very fine drill bit to re drill the holes. You can try using a rough ended nail to drill the holes back out.
I put these sorts of beads on cotton threads, or heavier cording. Then they can be burned out if they don’t slip easily.
My first experience with making beads resulted much the same as yours. I had a hard time threading my beads, then went to the store to get a cheap drill with some expensive bits that would work. You might also want to get a crafters vice to hold the beads while you are drilling them back out. I have one that is about 3 inches long in the mouth. Very small but works great for things like this. Oh, yes, found it at Harbor Freight store.
You could buy a “bead reamer” if you don’t have one, or you could use a small drill bit and hold it firmly for drilling with in something called a “pin vise” from the hardware store:
http://www.google.com/images?q=“pin+vise”
Or do what we do with polymer clay and bake a polymer clay “handle” around the end of a drill bit to lengthen it and to create a larger grip. If you want some info on using polymer clay to make a handle like that, check out this page at my polymer clay “encyclopedia”:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/tools_Dremels_worksurfaces.htm
…click on the *Handles* category
Next time, make the holes too big since air-dry clays will always shrink.
You could also try putting something removable in the hole to help hold it open to size, but in that case especially I wouldn’t heat it to speed up the drying because that can cause air-dry clays to crack more easily than just letting them dry over 12-24 hrs naturally.
(Lots of things might get stuck in the clay though, so try using something very smooth like a knitting needle, not threading the bead too far on it, then twisting the bead off instead of just trying to pull it. Some materials might act as a release on the hole-holder too, like cornstarch, or aluminum foil wrapped around something smaller or even paper, or perhaps ArmorAll–silicone spray or Vaseline.)
HTH,
Diane B.
P.S. If you were using “salt dough” clay, you might want to try “bread clay” instead since it should be smoother and more refined (…though you should be able to form even salt dough clay pretty smooth too if you always roll it in a smooth ball or log or sheet *before* creating the shapes with it).
Here’s info on making bread clay if you’re interested:
http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+bread+clay