Eyeball Melted Bead Suncatchers

I’ve got eyeballs on the brain this Halloween season!

Yesterday, it was these fun eyeball party plates and eyeball cookies. Today I’m letting the sun shine through these large melted bead eyeballs! Over the summer I made these fun and colorful BBQ bead suncatchers, and I’m using that same concept to make large eyeball sun catchers.

Here is southern California, we are still in the midst of a heat wave. The summer temperatures are trying to hang on as long as it can I think!

Here is exactly what I used to make these fun eyeball sun catchers:

8” metal circle cake pan
Pony beads in black, white, clear, white and color of choice
BBQ grill
Wooden skewer

I arranged my pony beads in the bottom of my cake pan (DO NOT SPRAY WITH NONSTICK SPRAY OR GREASE PAN). I started with a clear and white layer or beads all along the outside of my pan, filling to the edge with about 2” of beads. This will be the outer white of my eyeball. Then I filled in another circle about 2” with my color of choice. This will be the colored iris of my eye. Then I finished with a black bead center. This is the pupil. I also added a couple white beads on the outer edge of my black circle for an eyeball highlight.

Then I put the pan on a hot BBQ grill and shut the lid. The time it takes to melt the beads will depend on how hot your grill is. My beads took between 8-10 minutes to melt in the pan. I checked it after 5 minutes, and then every two minutes until the beads had melted together in the pan. Be careful not to leave the beads on the grill too long. They will burn. Also, be sure to take your pan off of the grill with a pot holder. It will be HOT!

I then put my hot pan outside on a bench to cool.

Immediately after taking the pan off of the grill, you can use the bottom of a wood skewer to poke a hole at the top. This will become your hanging hole. You don’t have to create a hole. They look great on a window ledge too.

Do NOT try and pop out your beaded sun catcher until the pan is completely cool.

Don’t worry, it will pop right out. Heat expands and the cooled beads contract in the pan.

Why melt them on the grill? The pony beads do give off a strong smell when melted, and I didn’t want to smell up my house, so the outside barbeque grill was perfect to help keep the fumes to a minimum.

I used some mini suction cup hooks to hang them on my window for a really fun effect.