It’s a snowy April day in Colorado and I’m annoyed. Super annoyed. I don’t like snow, but I really don’t like snow in April – and we are just days from May. I want to be outside doing fun things with my kids, not inside FREEZING and wishing we were outside. Oh well. On top of it, my daughter is home sick from school, she’s not feeling terrible, but bad enough to need a day of “rest” which she really didn’t do at all today. Probably my fault, I’ve never really known how to slow down, let alone sit still – there is always something I should be doing – right?!
Guess what we did on this day of cold, sick, snowy rest? We made homemade melted bead sun catchers! Super fun, but probably the most stinky craft I have ever done – EVER. Could be that it’s sooo cold out, and I can’t have every door and window open to push out the smell, but still, it’s a stinky craft. I’m not looking forward to the look that I’m sure to get of pure disgust from my husband when he gets home today. I’m positive he will hold his nose and ask me just what the terrible smell as soon as he walks through the door. The even worst part is that I have cracked a lot of the windows just a little bit, the oven vent is blowing on super high, I have sprayed every can of Glade smelly stuff I have through the house, and I’ve lit every candle in my hous. Now it smells like burning plastic mixed with lemon pound cake, pear berry, and island tropics! It’s cold and very fragrant in my house right now (my dog is soo cold from the windows open that she is laying directly on the heating vent in the floor)! It makes me laugh just describing it! 
Anyways, we had a great time making this craft - Melted Bead Sun Catchers - that I found on Pinterest from The Artful Parent. My kids really enjoyed the time together arranging the beads and making cool designs. It’s crazy how their different personalities come into play – my 10 year old just wants to get them done as fast as he can, my middle daughter very carefully and slowly picks out her colors and arranges her designs, while my youngest just wanted every single bead that the older two “oohed” and “ahhhed” about. Hilarious! This craft took us about 30 minutes and the cooking time was close to 25 minutes. I’m still venting out the house over an hour later and the smell is just lingering. I’m wondering if some of the beads we used are causing the terrible smell. We had these very little pink beads that did not melt at all – they just changed to a burnt color – for all I know they very well could be the main cause of the terrible smell in my house. Sounds like The Artful Parent had good luck with the smell not being too bad. Besides the smell, this was a lot of fun!
Give them a try when you have a chance (maybe on a warmer day when you can open all the windows to air out the house in case you have a problem with the smell)!
Here’s to being a fun mom that crafts with her kids! Hugs to you all!
