bonebeadstt

Bone Beads
Courtesy Of
Janet Crosby

1) Begin with a white barrel. Make it longer than you think you need, about 3/4 inch long is a good place to start. I use my graphite marver and just quickly roll it - the barrel doesn't have to be perfectly round - bones aren't!

1) Add (2) blobs to each end, perpendicular to the barrel bead. Make sure that the blobs are in the same 'plane' at the front of the barrel as the back, otherwise your bone will be doin' the twist instead of laying flat.

3) While twirling, melt the blobs on one end until they are transparent. Key point = Don't get the barrel warm enough to be transparent - just the blobs!

4) With the blobs molten, hold your mandrel straight up (perpendicular) and let the blobs 'hang'. Once they are nicely even and hanging, twirl the mandrel (still keeping it upright) to flare out the blobs into a nice bone shape.

5) Repeat steps 3 and 4 on other end of barrel.

General tip:
Use Vetrofond white!!! It is much more.... 'carmel-y' than Moretti. Moretti white molten is like water - too runny. You will have better control using Vetrofond IMO.

Here are some more bones - varying sizes - that were part of a set:

I started making bone beads for Halloween, but found that dog lovers love them too! Hope this helps!

Janet Crosby