Pretty Plate

So my craftiness merged with my need to downsize before the big move. I decided to find a use for the box of plastic beads. I have a big container with a lid that won't stay on very well. They promised to spill everywhere once I put them in a box.  I decided to melt them to see what would happen. 

I put a layer of them in a cake pan. I made sure to just have one layer with no beads stacked on top of one another. 

I didn't do anything to the pan, just put the beads in. 

I started with the oven at 250 but after an hour, the beads had just gotten brighter but not melted. I bumped it up to 350 for between 30-45 min. Still not melted. 400 was the magic number. They melted right up.  I have no clue how long I left them because honestly, I forgot about them. I would say at least an hour. 

Once I remembered them, I pulled them out and left it to cool on the stove of about 2 hours. 

Once it was completely cool, I flipped the pan over and it came out with a little wiggling of the pan. 

I would not put anything made from melted beads in the dishwasher or microwave but they would be fun to use for summer plates