I have been making none round beads and decided that I wanted to make some of them shine by covering them with varathane.  They look really nice but I have a new problem.

I first put the beads on toothpicks and then dipped them into the varathane.  I then placed the toothpicks into a piece of styrofoam to dry and hopefully not get drips. 

Well, I don’t have any drips but I now have beads stuck to toothpicks with dried varathane and don’t now how to get them off!

I tried to gently pull the beads after loosing the varathane “seal” around the toothpicks.  All that got me was one broken bead.  (At least I have more that I can bake to replace that one.)  I have tried twisting the toothpick but all that achieved was braking the toothpick inside of the bead.  (It is hard to string them with wood in the middle.) 

I will check with other websites (like Glassattic) and see if I can find any suggestions and then see what I can come up with.  I am sure to figure this all out with time.

Atleast I am learning somethin new today!

Posted by Helen in Tips and Techniques on August 2nd, 2007 | No Comments