Cracked Marble Necklaces

Each year I try to encourage the kids to make things for Christmas - why?  Because lots of gifts that are store bought do not hold the same type of meaning for the giver or the receiver.  So, we have started a tradition of making things - there are still lots of things that are purchased, but at the same time there are several gifts that are thought out and made.  This year D-Man wanted to try to make "Cracked Marble Necklaces"

 First - we started with several different kinds of Marbles.  I found these in the floral section of our local Michael's craft store.  I had researched this and many places said that two-toned marbles (or cat's eye marbles) only shatter and break in half - so I went with solid colors.

 Then I preheated the oven to 420 degrees.  I had read that 350 was fine, and that 500 was fine - so I chose a temp in the middle.  I then prepared the bowl of ice water - D-man tested it to be certain that it was very chilly.

 Once the oven was preheated we put the marbles in for 20 minutes.  When the time came to remove them we were certain to have our safety gear on - after all, we are working with hot glass and freezing water.

 Pour the hot marbles into the ice water and give them a minute to really cool down.  Then fish them out of the water.

 Here are what a few of the marbles look like before we get started on the necklace portion of things.

We did this in parts - a few days later we added on the additional pieces to make these into lovely, unique necklaces.  I will have to upload the photos as soon as I pull them off of my camera... but at least here is the base of what we did!