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If you’re looking for a simple, creative Christmas craft your kids will love, melted pony bead ornaments are a fun one to try. They’re colorful, customizable, and make wonderful keepsakes or thoughtful gifts for family and friends. Best of all, kids of all ages can help with the design process.
What You’ll Need
- Pony beads (This is the bulk pony beads we used!)
- A silicone muffin baking mat or metal Christmas-shaped cookie cutters
- Jelly roll pan
- Parchment paper (if using metal molds)
- Oven, grill, or toaster oven
- Drill (for adding holes once cooled)
- String (You can use yarn, paracord, or these AMAZING easy ornament strings with snaps we discovered this year)
How to Make Melted Pony Bead Ornaments
Start by placing your silicone muffin mat or metal ornament molds on a baking surface. If you’re using silicone, set it on top of a jelly roll pan so nothing shifts when you move it. If you’re using metal shapes, be sure to lay parchment paper underneath.
Fill each mold with a single layer of pony beads, packing them in tightly. This is where kids can really get creative! You can make rainbow patterns, alternating colors, landscape-style designs, or simply do a fun color dump. Letting kids choose their own color combinations makes each ornament feel extra special.
Once filled, melt the beads at medium heat (around 350°F) for about 15-20 minutes. Avoid rushing this step, melting too fast can cause burning or bubbles on the back. Slower melting results in a smoother, cleaner finished ornament.
We melted ours indoors and then switched to using the grill outside. A toaster oven set up outdoors also works great. We highly recommend melting beads outside when possible, as the smell of melting plastic isn’t pleasant.
After melting, let the ornaments cool. They cool quickly! Once hardened, pop them out of the molds and drill a small hole at the top for hanging.
Thread with yarn, paracord, string, or easy snap-together ornament string (a favorite discovery this year!). Finally, write your child’s name and the date on the back. These ornaments make wonderful gifts—but be sure to save one for each child, too. They’re memories worth keeping.
Check out a post about how to do a DIY ornament tradition each year!
