I use a toaster oven to bake small stuff like beads, and so far it has been a pretty good little machine.  It only runs 30 minutes at a time, the first 30 which is to warm it up.  So after it was heated up, I put my beads in the oven and set it for 30 minutes.

At the ding, I went and checked them, and they were fine, but 30 minutes isn’t quite enough time for polymer clay most of the time.  So I added another 20 minutes on the timer and went back to my office to do some web surfing while I waited.

Ding again 20 minutes later, and I go out to get an ice bath ready (helps hardening and with translucent blends, can help them appear more translucent) in a small bowl, and open the oven…

and discover I’ve burned my beads. 

They’re not trash worthy, however.  They do look rather nice with their toasty color, it gives them a rustic look, kind of vintage and aged.  But, the colors are way off from their intended purpose, which is birthstone colors in pastel.  Here is a picture (poor quality, sorry took it with my phone) to show them next to the clay colors as they started out:

So, I made another batch, and am trying again, correcting the mistake I made before, which was NOT covering them with something.  I usually use corn starch, so this time I covered the newly made beads liberally with it.  Hopefully this batch will turn out without being toasted so I can use them as I imagined. 

(Posting delayed so as not to give hints to those who may read here and are the intended recipients of said gifts!  By the time this posts, hopefully if all goes as planned and these beads turn out, the recipients will have their gifts in hand.)

(pssst! after the break, pics of the second batch – better for the gift idea I have in mind, the colors stayed true!)

I hope she likes them.