Thrifty Frugal Tips and Tricks for FlameWorkers

Started by funkibeads, March 06, 2010, 09:56:07 AM

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Jeanniegems

love the george forman grill idea, have been lookig for a cheap platewarmer but these grills are indeed everywhere, Ta muchly

Jeannie
www.jeanniegems.co.uk
www.jeanniegems.etsy.com

funkibeads

Did you hear about the lady who tried to use spaghetti as mandrels ? That is just taking the thrifty thing a little too far... ::)

Anyway I was at our local recycling tip yesterday. It's a place when you can dump your household goods you don't want anymore & pick up stuff for a bargain that others have dumped them. There I found a wrought iron wine bottle holder - will take up to 18 bottles & I thought hey presto - brilliant glass rod storage device. It only cost £2. What a bargain. And dammit I missed out on one of the grill things - what a great idea for a rod warmer. They'd be perfect for shocky glass rods that are frit on a stick types.

Which also got me thinking - nobody has mentioned freecycle: http://www.freecycle.org yet. It's a perfect place for picking up odds and ends for free. Just google it and you should find one in your local area, set up an account, give some stuff away and you are all set for a wonderful recycling experience. Have fun - Greg

funkibeads

And to add more fun to the post - apparently (according to a thread on WetCanvas in the USA) someone out there uses pancake batter and powdered graphite as bead release. Can you imagine... spaghetti mandrels and pancake batter release. Next they'll be talking about using chocolate bars as marvers... lol Greg

Pandanimal


princess pink

i love the idea of asking the dentist for old tools, i've got an appointment this afternoon so will ask him then! x

Mand

What about saving any glass chips that chip off from any glassware - pyrex dishes/wine glasses/tumblers etc, then you could make your own clear frit :D  It may take a while to save enough for a whole jar of frit, but wow wouldn't it save a fortune?...  Although the coe difference would be tricky .... I'm going now :-X :P   sorry

Cecilia

Being a nurse I of course keep my bead release in a urine / specimen bottle, it is ideally tall without letting too much dry out at once, just keep topping it up from the big pot. I think I did that  after shaking bead release all over the kitchen ( lid was not on properly!) it took weeks to clear up. Fugley beads in the bottom help it mix up easier.

Also have old metal toast rack as rod rest (oxfam)

Love the george forman idea, I will have to look out for one of them.

X

mad bunny

I used to use nescafe coffee jars to store my glass but I was running out of space on my bench.  ::) 
So when we had to buy a new fridge/freezer not long ago and I used the two old salad crisper drawers with 40mm pipe standing in them to store my glass rods. 
Practice and Patience really does pay off!  Beads actually looking good  Yippee  :o

turnedlight

Greg, I got my wine bottle rack from a charity shop - great minds think alike! :D
I joined my local freecycle years ago, but it only gets about one post a month - no one really uses it.
kathryn

Mand

Quote from: Cecilia on March 12, 2010, 11:38:05 AM
Being a nurse I of course keep my bead release in a urine / specimen bottle,

X

Hope no one decides to pee in it then... ;)

cwest

Quote from: Cecilia on March 12, 2010, 11:38:05 AM
Being a nurse I of course keep my bead release in a urine / specimen bottle, it is ideally tall without letting too much dry out at once, just keep topping it up from the big pot. I think I did that  after shaking bead release all over the kitchen ( lid was not on properly!) it took weeks to clear up. Fugley beads in the bottom help it mix up easier.

I do that too! They are just the right size,could have been made for the job.

Carolyn

GlassOcean

I am always rummaging through builders skips!  There are quite a few round here for properties being done up before the season starts, you can pick up amazing things for nowt!  My desks came from a skip! 

I use a spice rack, it is circular and filled with test tubes fr holding stringer, mandrels and the odd glass rod!

I keep my odd rods (there are A LOT of these!) in some ceramic jugs I got from the tip!  My chair came from there, my vermiculite is in an old terracotta chicken cooker!

I made my own mandrel stand by drilling different sized holes in a  length of wood.

And I got some bricks from the inside of night storage heaters from outside a house being done up the other week!

I am such a pikey!  I love a bit of free stuff!

ARBeads

If you use spaghetti as mandrels you don't need bead release, just soak in warm water till aldente................
Ruth & Andy


www.etsy.com/shop/arjewellery for beads!

sarah t

i save nearly all my jars for rods, beads and bits and use a large flower pot with rice in it (fill the holes in the botton first ;)) for standing my mandrels in

tic tac boxes are great for frit cus you can open them with one hand  (as im not a great at planing a head ! )

i have a couple of shoe tidys on the wall in my shed.... great for storage and such fun filling all the pockets with all those little bits






squirsygirl


Quotetic tac boxes are great for frit cus you can open them with one hand  (as im not a great at planing a head ! )

brilliant!

Kirsty