Cracked marbles are not a new thing to the crafting world, but if you are like me, and haven’t given them a shot yet, here is a step-by-step, tried and true method.
I love the look of the cracked marbles, and wanted to incorporate the finished project into something beautiful, so my daughter and I made necklaces out of them.
It was a great project. No mess, cheap, and easy to mass-produce. What more could you want?
Here are the materials you will need to make your cracked marble necklace:
- Clear marbles
- Necklace cording – (A note on the necklace cording, if you are looking in my supply picture, you can purchase cording in bulk,(the spool) and make a bunch of necklaces, or just opt for the easier, pre-made version.)
- Bead Caps
- Eye Pins
- Jump Rings
- E-6000 adhesive (or other strong glue)
- Needle-nose Jewelry Pliers
- Baking sheet
- Bowl
- Oven
Let’s get started!
Pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees.
Open your bag of marbles, and lay them out on a baking sheet.
I want you to know, that I bought a brand-new cookie sheet for this project. I wasn’t about to take photos featuring my much-loved (ugly-looking) cookie sheets!
You are welcome! They sure are pretty new, aren’t they?
Pop the baking sheet into your oven, and set the timer for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, get a bowl, and fill it with ice water.
When the marbles have baked for 20 minutes, take them out of the oven (which I desperately need to clean). Be very careful! A 500 degree oven is not friendly!
Dump the marbles straight into your ice water.
The marbles will immediately crack!
There are a lot of variations out there on oven temperatures, and times to bake the marbles at.
Using 500 degrees, and 20 minutes, I did not lose a single marble.
Look how pretty!
I poured them into a strainer, and dried them off.
My daughter thought we made diamonds!
If only…
Now to make them into necklaces!
You will need one bead cap, and one eye pin per necklace.
Insert the eye pin into the bead cap, and trim the end of the pin. You only need to leave enough “pin” to create a loop.
Using fine-tipped pliers, turn the trimmed section of the eye pin into a loop.
With both ends of the eye pin secure in the bead cap, apply some adhesive to the inside of the cap.
Be generous, fill that cap! Then adhere the cap to your marble.
Then set your pendant aside to dry.
I found it very helpful to set the drying pendants on top of the mesh bag they came in,the “holes” of the mesh kept them all upright to dry.
When the adhesive is dry, add a jump ring to the loop in the eye pin.
Then, attach the pendant to your chosen necklace cording.
Repeat for as many necklaces as you want to make!
I am not sure if you caught Lindsay’s Vintage Gumball Machine Necklace Tutorial, but I was inspired by her use of nail polish to color plain old pearl beads.
I put it to the test on these pendants- look how beautiful and easy it is to add color and glitter and fabulousness!
One to match every outfit. For pennies.
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Shaunte is a 30-something, chocolate-loving, SAHM from Utah. She has been scrapbooking since 1997, the dreaded era of photos cropped with deco scissors. Since then, her work has evolved into a clean, linear, photo-focused style. Her favorite subjects to scrap are her husband and five kids (never a lack for subject material there).
Anyone know the specific process of making the colored marbles???
What size bead cap do you use? There are so many different sizes that I have no idea where to even start. Any suggestions?
Hi Judy! We suggest this 8mm bead cap: https://www.consumercrafts.com/store/details/catalog/jewelry-findings-caps/1983-37
I love it! It’s fantastic its actually something new I have seen and learnt!
I saw that this was asked already, but I did’t see any replies….
How is the best way to add the nail polish? What is the best kind of nail polish to use? My daughters and I tried the nail polish but it didn’t look that good….
Rose, add the nail polish after the marbles are cracked. Shaunte used clear-ish polish with glitter.
I will be making these with my grandchildren as a little analogy…when you are put through the fire and feel as if you are falling a part…beauty can be found in the process!
I love that Thank you
Way back when (in the 60’s) my Mom made her cracked marbles in an iron skillet on top of the stove.
I use to crack marbles by putting them in a small pan with water and bring the water to a boil for about 5 minutes then strain them out with a slotted spoon and put them in the ice cube water and they cracked beautifully.
I wanted to smash a bag of glass gems from the hobby store into glass glitter, by causing them to crack first, and then taking a hammer to them.
I put the gems in the freezer overnight. In the morning I brought a big pot of water to boil on the stove. When water was boiling furiously, I added 2-3 gems…nothing happened. I thought that maybe they needed to boil a long time, so I left them in there, added the rest of the bag (heat still on) and boiled them for about 10 minutes. I poured them into a bucket of really cold water (lots of ice cubes in it). Very few cracked at all, and even those just barely cracked.
Much worse, the water in the pot had turned to lavender, so most of my ‘amethyst’ gems are now clear–and they are still not cracked. So far, a waste of $4.00, my time & the water/energy.
I’m going to try dyeing them with alcohol ink, but I don’t think it’ll be permanent.
je me permet de revenir vers toi pour te dire qu’hier j’ai éssayé de mettre en pratique ton tutoriel et le résultat est simplement magnifique. je me suis servie des bases de ton tutoriel mais mon four ne pouvant dépasser la température de 250° , au lieu de 20 mn , j’ai mit 30 mn. Comme tu l’écris , le craquelage est instantané quand on met les billes dans l’eau glacée. Je voulais donc une fois de plus te remercier pour nous donner la possibilité de faire de belle chose.
merci pour ce super tutoriel , je viens d’acheter des billes pour essayer . je trouves effectivement ( comme ta fille , que l’on dirait des diamants . j’ai plein d’idées pour faire des pendentifs .Merci encore .Ladymcbuyck
How do you color them with nail polish?
can you do this method and make trivets?
If so, how?
i did it! i put them in a cupcake tray and they were great. i used tongs to take them out of the tray
These are beautiful! However you said “but I was inspired by her use of nail polish to color plain old pearl beads”. I have 2 questions………
1) what type of “nail polish” did you use?
and
2) were the beads you used “pearl” or plain clear beads and the nail polish made them look “pearl”?
Can’t wait to try these, I just want to crack a lot of them, color them and put them in a clear dish, or bowl.
Thanks! God bless!
Hi, I know I’m a little late to the party, but my sister and I tried to make these, same products, using e600, and every single one came undone. Even after leaving them for a week. Any suggestions?
Also, others have asked but what kind of paint did you use? If nail polish, did you cover the entire thing? How do the cracks still show?
Thanks,
Andrea
Can I use regular marbles with a design in the middle for actually playing marbles kind?
You can! I tried it out with only a few, but they all turned out. They look different thought the clear ones but are still really pretty.
My bead caps are not staying on the marbles 🙁 they fit great and I’m using E6000 I let them dry for 4 days the last Tim I tried..I am making a crystal mobil for my unborn baby daughter and they HAVE to be strong. I made 20 and so far only 5 have stuck really well. I am hanging crystals from a round wire and the marbleswill give it beautiful color but they have to be super super strong..can using too much glue make them weaker? Im not sure what I am doin wrong here!
I would think twice before making a mobile for a small child out of marbles. Too easy for them to swallow/choke on the marbles if they come loose. I suspect you are using enough glue. More glue will not make it weaker. But please think about whether you want your baby around these marbles.
I HAVE BEEN MAKING THESE SINCE I WAS VERY YOUNG BUT WE ALWAYS JUST ROLLED THEWM AROUND ON AN ELECTRIC BURNER ELEMENT,,HOLDS THE MARBELS GREAT, CANT DO AS MANY THOUGH,,QUESTION,,,EVER TRIED TO CRACK, LIKE AN OVAL PIECE OF GLASS LIJE THIS? I HAVENT HAD ANY LUCK,,I NEED A FLAT BOTTOMED, OVAL TO CRACK LIKE THIS,,, THEY USUALLY JUST SHATTER LIKE ANY GLASS THAT GETS HOT AND,,,JUST BREAKS INTO A FEW BIG PIECES,,,THINK ITS THE
‘CRYSTAL” ELEMENT?? HAHA 7 T TRIED IT WITH THE FLAT BOTTOMED MARBLES LIKE FOR FISH TANKS,,,TURNED OUT THEY WERE NOT EVEN,,GLASS!!! SOME PLASTIC-LIKE GLASS TURNEDINTO GOO! BUT SROPPED AND BROKEN,,,THEY WILL CUT YOU!! GOFIGURE,,FAKE EVERYTHING NOWADAYS!
I used the flat oval stones for flower vases and decorative bowls. I get mine from the dollar store. I use the stove top method and haven’t lost one yet. I used an old pan with a lid, put the marbles in, heat on high. When you can feel the heat coming through the pan (place hand over pan to check), cover and cook for 10 minutes. Make your ice water while you wait. After 10 minutes, dump the marbles into the ice water and listen to them sizzle and crack. Finish with Shaunte’s instructions.
um? that doesn’t make sense
Will have to try this but is there just on size marble would love some smaller and bigger ones for jewelry making?
I make earring out of all sorts of marbles, now I have a new way to use the boring clear ones. Thanks a bunch.
My brother and I used to do this to marbles when we were kids. Now I am 59 and still like doing kids stuff again. We never used the oven, we would put them in a small metal saucepan on the top of the gas range and would just move them around the pan. When the marbles got hot we would then pour them into a metal bowl of ice water. It took less time on top than it does in the oven and you use less energy because you don’t have to heat up an oven of some sort.
I’m trying this for the first time! I only have marbles with a flat side so I’m trying them at 325 for 25 mins like someone else said they did. Kind of like baking, I’m using a lower heat for a less dense marble. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Why an eye pin? You obviously need to bend the inside loop out of the way to have the marble sit in the bead cap properly. So just use a head pin and insert it through the hole of the bead cap from the inside, then use round nosed pliers (the tool designed to make loops) to make the loop on the top, it’s much easier that way.
Do you have to use clear marbles? All my marbles have that twisty thing inside…not sure what it’s called but would those crack too? Are they called Cats eye?
I tried it with swirly marbles and it worked great!
Hi,
Great Tutorial, I look forward to trying it out. They look Beautiful. I am curious if you might know how to cut a marble in half? I have been looking for a way too do it without expensive tools. I have a craft idea in mind. Thought you might be able to help.
The cracked Marbles I cam see so many ways to use them in crafting. I’m so happy I came across you’re tutorial. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Nicky 8)
Where is the best place to buy the materials needed for this? Would you recommend Michaels or Hobby Lobby?
Hi! Great tutorial! I only have one doubt, do you use degrees in celsius or fahrenheit?
I’m not into making jewelry but will try cracking the marbles then put them in a crystal bowl in a sunny window. Maybe the sun will scatter the colors around. An idea anyway. Thanks for the tutorial.
It’s E6000. I know that as I have a tube of it just behind me. I do mostly Polyclay and jewelry, and I looked for the best glue for everything, and E6000 seems to be the most popular.
Ah, I remember making cracked marbles when I was a kid. And we actually played marbles with them. Every now and then one wuld break, but they’re actually surprisingly solid. Never thought of making jewelry with them. Gives me ideas.
Great Tutorial – very easy to follow. How big are the Marbles? and I haven’t tried the nail polish yet, but would like to!
25 mins at 325 works well too. tried 30 mins at 350 and some broke.
What size bead cap did you use?
Hi there, if I want to paint the marbles with the nail polish to get the look that you show in the last picture, do I paint them BEFORE or AFTER heating/cracking them?
I would like to know that as well.
SAME!!!!!!!!!!!! So these didn’t break and they are in the oven right now can’t wait!! thank you for this amazing craft i might only make a few into jewelry.
AFTER,,,SOME PAINTS, PRICY, FOR BLOWING GLASS CAN BE USED PRIOR BUT MOST OTHERS JUST BURN,,,
I want to know how u get things to
My Aunt and my cousin use to this with marbles and I thought that was really cool. Going to do this with grandkids and see if they like it as much as I did. So glad I founds this. Thank you for posting.
Well I have to say this takes me back to girl scouts when I first did them. A couple years past and in my 50’s I tried it again and some marbles will not crack no matter what you do. So there are a certain kind and I finally pulled some from marbles that were for flower arrangements and they cracked. So be ware some will and some won’t. I sent my friend a necklace and she loved it.
Will be taking on mission trips with my daughter soon to be a minister. God Bless ~ the children will feel so blessed! Blessings and such a god given talent! Thank you!
I just started making mine, but I could only find clear marbles. I am going to paint it with nail polish. I wanted to seal them and was wondering if you knew a good sealant to use.
That is what you want is clear, did you mean you couldn’t find them? You don’t need to seal them it doesn’t crack the outside just the inside.
Can’t wait to try this , will post when I get some done .. , my two loves in one , crafts and jewellery 🙂
Thanks . Rose Cloud
Hi!
Those are wonderful!
I was hoping you could give me some advice on how long I should have them in the oven at 300 degrees?
That’s the hottest my oven gets 😀
I don’t know how I got to be nearly 38 (birthday next week) and never heard of cracked marbles – or making jewelry out of them. So I’m glad I stumbled upon this post.
I went to the dollar store, grabbed a bag of marbles, baked those puppies, then threw them in the ice and they turned out quite nicely.
I do have to say the most difficult part for me was the gluing. It did not seem to work – until I left it alone and looked at it later and saw the glue finally adhered and it was fine. Now I have at least half a dozen ready to have the jump rings added and corded.
I think I’m going to take an extra eye pin and add beads and the add that to the top of some of the marbles before adding the jump rings. Just to jazz them up a bit and make it more pendent-y.
Thanks for the great tutorial!
You probably are too young. LOL.
Stacey don`t feel bad I will be 72 in October and this is the first time for me to hear anything about “cracked marbles” LOL. Believe me I have crafted all my life and this is news! LOL
I bought a Dragons Claw pewter necklace with a glass marble already in it. Can I crack it like this after it’s already been infused into the claw part ofv the necklace? ?
I would not recommend attempting to crack a marble that has already been set into a piece of jewelry.
I found it difficult to bend the eye pin under the bell cap with the tools I had, so I inserted the looped end of the eye pin into the underside of the bell cap, trimmed the end of the eye pin, and then made a loop on the top of the bell cap. I also bent the looped end of the eye pin sideways so it laid flat next to the underside of the domed part of the bell cap. It was much easier to manipulate the eye pin from the top rather than the bottom. I was then able to join a jump ring and necklace chain. My granddaughters loved these; I loved making them.
I have found if you bend it the opposite way of which way you want it to go, it then helps bend the circle better. Now I can’t say I have tried that, but sounds good.
how do you fasten the necklace cording?
Use E600 or 6000 can’t remember but it is great for jewelry and other things found at local craft stores. You need the jewelry piece and a jump ring. All at craft stores again.
YOU are smart! Very creative <3333
Thanks for very detailed instructions and pictures. I’ve got to try this!
I’M SORT OF NEW TO CRAFTING SO THIS MAYBE A STUPID QUESTION BUT WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO PUT THE HOLES IN THE MARBLES
No holes are put in the marbles Roberta. They are glued to the bead cap. Hope this helps.
I agree no holes, you glue the bead on top. Use E600 or 6000 I don’t recall numbers but Michael’s, Hobby Lobby etc. have it. Be sure to take 40 and right now 50% off coupon if you go. Michael’s are online.
I was wondering…when you put the eye pin in the cap and made the loop underneath, how did you get it to lay flat enough for the cap to fit on the marble without the marble hitting the loop underneath?
@kim- use the pliers to bend the pin sideways so it will lay flat against the marble. The bead caps have some room at the top- use a generous amount of glue, and you are good to go!
Did you paint the marbles before or after you cracked them? How did you keep the marbles sparkling without just being a coating of paint? Thanks they look great if I can get as good results.
@Wes- I painted the marbles AFTER they were cracked. They are painted with nail polish- the clear-ish kind what has glitter in it. Most nail polishes are pretty resistant after they dry, and I did not seal them with anything. If the polish peels off, or wears off, it would be very simple to simply re-coat with more polish. Good luck!
At a beauty supply you should be able to find a polish that is only glitter! Northern Lights and Diamond Dust are a couple names that come to mind. It would enhance any colored marble! It is exquisitely clear just glitter! It is used as a top coat on colored polish. If you can`t find it at Sally`s beg a local manicurist to get it for you!
Is oven temperature in celsius or fahrenheit?
Fahrenheit. I should have had that specified. Thanks for asking! Have fun!
Can I just use normal needle nosed pliers or do I have to buy the special jewelry ones
Cool, I google +’d it!
Omg.. Thank you so much for a concise and easy to follow tutorial. I had no idea the names of the jewelry thingamagics..lol u are greatly helping us with an easy jewelry making for dummies. Now I am so inspired to do this marble and many other necklace ideas I have.. Thank
Man, you are fantastic! A really wonderful, easy to follow tutorial! We are going to do that for Hogwarts this summer!!
OMG – thank you so much!! I had found a forum post with this idea, but NO instructions and as I’ve never done jewelry before I had NO CLUE how to get the bead caps to have loops for the jump rings! Now I’m excited again, lol!
I remember making cracked marbles as a child with my mother. This brought back memories. I found some iridescent clear marbles today and tried cracking them, they turned out amazing!! I didn’t find any bead caps in store, so I used your links and purchased some more marbles AND the bead caps and will be happy to share pics with you once they arrive.
P.S. As a child we did the “fried” method in a fry pan and your oven method of 500 at 20 worked PERFECTLY, every single marble came out.
I found this idea on pinterest and it said to do it at 325! a huge difference in temperature! If mine don’t work (I have them in the oven now) I’ll have to try your method. Thank you!
You know, I have never seen these before! They are soo cool and I cannot wait to make some.
As a blogger I also got a real kick out of you buying a new baking sheet, although I would not have judged you had you not! lol
Going to go check out the rest of your blog now, thanks for this idea.
I made some of these two nights ago and they are gorgeous. I tried every type of nail polish that I own and couldn’t get any to turn out like yours. They just looked like a marble covered in nail polish.. You could no longer see the cracks. Do you have more info about the type of nail polish that was used? Thanks so much!
Hannah there is actually a polish that is just clear with glitter! Northern Lights and Diamond dust are a couple of brands that come to mind! Beauty supplies should have it or beg a local manicurist to track it down for you.
@kim- (i hope you are checking back in!) It depends on the glue you use. 🙂 E-6000 takes a while. I left mine overnight. You could use a gel superglue if you wanted them to dry faster. Just don’t glue your fingers together. Super glue is always a tricky one! The girls will LOVE these!
Shaunte years ago I used both the super glue and E6000 at the same time! The super glue gives instant gratification while the E600 dries. It does get tricky but is doable.
I’d love to do this with my Junior Girl Scouts. About how long does it take for the glue to dry? Thanks!
Hey there! Just wanted to let you know we featuring you in our Favorite Find Fridays post tomorrow over at Whimsically Homemade. We’re using one of your pictures and are linking back to you. If that’s a problem let us know and we’ll remove it immediately. Thanks for your great inspiration!
Hi Su-
Thank you for your question! The marbles were painted with nail polish after they were baked, iced and dried off. I found the best results with polish that was less opaque, to allow for the wonderful cracks to show through clearly. The nail polish was super forgiving! My daughter painted some of them. 🙂 You can always add another coat if it comes out uneven. Have fun!
Shaunte there is actually a clear glitter polish available at most Beauty supplies. It comes in multi color. gold, and diamond glitter. Northern Lights and Diamond Dust are a couple of names that come to mind. It is exquisitely clear and has what seems to be way more glitter than a colored polish.
ok. . did you paint the clear marbles with nail polish after or before they came out of the oven/ice? That picture of the hands with the colored marbels. . so pretty!! great picture!! it looks like the nail polish is on those marbles so perfectly??
That is so pretty! Thanks for the great tutorial 🙂
@Laurie, Shaunte used 10mm bead caps, (similar found here): http://www.consumercrafts.com/store/details/catalog/jewelry-findings-caps/1999-089
At the beginning of every post, there is a supply list – the supplies highlighted in orange have links to the product. You will be able to find out more info about each product and you can purchase them through our site.
Thanks for your comment!
What size bead caps did you use?
Love how they look with the glittery nail polish – thank you so much for the awesome tutorial!
LOVE! I am SO making these!
Beautiful! I’ve made these before but didn’t color them with glitter. Great idea!!
I would love to make the cracked marble necklace, but there’s one part I’m missing in the instruction.
I put the eye pin through the bead cap, cut it shorter, but HOW DO I PUT THE EYE PIN IN THE MARBLE? (Marbles don’t have wholes like beads)
Actually, you don’t the eye pin inside the marble, you bent it, and then glue the bead cap onto the marble.