Hint - Glazing Beads

Most people don't glaze the inside of clay beads because glaze might stick to a bead rack when firing. But it's not easy to try to hold a bead and apply glaze cleanly without getting at least a little bit in the hole. Unless you know a trick or two... Keep a supply of pipe cleaners on hand when you're glazing beads. Before glazing, insert a pipe cleaner in the hole, then apply glaze by dipping, brushing, or sponging. The pipe cleaner will prevent most of the glaze from filling the hole, plus it lets you hold the pipe cleaner and keep your fingers away from the bead so you can glaze all sides at once. Allow the pipe cleaner to remain in place while the glaze dries. When you finally remove the pipe cleaner, the bristles will often pull out any glaze bits that did manage to seep inside the hole. A bead holder (follow the linked title to see one of the 3 options) works great for firing the beads, but don't forget you can also use it for drying the just-glazed beads - balance the pipe cleaners where the bead wires usually go.