Recently I’d read a caution to nail artists about using a beverage warmer to heat their baked Fimo Nail Art canes. The reason is because they can become very hot and cause the cane to brown where the cane comes in contact with the warmer.
However, the idea of using one of those intrigued me. Beverage warmers are small and portable; they use less electricity than the toaster oven; and they can maintain the temperature until the unit is turned off, unlike most heating pads that cycle into the off setting after one hour.
So my idea was to spread out the heat so that a cane would still reach a temperature suitable for slicing, but not burn. I’d made a few less-than-successful attempts. But I did come up with a solution that I’ve been experimenting with and having great success with.
You will need the following:
- An electric beverage warmer
- A 4-inch (10.5cm) terra cotta clay saucer
- A paper towel
- Scissors
- Ink pen
All of these items can be found at Wal-Mart. The beverage warmer is in the kitchen gadget section; the clay saucer is in the garden center; and the paper towels are in the paper products section. Total investment is approximately $10.00 USD.
The clay saucer absorbs the heat from the beverage warmer, but by it’s nature it spreads out the heat evenly over the entire saucer. So do be careful when touching the saucer when the beverage warmer is on. It will be hot to the touch. It won’t cause a burn, but you wouldn’t be able to pick it up with your bare hands.
Take the paper towel (one sheet) and fold it half. Fold in half a second time. Your paper towel should now have four layers. Place the clay saucer on top of the folded paper towel and with a pen, trace around the bottom of the saucer to create a circle on the paper towel. With scissors, cut the paper towel into a circle just a little bit smaller than the circle you traced. Test the fit of the stack of circles inside the saucer. Trim if necessary.
And that’s it. The combination of clay pot and stack of paper towel circles evens out the heat from the beverage warmer. Your Nail Art canes will get quite warm to the touch, but will not burn. This is also a good way to keep slices warm — just slice the cane and lay the slices onto the paper towel. A warm slice will conform to the nail shape better than a cool one, which means less time spent attaching each slice.
Hey CAT! Permission please to link this on Layl’s Silly Millie pages. She has gotten requests for this very sort of thing.
Thanks,
Bette Westman
Hi Bette,
Sure, I’d be honored. I dropped you an email.
Cat
I’m doubly thankful for your request, Bette. After I’d sent you a note, I went looking on my Artists & Colleagues page to see if I had a link to Layl’s pages. I realized that a) I didn’t have a link to her yet; and b) I had forgotten to put the links widget back in the sidebar when I updated my website last week. So thanks again!
Cat
Hi I saw your article on warming clay canes with the beverage warmer. This may seem like an odd question. How long do you warm the caly canes on the warmer? And where do you slice the clay canes after they are warm?
Thanks, Marisol
Cat, I had the same questions as Marisol. How long do you warm the clay and where would i put the unused portion. Will i have to keep warming the clay each time. Or would i have to slice the entire bar while it’s warmed.
I had the same questions as marisol and tonyua. How long do you warm the clay and where would i put the unused poriton. will i have to keep warming the clay each time or would have to slice the entire bar while its waqrmed. do you have to warm to slice.
Hi Tammy,
I had answered Marisol and Tonyua via email but I had neglected to paste the answer here. So what I’m going to do is to post the answer right now, and also send it to you in email just in case you aren’t subscribed to the comments, okay?
So first of all, we have changed our formula for our canes and this has resulted in no need to warm them before slicing. A huge advantage! You can go right to slicing the cane as long as it has been kept at room temperature (a minimum of 70 degrees farenheit).
However, if you would like to slice them after they have been warmed, that’s okay too. You can use the following methods to warm a cane:
1. Friction method: Roll the cane briskly back and forth between the palms of your hands. Do this for approximately 10 seconds.
2. Mug warmer method: follow the directions in this post, warming the cane for approximately one minute. Be cautious! The cane could be hot to the touch.
3. Hot water method: Use hot tap water in a cup; place the cane in the cup for approximately 3 minutes. Dry thoroughly before slicing.
4. Lightbulb method: Hold the cane close to a light bulb for a minute or so. Be careful; depending on the wattage of the bulb your fingers could get hot.
Any of these methods will work to warm a cane before slicing. But all of them are very inconvenient, which is why we changed our clay formula to allow for our canes to be sliced without being warmed first.
What to do with the unused portion: the clay can be stored anywhere away from direct sunlight. It will last for years and be just fine. Same thing with the slices.
Some people feel more comfortable with slicing the cane while it is warm. It’s just a matter of preference, and you can experiment to see which method works best for you.
Good luck, and you can contact me anytime if you have questions.
Cat