If your old jewelry magazines are overflowing the shelf they’re allotted, before you toss them, take one last quick look through them. You might remember the reason you kept them in the first place. Or you might find a reason to keep them for a bit longer.

This morning I made just such a trip through my old MJSA Journals–always a source of good technical information. And in the January 2013 issue, I came across a great tip for anyone making, than tumbling, metal beads in Shawna Kulpa’s “The Last Idea” column.

While tumbling shot is great for finishing the surface of the beads, it can tend to wedge itself almost irretrievably into the bead holes. So what then?

Kulpa reported that jewelry maker Linda Gasparini had found the answer to that question on the Ganoksin Orchid e-mail forum.

Put the beads, one at a time, into a plastic box and shake them like a James Bond martini. (Gasparini put all the beads back into her tumbler, sans shot, and it worked like a charm. The one final stubborn piece of shot came out with a magnet.

But to prevent the same thing happening in the future, her friends at Ganoksin suggested she fill the holes of the beads before tumbling–a pipe cleaner works very well. Just twist the ends to keep it in place.

Time to check those old magazines?