How to Make a Taba Squishy with Beads
Transform colorful craft beads into an ultra-soft, jiggly Taba squishy by suspending them in ultra-low Shore platinum silicone within a smooth silicone mold.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Digital precision gram scale
- ✓ Silicone mixing cups
- ✓ Acrylic stirring sticks
- ✓ Fine-tip tweezers
- ✓ Soft makeup powder brush
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ Ultra-soft Taba platinum silicone (Shore 00-10 or 0-5 Shore A, Parts A and B)
- ✓ Assorted solid acrylic craft beads
- ✓ Silicone squishy mold (paw or dessert shape)
- ✓ Silicone oil pigment (optional)
- ✓ Cosmetic flocking powder or fine cornstarch
- ✓ Clear self-adhesive OPP display bag
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Wear nitrile gloves throughout the entire process; never use latex gloves as sulfur in latex inhibits platinum silicone curing.
- • Operate in a well-ventilated area away from heat sources and food preparation surfaces.
- • Ensure all beads are completely clean, dry, and free of oils or moisture that can ruin silicone polymerization.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (6 Steps)
Clean and Arrange Base Beads in Mold
Wipe the interior of your silicone mold with isopropyl alcohol to remove dust and let it dry completely. Using fine-tip tweezers, place a decorative layer of acrylic beads into the bottom crevices of the mold where you want them visible on the front face. Keep the beads spaced slightly apart so the liquid silicone can flow between and encase them completely.
- • Mold cavities are free of lint and dust.
- • Beads rest flat along the mold bottom without overlapping awkwardly.
- • Using moist or damp beads which causes bubbling and prevents cure.
- • Overcrowding the mold bottom so silicone cannot bridge between beads.
Measure Taba Silicone by Weight
Place a clean silicone cup onto your digital gram scale and tare it to zero. Carefully pour equal weights of Part A and Part B silicone into the cup according to the manufacturer's designated ratio (typically 1:1 by weight). Precise measurement is critical for ultra-soft Taba silicone to ensure it cures without leaving an uncured sticky residue.
- • Scale shows identical weights for Part A and Part B.
- • Liquid sits clear or translucent in the mixing container.
- • Measuring by volume instead of weight with viscous platinum silicones.
- • Accidentally contaminating the Part A bottle nozzle with Part B.
Blend Silicone and Add Translucent Tint
Stir the silicone mixture slowly with an acrylic stir stick for a full 3 minutes, scraping down the bottom and sidewalls continuously. If desired, add half a drop of translucent silicone pigment so the embedded beads will still remain visible through the squishy body. Stir at a steady, gentle pace to blend the components without whipping excess air bubbles into the liquid.
- • Mixture displays uniform clarity without cloudy streaks or color swirls.
- • Minimal air bubbles present on the surface after a 2-minute resting degas.
- • Stirring too rapidly, which traps thousands of microbubbles in the silicone.
- • Using standard water-based or alcohol inks that ruin platinum cure chemistry.
Pour Silicone and Suspend Internal Beads
Pour a thin stream of mixed silicone into the lowest point of the mold, allowing it to naturally rise around the base beads. Once half-full, use tweezers to drop in mid-layer beads, then pour the remaining silicone until level with the top rim. Tap the mold gently against your work surface three to four times to release trapped air pockets around bead facets.
- • Silicone completely covers all beads and reaches flush with mold rim.
- • Air bubbles rise to the surface and pop.
- • Pouring too fast, creating air pockets beneath concave bead surfaces.
- • Overfilling past the rim, leading to excessive flash edges.
Cure in a Dust-Free Enclosure
Cover the filled mold with an inverted clean plastic container to shield the tacky surface from ambient dust and pet hair. Allow the silicone to rest undisturbed at room temperature (around 22–25°C / 72–77°F) for 3 to 4 hours. Ensure the resting surface is completely level so the cured squishy maintains a flat, stable back.
- • Back surface feels firm, ultra-elastic, and no longer transfers liquid to a gloved touch.
- • Silicone surface is smooth and dust-free.
- • Moving or tilting the mold while liquid, causing beads to drift to one side.
- • Demolding too early while the core is still gel-like.
Demold, Powder, and Bag the Taba Squishy
Gently peel the silicone mold edges away from the squishy and roll the piece out carefully to avoid tearing the super-soft gel. Immediately dust the squishy lightly with flocking powder or fine cornstarch using a soft makeup brush to neutralize excess stickiness, or slide it directly into a clear OPP bag for the classic glossy Taba squishy experience.
- • Squishy releases cleanly with beads suspended visibly inside.
- • Surface has either a velvet matte texture from flocking or sits sealed inside the OPP bag.
- • Yanking the squishy rapidly from the mold, which can tear ultra-soft Shore 0-5 silicone.
- • Handling the unpowdered squishy with dusty bare hands.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Chillin' with Rachel 💛 — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Flocking powder? Fine cornstarch or baby powder
- No Acrylic stir stick? Smooth plastic utensil or metal spoon handle (avoid wooden sticks which introduce moisture/bubbles)
- No OPP display bag? Ziploc sandwich bag or clear plastic wrap