


They don't melt consistently.) Bead materialsįuse beads are made of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), a food-grade plastic. (Do not mix Perler/Hama beads with cheap generic brands found in stores such as Walmart. Perler beads work really well with Hama's Midi beads as they are of the same size and material. The top fuse beads brand is Perler in the United States and Hama in other countries. It can also help young children develop hand-eye coordination skills and learn color names and basic counting. They can also be strung into necklaces, woven into keychains, or even assembled into three-dimensional decors.Ĭrafting Perler beads is a fun and inexpensive art form that inspires creativity.

These colorful beads are usually arranged on plastic pegboards to form patterns and then fused together with a clothes iron. Perler beads (as known as Hama beads or Nabbi beads) are plastic fusible beads. You’ll also find hot glue useful for putting 3d designs together.Beginner's Guide to Perler Beads Table of Contents.A heated skewer melts holes into finished designs so you can add strings or jump rings for necklaces or bag tags.This video is useful for learning various ironing techniques – though the masking tape technique is way too fiddly!.We tried out this cool tool made from a straw to pick up and sort beads into colours.We also found using long handled tweezers with a pointed ends (we found some in our first aid kit) really helpful for picking up and placing the beads.Using a tray or large shallow container to sort your beads is helpful.Try one of these fun perler bead ideas, or simple search ‘perler beads’ + your favourite character, book or movie! Perler bead dream catcher from The Art Kit.įusible Bead Cookie Cutter Christmas Decorations from Picklebums. Perler bead unicorn (and other great designs kids can make) from A Subtle Revelry.įruit perler bead magnets from Frugal Mom Eh!Ĭactus hama bead jewellery from Red Ted Art. Perler bead snowflakes from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls. Pirate perler bead patterns from Brain Power Boy. Perler bead rainbow from Schooling A Monkey.Įasy mermaid perler bead patterns from Cutesy Crafts. Tic tac toe and dimonios from Karen Klarbaeks Verden. Older kids have the patience for bigger more elaborate patterns and will love some of the 3D designs. If you want to design your own perler bead creations these printable templates are really useful, and there is also an ipad app that might help.įor younger kids, start with a smaller, simple pattern until they get the hang of things. Trying to work out the pattern from a finished product can be difficult. If you are searching online, look for ones that have a graphic representation of the beads on the board, or a good, clear, photo of the design before it is ironed. There are endless ideas and patterns for perler beads online. So it’s worth buying brand name beads or just buying a small amount and testing them out first.Ĭheck out this site for a good beginners guide to Perler beads. We’ve found the Ikea ones are great, and good value, but other cheaper generic ones we tried were not as good. Perler is a brand name, you can also find them called Hama beads, and there are also lots of ‘generic’ fusible/melty beads like the big tub we got from Ikea. The are tiny (and I mean tiny) colourful beads that you arrange of a spikey mat into various patterns and designs, then you cover them with baking paper and iron them until they melt a little a fuse together.
#Fuze beads full
And by the fifth day I was hailing it as a full blown miracle.Īll four kids happily creating, sharing, and helping each other! It was awesome! What are these miracle Perler beads? I wasn’t sure what to think when they got them out again the next day, and the next. I counted my blessings after one quiet afternoon of contented patterning and ironing. After years of turning up their nose at perler beads, suddenly my kids were were obsessively searching for new perler bead ideas to try.
