Fun with Beads

I don’t know how long Perler beads have been around, but I’d never heard of them until I read this Attic24 blog post a few weeks ago. – If you’re like me, and know nothing about Perler/Hama beads, you may find this beginner’s guide helpful. – Highly intrigued, I clicked from Lucy’s post over to her ‘Hama Bead Dreams’ pinterest board, where I saw Snowflakes! A subsequent Google search gave me ideas of many other things to make with Perler beads, and more snowflake designs.

A few days later I went to JoAnns – with 50% off coupons, of course – hoping to find a Perler snowflake kit, like the ones I’d seen on-line. – Recommended for children Ages 5 and up. Good to know that, at 58, DH and I will be safe while playing with these beads. – No luck with finding a snowflake kit, so I got a Spring Flower one, instead,

the best way to get my hands on a 3″ hexagon pegboard. ($1.50 w/coupon)

Since I planned to make only snowflakes, that, and a couple of bags of white beads were all I needed. Plus an iron, which we do own, although we use it far more often for craft projects than for ironing clothes.

First I loosely copied a few of the large flake designs I had found on-line,

but soon took off on my own, making smaller ones.

I played with my beads, off and on, over a few days. – In case you’re wondering, I didn’t notice any smell of melted plastic. –

It was fun to develop series of snowflakes, similar in design, but of several sizes.

DH got in the act too. Although the thought of placing these teeny beads on tiny pegs made his hands twitch, he did enjoy playing the role of bead placement director. . . “No, no, not there, there!” lol.

Eventually, I used up every white bead, the two bags of 1,000 each and the few that were in the Spring Flower kit. – I take that back; later I found 3 lonesome beads on the kitchen floor. –

In all, I made about forty snowflakes, from one to three inches. – Some of them resemble paper quilled snowflakes, I think –

They may be made of cheap plastic beads, ($1.50 per 1000 w/coupon) but I love my Perler snowflakes!

DH is off to the woods to cut just the right branch for me to hang them all on.