Looking for a great craft to do with the kids? Hama bead are a fab choice and this a is for apple perler bead pattern is a great place to start with! A cute a easy chart to follow, make if for back to school crafts, a gift for teacher or the start of a whole perler bead alphabet!
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Download the free printable pdf for this a is for apple perler bead pattern at the bottom of this post.
What are perler beads?
Perler beads, otherwise known as Hama beads, fuse or melty beads, are small tube like beads of plastic that you place on a grid to create a design and then fuse together with an iron to create a solid plastic shape.
Where can I purchase Perler beads?
You can buy branded Perler beads from Amazon and craft stores. They come in a range of colours and are normally sorted in trays.
Hama beads are normally a bit cheaper, but often come in buckets, which means you have to search through for your colours. If your not bothered by branding, then you can often find own brand melty beads at much lower prices.
How to store Perler beads
I would recommend buying the sets that already come in per sorted colours often in a tray. Otherwise you can store them in a large tub and have a tray to tip them out onto when you're searching for the colours you want.
Top tips for working with perler beads
- Pre sorted saves you a lot of time
- A big tray is handy so you don't lose any in the carpet
- Buy a kit that comes with pegboards included as a starting point
- Check the melting heat for different brands
- Protect you iron when melting them
Where can I find other great patterns?
Stop by my Free Perler bead pattern library
How to melt perler beads
You will need to sheets of ironing paper, you can buy perler paper. But I find parchment paper works just fine. You cover the design with the paper and use your iron to melt the beads.
Once you have melted the top, you need to turn the design over, remove the pegboard and cover with paper. Creating a sandwich and melt the reverse side.
I have heard of people melting their perler beads with a heat press or straighteners, but I have not tried either so cannot recommend.
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