Supplies
- Perler Beads
- Parchment paper
- Cookie Sheet
- Oven preheated to 350 degrees
First, get yourself a package of Perler beads. I purchased mine on Amazon. Actually, I can’t lie – I bought this HUGE container fo them for my niece for her birthday. She left them at my house last time she was over, so I started by taking some of hers. Once I knew the method worked though, I went and bought my own! They have some in stripes, glitter, solids, tons of different options. I tried using the pearl colored beads and it didn’t work very well. If you figure out how to do them let me know! Otherwise, my niece has some new beads to replace the ones I “borrowed”!
If you haven’t already done so, preheat you roven to 350 degrees. Also, if you are used to cooking with a convection oven, do yourself a favor – turn off the fan. These little suckers go *everywhere* with the fan on!
Next, lay down a piece of parchment paper on your cookie sheet. The first time I did this I used the parchment paper on the roll as it is what I had already. After that, I cheated and purchased the box of flat sheets. So much easier to work with when my beads weren’t flipping around due to the curve of the paper I couldn’t get rid of.
Take your Perler beads and line them up on your parchment paper. You only need about a half inch or so between your beads. You are going to place them down on their flat end so that one of the ends with the hole in it is facing up.
Once you have your beads on your paper the way you want them, carefully – slowly – this is not the best time for the dog or 2 year old to go running by you in the kitchen!! – carry your cookie sheet to the oven and slide it in. Let them bake for about 15 – 30 minutes. I have a range of time here because the time needed is dependent on the colors of the beads. Put like colors together. For example, keep he darker browns, grays, blacks, blues on the same tray as they will melt down about the same time. Same goes for the brighter pinks, greens, yellows, etc. If you have the ones with the stripes, melt them down on their own tray as they go at a different speed than the solids. I usually start with about 20 minutes and then go in 5 minute increments until they are completely melted and I can’t see the dip from the hole on top anymore. Trust me, you will know when they are done.
When they are all done melting down, pull them out of the oven and let them cool for about 15 minutes. You should end up with tiny little dots of shiny beautifulness! I found the stripes and solids melted the best into perfect or almost perfect circles. The glitter ones melted into ovals mostly.
Now it’s time to get your cards or scrapbook pages and add your embellishments. Let us know down in the comments how it went! Follow us on social media and share pictures of your final masterpieces!
