I have been making Perler bead designs
for nine years now. I've made well over 1,000 designs ranging from
two inches tall to close to three feet tall based on movies, obscure
cartoons, and even friends. I have looked at “tips and tricks”
that people have written to see if there was something that I could
do to make my stuff better or if there was something I never thought
of that I could implement into my own designs. Turns out the answer
is no. Most are just click bait and offer no useful information for
someone currently making their own projects.
In most cases you'll read the same
advice just said in different ways. I have written a post before
giving some advice for people making designs but now think I could be
far more helpful with the advice I can share with folks because I
actually do this. I'll attempt to break this down into categories
like ironing, designs, colors, and making your designs look clean.
Most of this will be things that I wish I had known when I was
starting and I have made almost every mistake I'm writing about.
Peg Board & Parchment Paper
When I started I was using the small
boards and connecting them when I needed to. I started to realize
that designs where getting bigger so I got the large peg board which
is what I use primarily unless I'm making something round. In the
nine years I've made things I have only used three large boards. The
first one I dropped, cracked, and super warped. The second one I
damaged some pegs being careless. The one I currently use I've had
for about four years.
I know that people use multiple small
boards connected which is awesome if you have the space to do that. I
make every single design on my bed. I lay here (in my bed right now)
looking at the image on my laptop and using one big board. I don't
want people to see a design they want to recreate while being new and
go out buying things they don't need. As for the paper I use I
culinary/chef paper. It is cheap and one roll will last years. Yes,
you can make multiple projects with the same sheet. Don't be
wasteful. That is one of the reasons why I don't do the tape method.
Ironing
This is by far the hardest part of
making a design for me. No matter how great a project you make as
soon as that iron hits the paper (or tape if you're one of those
people) there is almost no turning back. Yes, I said almost because
there have been times when I realized that a bead was sideways, the
wrong color, or straight up missing and stopped ironing and let it
cool enough to make a change. When someone posts an image of a design
proclaiming “Look at this great design I finished!” and it isn't
ironed yet I roll my eyes. You started something. It ain't finished.
When you are ironing there is no need
to set the iron to its highest setting. Will it make the beads melt
faster? Yes. But this isn't a race. After making sure your beads are
where you need them to be just tap the board slightly to get
everything settled. I like to tap near the top at a slight angle
before I lay it on the table. I start ironing at a spot that is
either vulnerable to moving (such as a thin or pointy spot) and move
from there. Never start in the center because the chances of the
beads everywhere else moving increases. From there move slowly and
try not to lift the iron up too many times checking. Each lift is a
chance you could slam and knock beads loose.
No matter what size the project I place
a book on top of it. A big, heavy one. It keeps the design and my
board from warping due to the heat. You can be impatient and want to
take of off before it cools enough just to take a photo to show
everyone and then wonder why it is all wobbly a few minutes later.
Let it cool off. If it is a very large project such as my Hulk, ROM Spaceknight, Brock Samson, or Owl Man I made sure to let them cool
100% because they were done in multiple pieces and it is zero fun
attaching pieces together where one lifts higher than the other.
Smooth Or Nah?
Some people like to post images with
the side the iron touched showing. If that is the case there is no
need to follow the next thing I am gonna mention. Flip the image! I
have made a few designs only to realize after I had already started
that I forgot to reverse the image I was working on. I prefer the
side showing the texture of the beads. Aesthetically it looks better
to me. This isn't a knock, its a personal preference.
If you are making designs that show the
un-textured side you need to make sure to seal all of the holes
otherwise it looks cheap. Also, making them this way makes the edges
look wobbly because making sure the holes are sealed means using heat
for longer which flattens things out. You can clip the sides. I've
done it in the past when accidentally mixing beads from different
companies. Never do that. I like the textured side. It just looks
cooler to me especially if it is on a canvas.
Tools
Besides the obvious things like a board
and beads you're going to need an iron, chefs paper, and tweezers.
You don't need to buy special Perler tweezers. Regular ass tweezers
work perfectly well. You don't need special Perler paper. Just grab
some from the grocery store. You don't need a special iron. The one I
use was from the thrift store for a couple bucks. This is a hobby
that can easily become expensive so saving where you can is a good
idea. Speaking of saving money, where can you get the cheapest beads?
I used to go to Joann's for beads.
Yeah, they had them at Michael's but there aren't any near me and the
selection stinks. Joann's had good ones until acrylic pouring (yeah,
I got into that too) became more popular so their selection of beads
got bad. I would order from Amazon but would buy things I didn't need
just to justify the price of shipping. One day a few months back I
realized I'd never checked out the actual Perler site (click here to
check that out). So far this the cheapest place to get beads for me.
They have a great selection of those weird ass colors that you'd
never think to buy but make designs look better. It is less than
three dollars a bag once you start adding more and more. The shipping
price sucks and you can't speed it up but it is still cheaper than
the other places I mentioned.
Credit
 |
| My two most uncredited designs. |
When you are done with your design if
you were inspired by someone to make something or straight up copied
them give credit. I just got on Instagram and post my stuff and on
this site I give links to the creators if they are available. If they
aren't I'll say so. I have had people thank me for the things I have
made and a few have had questions. Making something someone else has
is fine especially when you're starting. I was so happy to finally
get on Instagram and have people link me to designs I have made that
they did. I still get salty whenever I see a Falkor that I've made on
a site for sale or people saying how hard it was to make and basking
in praise from others. If you Google Falkor there used to be two
images people would recycle until mine came around. Worse than not
giving credit is what some people do on Etsy and eBay where they
steal images from my site and others and post it as if they made it
and are selling it. Just give credit, have fun, take clear pictures, and don't rush. I am open to answer any question.
Frequently asked questions.
“How much do you sale your stuff
for?”
I don't. I am not joking when I say
things end up under my bed.
“Why don't you sale your stuff
online? You could make some much money!”
Because I lack initiative and don't
care. I just like making things.
“Where do you get ideas from?”
Old videos games. Old cartoons.
Sometimes a random thought will pop into my head and I'll see if
anyone else has made it and if they haven't (or have but made it
wack) I'll give it a shot. Inspiration ain't hard. Initiative is.
“How did you get into making beads?”
I enjoy ironing clothes. My best friend
said there was a craft thing that involved ironing. It was that easy.
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