by Debbie Chapman
Jump to Instructions
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These back to school Perler beads are SO CUTE! Use melty beads to make a backpack, notebook, apple, and more. They’re really fun and easy to make!
It’s never easy to admit that summer is over, but these adorable back to school Perler bead designs will help kick off the school year! We have 10 patterns for you to choose from. Or you can have fun creating your own pixel art using our helpful tips and tricks.
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How to Make Back to School Perler Beads
Create back to school Perler bead patterns using our free printable templates and melty beads! Then turn them into magnets, keychains, or fun decor. Read past the tutorial for even more ways to use them!
Author: Debbie Chapman
Materials:
- FREE Back to School Perler Beads Template (2nd pattern is below the tutorial)
- Perler beads
- Perler beads pegboard (small square)
Equipment:
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Looking for more Perler bead patterns? Here's a few of our favourites:
Cat Perler Beads
Perler Bead Fruit
Halloween Perler Beads
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Make your Perler bead design on the pegboard
Print our free back to school Perler bead patterns, or follow along with the template on your device's screen.
Find the link to one of the patterns in the materials list above. The other can be found below this tutorial.
To make these school themed Perler bead designs you'll need a small square pegboard.
We also find it helpful to sort the Perler bead colours we need and divide them into small bowls.
For this design we found it easiest to start placing the Perler beads from the top, but you can start wherever you'd like.
Optional: Use tweezers to place the Perler beads onto the board. It makes it easier to place the beads on specific pegs, especially for larger fingers.
Continue working your way down the pattern. Pay attention to the colour changes.
Add the last few Perler beads, ending with the lead tip of the pencil.
Repeat, making a second pencil design on the board if you'd like.
Step 3: Iron your Perler beads
Set the pegboard on an ironing board or a wooden cutting board. Place a piece of parchment paper over top of the Perler bead design.
Heat your iron to medium temperature, no steam. Place the iron on the parchment paper and move it around in circular motions for at least 15 to 20 seconds.
Check the beads to see if they're melted together. Continue to iron for another 10 to 20 seconds, if necessary.
The beads are melted correctly when the parchment paper sticks to the beads and needs to be peeled away from them.
Remove your back to school Perler bead designs from the pegboard once they're cool to the touch.
Your pencil Perler beads design is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- If you have a clear Perler bead pegboard you can slide the printed pattern underneath, making it really easy to follow along with these back to school Perler bead patterns!
- Use the colours as we did for our school supplies, or experiment with different colours and designs to make this craft your own!
Get our free printable back to school Perler bead patterns:
The links or pictures below will take you to our free, printable back to school Perler bead templates! The PDF files will open in a new window.
Then simply follow along with the pattern on your device’s screen, or print the patterns in colour on 8.5 x 11 (letter size) printer paper.
>>> Back to School Perler Beads Patterns #1 <<<
>>> Back to School Perler Beads Patterns #2 <<<
What are Perler beads?
Perler beads are cylindrical plastic beads that are used to make crafts. You may also see Perler beads called “melty beads” or “fuse beads”, because they’re meant to be melted together!
Make a cool design (like these back to school supplies!) with the beads on a plastic pegboard. Then place parchment paper on top of the design and iron the beads together. The heat from the iron will fuse the beads together into one piece, just like magic!
What other back to school Perler bead patterns can I make?
We created 10 different school themed Perler bead templates for you. Follow our free patterns to make:
- Apple
- Pencils
- Thumbtacks
- Ruler
- Calculator
- Backpack
- Notebook
- Paintbrush
- Paint palette
- Triangle ruler
Or have fun making your own back to school pixel art. Try making:
- Beaker or test tube
- Globe
- Combination lock
- Scissors
- School bus
- Soccer ball
- Football
- Basketball
- Eraser
- Microscope
- Grad cap
- Alarm clock
- School bell
- Math symbols (like multiply, divide, etc)
What can I do with these back to school Perler beads?
These school themed Perler bead creations are super cute on their own, but you can also transform them into a functional craft! Here are some fun and easy ideas:
- Make an adorable fridge or locker decoration by gluing a magnet onto the back
- Attach twine or a ribbon and hang the ironed designs as a window decoration or suncatcher
- Attach a jump ring through an outside bead to make your own keychain
- Turn the pushpin Perler bead pattern into a useable pin for your bulletin board by gluing a thumb tack onto the back
- Use them for pretend play for younger kids to act out a school scene
Celebrate your favourite school subjects with these back to school Perler bead designs. Perler beads are a really great low cost, low mess craft, and they’re a lot of fun to experiment with!
Here’s even more fun Perler bead ideas:
Football Perler Beads
Perler Bead Flower
Mushroom Perler Beads
Our bookLow-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon |Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
More from One Little Project
About Debbie Chapman, the Author of this Post
I'm Debbie Chapman, founder of One Little Project and author of the book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids. I love creating fun and easy crafts and cooking up delicious recipes for my husband and 3 kids.
More by Debbie Chapman
Filed Under: Craft Templates, Just for Kids, Kids Crafts and Activities, PrintablesTagged With: apples, Perler beads
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