How to Make a Pokeball Perler Bead Necklace

Hey guys! Today I want to show you how to do a project that is great for any nerdy crafters. I’m going to show you how to use perler beads to make an 8-bit necklace! This translates really well into most video games and cartoon characters because they convert so nicely into 8-bit, if they aren’t already.
For this project, I’m going to be making a Pokeball necklace, but these simple steps will give you what you need to do any perler beading and there are a TON of patterns online if you don’t think you can come up with your own.



You can get perler bead kits for super cheap in most craft stores or walmart/target and this is a GREAT project for kids too, just be sure to supervise with small beads and hot irons.

 

When I work with a square or other angular perler pegboard, I usually do the outline first, but for a cicrular project I find starting in the middle works best. So, for this project I’ll be starting with the white center of the Pokeball. Then, I’ll work out and around. A couple of tips to keep in mind here:
     1. I found that using a pair of long tweezers works best for this. They aren’t required, but they help.
     2. Be SO careful not to bump or jostle your beads while you’re working. They move a lot, and trust me,            it sucks to have to start over when you’re almost finished.
     3. Take you time. It’ll be worth it in the end.

 

Your kit probably came with some parchment paper, and this is where that comes in. If you don’t have any, regular kitchen parchment works! Cover the design while it’s still on the pegboard and iron over it in circular motions.

My instructions said 10-15 seconds but that was definitely not long enough for me. Just keep an eye on it and when you can’t really see the holes in the beads any more, you’re good. Again, be careful because hot irons are hot. Then, peel off the paper, flip it over, put the paper back on and iron the other side.

If you want to stop here, you can & then add a magnet or whatever else you want to glue on, or just keep it as a decorative piece. However, if you want to make it a necklace or a keychain, let’s keep going.

Using needle nose pliers, poke through the fused plastic. Pick a spot where there was a bead hole so it’s easier to get through. It might take some force, but I promise it’ll work. For a keychain you could just make one hole, and for a necklace you could make one or two, depending on how you want it to hang.

 

Then, open up your jump rings, put them through the holes you made and close them back up. You can use chain if you want, or you can take the route I did, which was to just run some ribbon through the two rings.

 

And that’s pretty much it! A super cute and nerdy 8-bit Pokeball Necklace. If you want to see a video of how I did this, you can check it out right here, and if you do make this, I’d love to see it! Show me at @techni_moments on twitter or instagram.

Stay crafty!
Jenn

PS: I also made this 8-bit hairbow for the 365Nerds channel, so if you wanna see something on a square pegboard you can check that out right here.