Decorating your Christmas tree doesn’t have to be expensive… In this blog I will explain how you can create unique (and kind of nerdy) ornaments yourself at home. It can also be a great way to spend time with your kids this holiday season. In fact, I started making these types of ornaments when I was little myself!
Do you remember those little beads from when you were a kid that you could place on a pegboard and melt together by ironing them? Those are Perler beads… or at least that is the brand that is usually sold at craft stores and at Walmart these days. Back in the day, you may have heard them called Hamma beads, which was the name of another company that used to make them.
All you need are beads, ironing paper, peg boards (the interlocking ones are the best because you can link together to make larger designs). Some people choose to make up their own designs by simply placing beads on the board until they come up with something they like. Others, like myself, like to recreate classic video game sprite art. It’s quite easy to make Mario and Luigi when you have a png image to follow. You can zoom in on your screen or enlarge and print on paper to use as a roadmap for your design. You can find tons of video game character sprites on this website, or by just googling (character name)+sprite PNG… etc.
As far as the beads and peg boards, you can buy them at Walmart in big buckets, but it can be frustrating when you need to search for a particular color in a mix of random colors. I prefer the ones that come separated by color, they have them at craft stores locally and on Amazon. When purchasing beads, beware of mixing brands. For example, Elmer’s (like the glue) makes iron beads that look identical to Perler, are made of slightly different plastic with a slightly different melting point, and often won’t fuse to each other properly.
Legend of Zelda, Pac-Man, Little Nemo, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Galaga, Kirby, and other Nintendo and Atari favorites can be the highlight of your DIY tree too! Happy crafting <3
