The first time I heard about Perler beads, I was confused and vexed. I couldn't see the point, and I wrote them off as a basic low-skill kid's craft. But recently I have been seeing a lot of amazing geek crafts made with Perler beads, and I have seen the light.
Basically, Perler beads (a.k.a. "fusion beads" for reasons that will soon become apparent) are large plastic beads that come in about a million billion colors. You take a special sheet of flat peg board and put the beads on the pegs in a pattern. Then you run an iron over the whole thing, which melts and fuses the beads together. This results in a flat sheet that you pop off and admire.
So far so "bleh." It sounds like a Lite Brite or something, right? That's what I thought, too. But I have two words for you:
Pixel.
Art.
Perler beads are perfect for making pixel art, whether you are making small adorable pixelated versions of pop culture icons, or recreating items of classic 8-bit arcade nostalgia. And the wide variety of colors means that you can recreate your fandom fave with exacting precision. There is so much amazing Perler bead art made by adults that it's hard to choose just a few.
In fact, anything you can do with pixels, you can do with Perler beads. You could create a blown-up reproduction of the Mona Lisa in Perler beads, if you so desired. I have also discovered that some people are using Perler beads for street art. My guess is that they are using adhesive-backed magnets to stick these items to street signs, or possibly just strips of double-sided tape.
Perler beads are definitely aimed at kids. But a lot of adults have done amazing things with them, too. You can only make flat planes with Perler beads, which some might find limiting. Others take it as a challenge. For example, crafter Jean L. has made amazing architectural replicas with Perler beads, including the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben.
Image courtesy Flickr/RedHerring1Up
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