Guides

How to iron, which paper works, and which size suits what. Short, direct, free.

• How to iron perler beads: heat and time

  Medium heat, no steam, paper in between, small circles — until the beads just fuse at their edges.

• Which paper to iron with

  Baking paper works and is already in your kitchen. Printer paper welds itself on, foil scorches.

• Bead sizes and pegboards: which is for what

  Midi at 5 mm is the standard. Mini at 2.6 mm is for detail, maxi at 10 mm is for small hands.

• Starting out with fuse beads: what to buy

  One square board, a tub of mixed midi beads, baking paper and an iron. Everything else can wait.

• Turning a photo into a bead pattern

  Crop hard, pick a picture with big shapes, and cut the number of colours down before you buy anything.

• Printing a bead pattern at true size

  Turn scaling off. At 100% one printed cell is one 5 mm bead, and the sheet becomes a template.

• What goes wrong with fuse beads, and the fix

  Curling, holes closing up, beads that will not stick, colours that go dull — each has one cause.

• What to make with fuse beads

  Coasters, keyrings, magnets, decorations and boxes — the things that survive being useful.