If you’ve got a kid in your house that loves playing with bead chains and peeling off perler bead sheets, there’s a good chance they’ll soon be asking you to buy them more pegboard and peg bags so they can keep on making necklaces and bracelets. And let’s face it, spending all that time cutting out beads by hand isn’t exactly child-friendly. Luckily, there is an easier way to glue perler beads together without having to purchase specialty adhesives or waste hours of your time meticulously gluing each individual bead on its own. Here we’ll take you through the best method for quickly connecting perler beads along their lengths or side-by-side for creating two-dimensional designs.
Simply Press The Beads Together
You’ll probably start out pressing the beads together with one single bead to get the hang of it. Press the bead between two sheets of paper and see how it feels. You’ll probably discover that it’s a lot easier to press the bead between the sheets of paper than trying to push it evenly onto the perler bead sheet. Next, try pressing two beads at a time. Press the two beads you want to connect together, then press them together as you roll one of the beads between the sheets of paper. You can use a pencil or another cylindrical tool to press them together if you don’t have something suitable to hand. Keep pressing the beads you want to connect until they’re flush together. If they’re not flush, either use something cylindrical to press them together or try pressing them together with one sheet of paper and the other sheet of paper underneath. Try pressing them flush before placing a pin between them and pressing them together again.
Stick A Pin Between Them
Place two beads together and press them flush together. Then, stick a pin between them. You can use a pencil or another cylindrical tool for this. You can also use a toothpick to push the beads together first and then stick the pin in between them. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can try using a needle. They’re perfect for sticking pins through paper so you can use them to sew beads together. When sticking a pin between beads, make sure you’re pressing the beads together and not just sticking the pin into the paper. Press the beads together as you stick the pin and make sure it doesn’t just come out the other side. You’ll probably find it a lot easier to stick pins between two sheets of paper lined up or on top of each other.
Add Some Elmer’s Glue
If pressing the beads together isn’t giving you the results you need, you can try using a bit of glue as a press. It may be a bit of a bumpy ride, but if all else fails it’s a nice last resort solution in a pinch. To glue the beads together, mix up 2 parts Elmer’s glue to one part warm water. You can use either a pencil or something cylindrical to mix the glue. When gluing the beads together, make sure they’re pressed together, not just stuck inside the glue. When you’re satisfied with the bead designs, you can use a hot plate or burner to heat the glue and make the beads stick together. However, it’s worth noting that this will make the beads extremely hot, so make sure they’re out of harm’s way and that you’re not trying to glue together non-perler beading materials.
Wrap Them In Tissue Paper
After pressing the beads together, it’s time to wrap the beads in tissue paper. This is where the perler chain method comes into play. Press the beads you want to wrap together between two sheets of paper. Then, wrap the paper around the beads. The tighter you wrap the paper around the beads, the better the glue will stick them together. You can use a pencil or something cylindrical for this. You can wrap the paper around the beads as tightly as you like and you can even bunch up the tissue paper into a ball if you want to make it look like a little ball of perler beads. Make sure you press the paper together as you wrap it around the beads so they stay flush together. Tuck the tissue paper in between the beads so it’s completely covered and not just sticking out of the bead.
Add A Final Coat Of Adhesive
If you haven’t glued the beads together yet, now’s the time. It’s not the most child-friendly method in the world, but it works surprisingly well and if you use the right glue (and be careful not to burn yourself) there’s little chance of the beads coming apart. There are a few adhesives you can try out. Polyurethane is the most common, but it’s not as strong as elmers and takes a while to dry. So, we don’t recommend this as a glue to use. You can try out thin CA glue. It’s hot-melt glue that dries very quickly and is stronger than CA glue. It’s perfect for creating two-dimensional perlers that have a strong hold. However, it’s not strong enough to create three-dimensional perlers.
Snip Apart For Shorter Designs
If you’re happy with how long the beads hang together, you can snip them apart with a pair of scissors. When you snip them, make sure you don’t cut the chain that’s holding them together. You can snip them close to the bead, or snip them apart from the next bead all the way to the end. It’s a matter of preference. If you snip them all the way from the next bead, you can use the scissors to snip the chain that holds them together as you snip them apart. Keep in mind that the less you snip apart, the longer they’ll last. If you have a bunch of perlers made from longer beads hanging around, you can always snip them down to a shorter length.
Connect Side-By-Side For Three-Dimensional Perlers
If you’re happy with the designs you’ve created and you don’t feel like they’ll last long enough to bother snipping, you can connect the beads together side-by-side. This is a great method for creating longer-lasting perlers. Place two beads side-by-side and press them flush together. Then, stick a pin between them. You can use a pencil or another cylindrical tool for this. This will make a great two-dimensional design, and if you keep going and sticking pins between the beads and next to each other, you can make a three-dimensional perler. This method will make a stronger, stronger hold perler, and will make them last longer. However, it’s a more time-consuming method.
Conclusion
Your pegboard and peg bags are still great for crafting whatever you want, but using glue will make your perlers a lot stronger and last much longer than relying on cutting or pressing perlers together by hand. There are two different methods for connecting perlers, and both of them will create strong, long-lasting results. Keep in mind that you can also connect beads side-by-side, but it’s a more time-consuming process that will make for a stronger perler, but it won’t last as long.
