Perler Bead Christmas Tree Ornament

My kids absolutely love Perler Beads, and my 8 year old came up with this project on her own.  This is a cute project for kids to make for their own ornaments or to make for friends and family.

Supplies needed:

~ Perler Beads
~ Perler bead board
~ wax paper for ironing, and an iron
~ ironing board or heat-safe item (sometimes I use a thick workbook)
~ decorative accents: buttons, sequins, etc.
~ hot glue
~ ornament hook

The way my daughter made her ornament was to make the green tree and the brown trunk separately.  I didn’t take a picture until after we completed the whole ornament, so I laid the ornament on the board she used to give you an idea how how to place the beads (see photo below).

The trunk: 4 beads tall x 5 beads wide

The tree: each side of the triangle is about 13 beads long, leaving out a spot to put an ornament hook

You have to iron the pieces separately, as they are oriented differently directions.  So once the beads are in place for your first piece, place your wax paper on top and iron carefully, then work on the next piece (or make them at the same time if you have multiple boards).

I tried to remove the parts as soon as the beads melted together so that I could melt the trunk to the tree.  I placed the two parts together between wax paper, on top of a workbook, and melted them carefully until they seemed to stick well.

You can decorate your Christmas tree with whatever you like.  Alternately, you could simply use different color Perler beads in the actual pattern as the ornaments.  We glued on buttons and a star sequin as a tree topper, but you could use anything from sequins to pom poms, beads and more.

If you forgot to leave a spot for an ornament hook, I am sure you can drill a hole fairly easily.

Have fun with your project!

Also check out our Pom Pom Pinecone Ornament craft.