Amy Johnson

Perler Bead Earrings Tutorial.

April 4, 2013 By Amy Johnson 3 Comments

Last month’s perler bead project was such a hit, that I thought I’d keep the theme going with some perler bead earrings. I don’t wear earrings very often, but I’m super-excited to wear these!

Other than your perler beads, pegboard, iron, and parchment paper, you’ll need to get some jewelry pliers and your earring hooks of choice.

I picked out some silver plated fish hooks and 4- and 6mm jump rings to put my earrings together.

The how-to is pretty simple. Layout your beads on your pegboard…

Iron them down (place the parchment paper between the beads and the iron).

Then use your pliers (and a steady hand) to attach your jump rings and hook. Isn’t that pretty?

I’ve already made some in a few different colors. I’ll be attending the SNAP! conference in Utah later this month–if you’re there just look for the girl with the perler earrings–I’d love to meet you!

Now what should I make with my perler beads next?

Filed Under: crafts Tagged With: beads, crafts, earrings, jewelry, perler bead crafts, perler beads

Perler Bead Bangles

March 7, 2013 By Amy Johnson 8 Comments

I’m sure many of you remember playing with perler beads as a kid (at least I know I do). I’ve fallen in love with them again after seeing so many awesome ideas floating around online lately. So I got inspired and picked up some supplies to make these fun perler bead bangles–I even made a Vine video at the craft store.

To make your own bangles you’ll need some beads, a circular pegboard, parchment paper, an iron, and a bangle for sizing.

Pick out your colors and set them in something so they won’t roll all over the place.

Use your original bracelet as a guide for the perler beads, placing your beads outside to make sure it’ll fit.

Set your iron to medium and no steam, then place the parchment paper and iron over the beads until you can see them melting together.

I made a hexagonal bangle too, just to see how it would turn out.

Flip the beads over onto the flat side of your pegboard and iron again to make your bangle stronger.

And there you have it–perler bead bangles! You could make just about any shape you want, and having shaped pegboards on hand makes it easy.

My four-year-old loved modeling the bracelets for me. These make a great accesory for big and little girls alike, and they’d be a perfect DIY gift.

What color would you make your bangles?

Fallen in love with any other perler bead crafts?

I’d love to see what you’re making!

Filed Under: crafts Tagged With: bangles, bracelets, color, DIY, perler bead crafts

Geometric Rose.

February 7, 2013 By Amy Johnson Leave a Comment

Hello again! This is Amy Johnson from Maker Mama, and I’m thrilled to be sharing another fun project here at The Southern Institute today! I love a good upcycled craft supply challenge (I’m a recyclables hoarder), so when I was playing with the supplies for today’s project I was thrilled to discover this geometric rose in my hands. My muse for this project?…

…Cardboard frame corners. I’m like a moth to a flame when it comes to oddly shaped recyclables, and I knew I’d eventually find something to make with these (and it’s really fun stacking them, you should try it). You’ll need eight frame corners for your rose, and a little red paint to pretty it up.

The basic idea is to undo the tabs of each corner piece so you can reconnect them.

The rose is made up of three layers. The bottom layer has four pieces (bottom left), the middle has three (bottom right), and then you use a single corner piece for the top. To connect the bottom and middle layers, insert each tab into its neighboring piece until they’re all connected.

All you have to do is insert each layer inside the previous one, and you have yourself a rose!

If you want to paint your roses read (tee-hee), then I recommend laying each piece flat and adding your color first. I used a red base, and then added some sparkly paint on top. I also liked the way it looked without painting the inner layer of the rose. Feel free to paint yours any color you want. And for some staying power, I also recommend gluing the layers together.

This would make a sweet and artsy Valentine’s Day gift, and a dozen of these costs less and lasts longer than the real thing (although they won’t smell as good).

I hope you enjoyed my little geometric rose craft, and would love to have you over to check out more of my tutorials at Maker Mama. Hope you all have a lovely Valentine’s Day and see you again next month!