Perler Beads

[AnaKhouri]

My son has recently become interested in those Perler bead things. This is great because he has some motor skill delays and these force him to practice the fine motor skills (without feeling like 'practice'). And they're kind of fun.

But what the hell am I supposed to do with these things after they're done? I guess we can string some of them on the Christmas Tree and pawn some off on the grandparents, but will I end up sneaking the rest out of the house in a few years and recycling them?

#kidcraftclutter

[dalesys]

... #kidcraftclutter

In fifteen years or so you'll be sneaking the *kid* out of the house...

[AnaKhouri]

In ten years, the kid will be sneaking out of the house himself...

[Slayer]

Can he put some on display on his walls? He can rotate them as he does more and gets better. He can save them in a box, too, to collect and eventually he'll probably clean it out and chuck the old stuff. When I was a kid, that's what I did.

[KuariKaydrith]

I know people that sell their perler bead creations and make back what they spent on the beads and supplies. They can also make cute gifts for people as decorations, keychains, and jewelry.

[justhere]

Yes, you will probably be slowly throwing them away. My kids love to make these projects - we're Jewish, so we use them as Sukkah decorations, so I think Christmas tree decorations is a good idea.

If you have your own lawn with trees or bushes, you can use some to decorate those as well - year round. Just make sure to leave a hole in the middle of the design about the size of 4 or 5 beads so you have a way to hang them. At one point, my dd had about 15 of them hanging from her ceiling, but she got tired of that look and took them down.

[lilnizzie]

You can also make coasters with them, with a bit of felt or cork glued to the bottom, they become absorbent.

I'll include a few links of nice designs, and as he gets better, they can become more detailed, and they literally become works of art.

http://www.eksuccessbrands.com/perle...s.htm?page=all

http://www.perlerbeads.co.za/household-ideas/

there's just 2 links. As you can see, they can be all sorts of cool things!
I love these things, so can you tell i'm geeking out over them?

[AnaKhouri]

Thanks for the ideas! My husband actually started playing with them too; he's made a Mario so far and Son and I are making a bug King Boo (Son loooove Mario Brothers). I'm thinking we could make a bunch of Mario characters and hang them around his room. Redecorating on the cheap!

[Kogarashi]

He can save them in a box, too, to collect and eventually he'll probably clean it out and chuck the old stuff.

My girls have a cookie tin they keep theirs in.

[Seshat]

The starter ones, yes, you'll be dumping eventually.

But if you search these very forums, you'll find that there are some crafters in our group who do amazing things with these beads. It's quite possible to develop it into a saleable crafting skill.