PERLER BEADS ......

I am so late to the party with these lovelies, that it's ridiculous. Yes, my kids had them when they were younger, and yes, I may have ironed the odd beaded creation here and there, but I never paid them much attention ..... that was until a couple of weeks ago.

I'm not sure how they made an appearance on my Pinterest feed, but they did, and I'm mighty glad about that.

I was totally amazed at the wonderful things one could make with these little plastic beads, and just how many people there are out there, who make a living on Etsy, selling those wonderful creations.
The timing of this discovery was perfect - I'm taking part in a year long craft along hosted by my friend Val (click on the badge on my sidebar for info ..... it's not too late to join in on the fun !!!). March's crafty challenge was to "Seussify" something, in honor of Dr Seuss's birthday. One particular Perler item had caught my eye ...... Coasters !!! I've been meaning to make a couple for my "office" for forever, but have just never quite got there ... well now I have, and it's another thing crossed off my (ever growing) To Do List..... with the added bonus, that they're super cute, super colourful, and just make me smile !!!

I found some charts on the net and Pinterest, that I could adapt or use as was ..... and here are the results. Grinch, Lorax and Sneetch !!!! Mr Grinch is my favorite :-)
In my research, a number of crafty people, suggested backing the coaster with cork, once you'd ironed the beads and melted them - Great idea - it makes them non slip, and it helps absorb any liquid, should that be necessary.

When I shared them on the swap blog, one of my good friends and fellow zombie doll maker, suggested that a zombie coaster would be quite fantastic ....... Sooooo

I made these two ugly, adorables, and popped them into the parcels with the dolls from yesterday's post :-)

Brittany and I sat for hours (and I mean HOURS!!!) over the 31/2 snow days we had, creating. She made some gorgeous round coasters with designs she made up ..... I'll share those with you in another post. Those buckets of beads should come with a warning that reads "Addictive". I can see so many possibilities  ..... scrapbook embellishments, card embellishments, mobiles, tree decorations, boxes,magnets ......etc.

Time for you to go and dig in your kiddos toy cupboard and see if you can unearth a tub (bet you can) of these little beads ..... pull them out, have a little play around, and you'll understand exactly what I mean :-)