Hi Campers! I’m Heidi from Mom’s Crafty Space, and I’m delighted to be back at Design Dazzle to participate in the Summer Camp series for the second year! Last Summer my three boys and I shared our tutorial for making rock candy, showed off our artistic side with sidewalk chalk paint, and had a blast making marshmallow shooters. This year we’re taking our creativity a step further and thinking outside the box by creating these brightly colored perler bead bowls (also called hama beads).
These bright and cheery bowls are perfect for storing all of your small trinkets and treasures (my guys like to put Legos and special rocks in theirs), and they make a special gift for friends and grandparents.
All you need is an oven-safe bowl, perler beads, cooking spray and an oven that has been pre-heated to 375 degrees.
Lightly spray the inside of your bowl with cooking spray, and pour in a handful of perler beads. Gently push the beads around so that there is only a single layer of beads covering the bottom of the bowl. The cooking spray will help the unmelted beads temporarily stick to the walls of the bowl in order to build it up and make it taller.
Place your bowl on a baking sheet and into your oven. After about 5 minutes you’ll see the beads start to stretch out and begin to melt.
After 15-20 minutes the bowl will be fully melted and can be removed from the oven. Please, be careful because the bowl will remain hot for quite awhile after it’s removed from the oven! At this point while the melty beads are still flexible, you can use the back of a spoon to gently push the softened beads around and fill in any large holes or gaps.
Allow to cool for 20-30 minutes before removing the bead bowl from the outer bowl! Give the outside of your bead bowl a light wiping with a soapy sponge to remove any cooking spray residue.
These fun bowls are textured on the inside and perfectly smooth on the outside. I love the way the top row of beads melt and slide down to create unique teardrop shapes – lovely! Try making them with different colored bead combinations (I think red, white and blue would be fantastic for 4th of July!) and by using a variety of different sized and shaped bowls. There are so many exciting possibilities!
With a house full of boys, you can always count on Heidi at Mom’s Crafty Space for all sorts of fun (and occasionally messy!) activities for the family including home decor, recipes, homeschool ideas, and crafts for all ages!
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I wonder if you could do this over a campfire? I'm always looking for good campfire craft idea for our family's Cousin's Camp.
This is very cool! I will be doing this with my girls very soon!!
Once again- a Project that is Perfect for the kids and OH so Cute!! Great job girl!!
this is beautiful!!! we are definitely going to make this!
I made this, cute idea, however, the smell of the melting plastic was awful. Cute, but smelly!
Did you use perler beads to make your bowl? Perler beads are designed to melt, and I have not encountered any bad smells when using them. I'm sorry yours was a bit more stinky! 🙂
Wonderful project. Love how colourful they are.
Shhhhhhhhhh! Don't tell my relatives but the kids will be making these as Christmas presents. Thank you for a great idea!
Brilliant! Did you use a Pyrex bowl to "bake" these in?
Thanks! I made these with my sons (2 1/2 and 4 1/2) this morning and they turned out beautifully!!!
I’m so glad Stacie! What a great mom and me time to craft with your sons!