Tutorial: Pixel Sprites and Jewelry!

 

 Have a few hours to do something cute and fun? Pixel art and crafts made with Perler beads is little effort with high reward. You can even do it while catching up on whatever shows you kids are watching these days (I think this entire batch was done during rewatching the first season of Dr. Who). It's pretty darn addicting, and relatively cheap once you have your basic items.

So get your Netflix queue up and gather these supplies:

-Assorted plastic Perler or Hama beads
- Pegboard
-Tweezers
-Iron
-Wax paper

Hama beads are basically just smaller Perler beads, so it's up to personal choice which you'd like to use. In my experience, Perler beads are easier to find in the US. You should be able to find them at most art and craft stores. I would not recommend buying the buckets of assorted beads. It is a pain in the butt to pick out the individual colors one by one. 1000 bead packs of one color can be ordered online here if you can't find them in-store.

 

With a google image search, you can find pretty much find any sprite you want. Once you've got everything in order, start out by making your basic outline (there's not exactly a wrong way to go, but it's easier to make sure the shape is right and make necessary changes this way, before jumping into the inside). If you're having trouble eyeballing, count the pixels in rows. Also, I really don't recommend trying this without tweezers. Just save yourself the heartbreak and get a pair.

(click photos to enlarge)

I decided to make a Litwick c:

Once the outline is done, fill in the smaller details.

Finally, the solid color.

 Now take a sheet of wax paper and go over it with the iron for about 20 seconds. If you press down a bit and slowly move from side to side, you can achieve a more solid, smooth look. Make sure the iron is not on the steam setting. When it's done, it will have a wet look and stick to the wax paper.

After the sprite has cooled, flip it over and iron the other side to make it more stable.

 

It's very easy to make jewelry as well. A bit of hot glue and a pin back, and you've got a nifty pixel brooch. The holes in the beads lend themselves to easily making necklaces (if the holes in the corner have sealed closed, use a pin to reopen them).

Here's me wearing a Minish Cap keese sprite necklace :> With my boyfriend bein' a creep in the background.