It’s fun and easy to make this Perler Bead Jack O Lantern tea light holder
OMG, I love Halloween! I always get giddy with anticipation each year. This year is no different. The kids have already picked their costumes, I know I’ll whip out my jedi robes, we’ve dug the decorations out of the basement, and soon enough I’ll head to the store to buy an obscene amount of candy. I even wrote about 10 easy Halloween Perler Bead patterns to help get YOU in the mood.
I was completely ready for Halloween. Then, the amazing Michelle over in the Geek Blogs Unite Facebook group announced her plans to host a Trick or Treat party with the group. We’ll I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to celebrate Halloween with those great folks. So I got out my beads and created this cool and creepy Pumpkin Perler Bead candle holder.
I’m not gonna lie, I love the way it came out! In fact, I’d love to make more with different faces to decorate my mantle.
The combination of black and glow in the dark beads is perfect to give my jack-o-lantern an eerie glow when backlit by the tealight. AND, of course, the eyes and mouth glow-in-the-dark when the tealight is shut off.
This Perler Bead Jack O Lantern is a fairly simple Perler Bead craft. So even a beginner pixel artist can complete it to have their own fun Halloween decoration.
Supplies needed for Perler Bead Jack O Lantern
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- Black Perler Beads
- Dark Gray Perler Beads (optional)
- Orange glow in the dark Perler Beads
- Large square Perler Bead pegboard
- LED tea light (don’t use a real candle near Perler Beads, you don’t want the beads to melt)
If you are new to beading, you can easily complete this project. Just head on over to my Ultimate Perler Bead Beginners Guide for all kinds of tips and tricks to help you get started.
No glow-in-the-dark Perler Beads? You can substitute orange or yellow beads.
BUT, if you don’t have any glow in the dark Perler Beads, you might want to seriously consider getting some! Wonder Boy just loves the glow in the dark beads. He thinks it is the coolest thing when he can make something that glows. I bought this glow in the dark bucket (affiliate link) over a year ago, and have gotten so much use out of it. I highly recommend the glow in the dark Perler Beads for epic kiddo Perler Bead fun.
Creating your Perler Bead Jack O Lantern
This is a no glue Perler Bead 3D project. The two pieces you create are going to magically snap together to make your stand just like my Yoshi egg. Cool, right?
All you need to do to start off is to put the beads on the pegboard using the two patterns below.
I really slaved away in creating this jack-o-lantern face, it seemed to take forever for me to get it just right. BUT, in theory, you can put any face on your jack-o-lantern. It’s a great place to get creative on this project.
The second pattern, that looks like a letter T, is the base. The spaces in the middle of the project are where the pumpkin piece goes. If you follow these patterns exactly the base will have 13 holes and the bottom of the pumpkin piece has 13 extra beads to stick in the holes. Yes, the unlucky number 13 to go along with Halloween holiday…cue eerie music.
Oh oh, if you don’t have any dark gray Perler Beads, just substitute black beads. I added the gray beads for a shadow effect, but I think the project would still look great without them.
After the beads are on the pegboard, you will need to iron them according to the bead instructions. You want to be especially careful when ironing not to over melt them. If you do the pieces may not fit together.
One final note on making your Perler Bead pieces, place a heavy object, like a book, on top of them once you’ve ironed both sides. The book will help keep your Perler Bead Jack O Lantern flat. It really REALLY needs to be flat if you want the two pieces to stand straight when you are done.
Finishing your Perler Bead candle holder
Let your pieces completely cool under the book before doing anything.
Once they are cool, all that’s left to do is take the jack-o-lantern piece and stick it into the holes in the base pieces. You may need to force it in a bit because the fit will be tight, but as long as you didn’t over melt the beads they will fit.
Finally, add your tea light. The shape of the base is a T so that you can put the LED tea light on it.
Like I said earlier this is a great 3D project for anyone starting out with Perler Beads. Plus, you get an awesome Halloween decoration when it’s complete.
If your a geeky blogger you should join us over at Geek Blogs Unite! It’s a great place to connect with other bloggers and join in with fun themes like this one.
I love how effective this is!