The Best Perler Bead Storage Ideas to Keep You Organized

Looking for Perler Bead storage ideas? Start here and organize all your Perler Beads.

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Let’s talk about Perler Bead storage.

You and I both know that if you are beading, you need a way to store and organize your Perler Beads. If not, it would be chaos!

When the kids and I first started playing with melting beads there was no rhyme or reason to how we stored them. We had a bucket of beads and some peg boards that we just threw on a shelf in the playroom.

As time went on we started buying beads by the bag. We put them into clear plastic containers that we rescued from the recycle bin. Those containers worked perfectly, they stacked on top of each other, they were clear, and they opened easily. As time passed, our storage evolved a little, but we stuck mostly to smallish plastic containers.

This is how we stored our beads for years. It worked for us, but we were ready for an upgrade.

Recently, Wonder Boy and I were happily beading away on these Minecraft Magnets when I couldn’t find the container of black Perler Beads.

IT WAS GONE!

I looked everywhere, but couldn’t find it. Our beading session instantly ended as we searched for the missing Perler Beads. I did eventually find them, but I decided then and there that our haphazard Perler Bead organization system needed an upgrade.

I’ll be honest, Wonder Boy and I did some serious research before we decided on our Perler Bead storage solution. While we were looking, we found several different organization ideas that I thought would work for Perler Bead storage. They each have their advantages, and they all have their disadvantages.

Hopefully I’ll be able to give you some insight to find the perfect storage solution for YOU. I’ve included Amazon links to many of the products so you can have a look yourself. These links are affiliate links, so if you buy the item through Amazon I will get a small percentage of the sale at no cost to you.

Now, If you are interested in free or really cheap Perler Bead storage ideas, scroll to the end of this post for some ideas. If you want to skip the reading and just see for yourself, you can check out my Amazon Idea list where I’ve curated the best —> Perler Bead storage solutions.

Jewelry containers for Perler Bead Organization

My first thought when searching for Perler Bead storage was to buy several plastic jewelry containers. We had one that we used for Rainbow Loom storage, and it worked great. They usually have adjustable compartments, so would they could also work perfectly for Perler Beads. Plus, they are pretty inexpensive.

The other cool thing about using plastic jewelry containers is that they come in different sizes, so you could purchase based on what you need. If you only have 10 colors of Perler Beads that you use, you wouldn’t be stuck with a huge container with a ton of empty compartments.

The only negative I’ve found with this type of Perler Bead storage is there isn’t any room for your Perler Bead essentials. So, you’d need a separate storage container for your pegboards, tweezers, and ironing paper. It’s not a big deal, because you can just throw those items in a plastic shoebox.

Perler Bead Organizer Cabinets

So we decided that we wanted a giant plastic cabinet for Perler Bead Storage. It suited most of our needs perfectly. I think the real reason I bought it is because I loved the fact that it could hold 64 different colors of beads.

There are many different options of this kind of Perler Bead storage available. Although we chose the one with the most drawers, there are many that have fewer drawers for those of you who don’t have as many Perler Bead colors. Some even have different size drawers so you could actually store your supplies WITH your Perler Beads.

The real down fall I’ve found with the 64 drawer beast is that there isn’t a place to store Perler Bead supplies. So we still have a clear plastic shoe box to hold those items. It’s also pretty big, so make sure you check out the measurements of the one you purchase to make sure you have the shelf space.

Portable Perler Bead Storage Ideas

I really like the idea of being able to store all your Perler Bead supplies container that you can take anywhere you go. The small tool boxes and craft boxes listed below seem like great options for portable Perler Bead storage.

This style of storage comes with removable storage drawers that have compartment dividers so that you can change the size of the compartments in each drawer. There is also a large top compartment to store and organize pegboards, tweezers, and even ironing paper. I found many different sizes and brands of this type of Perler Bead storage, each one is a different size and the features are a bit different. So, if you think this kind of storage will work for you, make sure you check them all out.

I really do think this is a great portable storage option for Perler Beads, but be cautious. My guess is that the compartments are small and wouldn’t hold 1000 beads. Of course, most have adjustable compartment sizes. So you may fit 1000 beads, but not be able to have a lot of colors.

Either way, I think this portable storage would work well for people who take their beads on the go, even if “on the go” is only across the house. Kids would also love this storage option because all their supplies could be in one place, and with the handle it would be easy for them to carry it from place to place.

Official Perler Bead Storage

Until we looked for storage, I had no idea that the Perler Brand had it’s own storage solutions. They’ve actually got 3 different options for storing Perler Beads. Each of them are different. They each are also pretty similar to the ones I’ve talked about above.

The first are small stackable boxes. The boxes come 12 in a pack, and each box holds about 1000 beads. They are cute little boxes, and it’s great that they stack. The concept is really similar to using any small container for Perler Beads. I think the main disadvantage to this type of storage would be finding the color you need among rows of colors that were stacked.

Perler Bead also sells these really cool cylinder containers. Each container holds about 1000 Perler Beads. One of the great features of this storage options is each cylinder has a label on the top for you to write the color on so that you can easily find the color you need. Cool, right? You could put the cylinders into a box and then just store the box of Perler Beads on a shelf.

Although, I really like the cylinders, I really don’t like the fact that you can’t work directly from the container. You have to pour beads out onto something else to use them. I know some people wouldn’t mind, but for me…eh, I want a container that I can use as I’m beading.

Perler’s last storage option are stackable trays. This is a great option for Perler Bead storage. Each tray can be divided with removable dividers so you can customize it to fit different colors of beads. Plus it has a handle so you can easily transport it. I think this would work for a lot of beginning beaders. Just keep in mind the box can only be made to hold 18 different colors, so if you have a lot of bead colors, it may not work for you.

Free or Extremely Cheap Perler Bead Storage Ideas

At the beginning of this post, I promised you some free and cheap Perler Bead storage ideas. I’ll be honest, you can find some great storage options inside your very own house. You just need to get creative. For years we just washed out the plastic containers from Hillshire Farms lunch meat and used them. They worked perfectly.

Other free or cheap Perler Bead storage:

Small plastic Ziploc bags.
KFC mashed potato containers
Gatorade or other large mouthed bottles (the mouth has to be large enough to pour the beads into easily.)
Recycled glass jars (think spaghetti sauce, pickle, jelly or olive jars)
It’s easy to reuse the containers from the Perler Bead trays. Once you’ve used all the beads you can add more Perler Beads to them.
The grocery store also sells small disposable containers that work. If you get ones that are at least 2 cups they will fit a 1000 bead bag.

I know I haven’t listed ALL the options for free or super cheap storage, but hopefully you can get some ideas. Just keep in mind clear containers work best for Perler Bead storage so that you can see the color of the beads easily.

Hopefully you were able to find the perfect way for you to organize your Perler Beads. If you have any other Perler Bead storage ideas, I’d love to hear about them in the comments. If you want to see some of my favorites, I’ve created a list HERE on my Amazon Storefront.