Today I’m going to show you an easy way to mount Perler Beads on to Canvas.
Mounting Perler Bead sprites on canvas is a great way to show off Perler Bead art.
A Mounted Perler Bead project also can make a great gift for the ones you love because you can personalize them with a pattern that suits the recipient’s personality.
Supplies needed to mount Perler Beads on to canvas
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- Canvas
- Perler Bead sprite
- Paint (watercolor or acrylic)
- E6000 glue
- Heavy Book
The supply list is short, but let’s talk about it for a bit. First the canvas. I used this super cute tiny canvas with an easel that I got at a local craft store. You can find these easels on Amazon at this LINK.
I think the tiny canvas with easels would be so awesome when making gifts from your kids Perler Bead art. Grandparents would eat that up, right?
Now, you don’t have to use a tiny canvas. I just thought it was cute. If you have a big Perler Bead sprite you can head to a craft store and buy a canvas that fits your sprite. The how to part is the same for big canvases as it is for small ones. The other thing you can do with a large canvas is glue multiple sprites into one to make one big piece of art. Maybe a garden or a Super Mario game screen. Honestly, your imagination is the limit on this one.
Ok, now on to paint. You don’t have to paint your canvas, but I think that it adds a bit of pizzazz to your work. I used watercolor paints on mine, but basic acrylic would work as well. Literally any kind of paint you have lying around the house would work. It’s a canvas, it’s meant to be painted.
I always recommend E6000 glue. That’s because it works every time. You can try using hot glue or another type of glue, but if they don’t work I know the E6000 will work for you.
Painting the canvas
The first thing you are going to want to do is paint your canvas. For this, either watercolor or acrylic paint will work.
I chose to use watercolor paints because I wanted the look of the sky, so I wanted it to be a bit transparent in places. I used the cheapo watercolors that you buy at the grocery store. I covered the whole canvas in blue paint, and then used a tissue to blot off parts of the paint so it would take off the color.
Now, you may not want your canvas to look like the sky, so just paint your canvas in any color that compliments your Perler Bead sprite.
Once painted, you do want to let the paint dry before moving on to the next step.
The Perler Bead sprite
You can use any Perler Bead design that you want for this project. You just need to make sure your canvas is the right size for your sprite. If you want to make a rainbow sprite like in my example, the pattern is on this St. Patrick’s Perler Bead pattern post.
You can also find a TON of easy patterns on my Ultimate list of easy Perler Bead patterns.
No matter the design, you want to make sure your Perler Bead sprite is flat. A curved sprite will have trouble adhering to the canvas.
If you made a sprite specifically for this project, put a heavy book on it after ironing to assure it will be flat.
If you are using a sprite that you have already ironed, and that sprite is not flat, you can gently iron it again to get it warm. Then put a book over it while it cools to flatten it.
Now you are ready to glue the Perler Bead design on to the canvas
Mounting the Perler Bead sprite onto canvas
Basically the final step is gluing the sprite to the canvas. Like I said earlier, you can try any kind of glue, but I recommend E6000. It never fails…EVER!
If you have never used E6000 it does take a bit of getting used to because it doesn’t dry immediately.
You won’t need a lot of E6000, just a light covering on the back of your sprite.
Then position your sprite on the canvas where you want it to be mounted. Don’t worry if you don’t get it in the exact right place, you can still move it for about 20 minutes.
Once you have it placed put a sheet of wax paper or plastic over the sprite and canvas. You can see how I did it in the photo below. I actually used a plastic sandwich bag.
The reason you are putting this barrier on top is so that you can now put a heavy book on top of both. It rarely happens, but since Perler Bead sprites do have holes in it, you don’t want any glue to leak through to the book while it is drying.
So put that heavy book on top of it all and then wait about 24 hours for the glue to cure. The book helps all parts of the sprite make contact with the canvas for a good solid fuse.
Viola…you’ve made an amazing work of art to share with your friends and family. So, go out there and mount Perler Beads on to canvas.
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