I Wanna Start Doing This!

I discovered this subreddit from a cross post from r/Pokemon and I wanna start doing this! Where can I get started? How much do these cost? I remember doing this in my little kid daycare, and I wanna do some sprites! I'm a big fan of Pokémon, and I like their sprites. This is the post that made me wanna do this: https://www.reddit.com/r/beadsprites/comments/bhltva/my_progress_on_the_gen_1_box_sprites_featuring_my/.

Where can I buy these, and how do I start?

Posted Apr 27, 2019, 2:09 AM UTC

510
dertswa687o•

Hey, I'm glad you enjoyed my post!

To get started I would recommend buying a set of pegboards (2 or 4) and a tray of assorted colors. That will only cost you $20-$25 and it's a good way to see if you enjoy the hobby before you start spending a lot. Those are links to perler.com, but I bought my first things at Target. Joann is the go-to place if you want to go to a physical store, but I personally use perler.com unless I only need a few colors. Michaels either stocks their own off brand of beads or doesn't stock beads at all, so I wouldn't recommend going there.

1,000 beads of a single color will cost $2 at perler.com (when you buy 6+ packs) and $3.50 at Joann. Perler has sales pretty often, like right now everything is 25% off. Joann also has coupons that are helpful, especially if you want to buy a 6k bag of beads.

Otherwise you'll need an iron and parchment paper. Any iron will do, mine cost $25. Parchment paper prevents the beads from sticking to the iron and costs ~$3.

I also invested in an organizer once I got a lot of colors, but people organize their beads a variety of different ways. Plastic water bottles are a common, cheap way to organize.

Feel free to ask any questions!

3
Grumbles88•

Joann fabrics, or whatever craft store is near you

1
DeviantHyperOP•

Thanks!

1
V-O-N-Z-Y•

The initial outlay is quite a bit if you want to get a few shades of all colours, as you will find detailed sprites will need more than 1 shade of any colour. You also will need a few pegboards so you can make multiple designs or larger designs at one time. Once you have the main colours it’s just top ups when needed or new colours to add to your collection.

1
DeviantHyperOP•

Ok! How much do you think this will cost?

1
yunalious•

I started this hobby a few months ago and then work hit me hard ..so I forgot about this!

I know I bought the perler beads from Joann's (I think someone informed us that the store is having a sale right).

I started with the multicolor beads (all mixed in one bucket/jar) WARNING: not a great great idea if you're trying to separate the colors..(I still have half a bucket left to go)

Later as I learned about shadowing- I decided to buy more separate colors (I bought a lot of black and white beads)

Two weeks later, I decided to get two of those cabinets with mini drawers for my beads (love it still!)

To find designs/project ideas- I looked at pinterest and of course here too!

I am going to be taking out my beads again and look for projects to do!

1
DeviantHyperOP•

Instead of Joann's, will Micheal's do? Also, about how much did it cost to get you started?

1
yunalious•

My Michaels don't carry a lot of perler beads. JoAnn's is my best to go. When I first first started I spent like 25-30 dollars (USE COUPONS). They usually have those 50%-60% coupons you can use to buy stuff. I know my first round I bought the mixed color bead jar with the peg boards and sheets!.

1
V-O-N-Z-Y•

Basically go to the website of the beads you want to purchase either perler, artkal or Hama are the main brands. Look at their colours you would like to purchase and multiply that by the cost of a bag. I live in Australia so the cost is a little more than it would be for you in USA. Also it seems your brick and mortar stores have good sales on perler beads often.

1
abcplayer•
1