Each Christmas brings yet another batch of hideous holiday sweaters to the stores. Some are so bad they are funny, hence why so many tongue in cheek parties celebrating seasonal sweaters have popped up over the years. Along with these parties have come crafts, cookies and more. No let’s welcome Ugly Christmas Sweater Coasters to the fold.
Hama, melty, Perler – these wee little tubes of plastic go by many names. Typically thought of as a children’s toy one quick look at Pinterest will clue you in that plenty of crafty adults have caught melty bead fever. I have a whole pinboard dedicated to them!
The premise of Perler beads is this: tiny tubes of plastic are arranged on a studded tray to make a design. Once your image is complete you cover said design with a special sheet of paper and iron until everything fuses together. You can buy whole kits of this stuff and make them as elaborate and intricate as you want.
This holiday season I caught Ugly Christmas Sweater fever and set out to make ugly hama bead sweaters and after a long evening of squinting I reached my goal. I took things a step further and decided to make my sweaters a set of coasters for holiday cocktails! They would also make great ornaments.
Here is how to make your very own coasters:
Decide how large you want your coasters to be. I used a standard wine glass as my guide.
Next I made the outline of a sweater in white beads. I kept the white outline uniform throughout my 4 coasters.
Time to play fashion designer with your melty beads! Think dreidels, Santa and snowmen. On a small scale intricate hama bead designs can be tricky so simple is better.
Once you have your design laid out CAREFULLY head over to the iron. Follow the package instructions for ironing and covering your design with the paper included in your kit to protect your iron.
Let your coaster cool and remove from the grid. Another word to the wise, don’t over iron. Your design can start to get wonky. I decided mine just looked like an even worse holiday sweater.
Next time you get invited to a holiday party, sweater themed or not, consider making a batch of these as a hostess gift. I know I am!
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