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3D Perler Bead Patterns

13 3D Perler bead patterns made from flat pieces: small shapes that slot together, cute figures that stand on their own, boxes you can use and two Christmas decorations. Every pattern fits on one large pegboard, and every card lists the beads you need and the steps to put it together.

Small, easy 3D Perler bead patterns

Four small, easy 3D Perler bead patterns that slot together, so you don’t need any glue: a heart, a star, a mushroom and a cactus. Each is two flat pieces you bead side by side on one pegboard, 161 to 209 beads in all. Slide the slots together and the shape pops into 3D.

3D heart

Two hearts that slot together into a 3D heart. Hang it from a ribbon as an ornament or give it as a Valentine.

Beads
173
Colors
2
Size (beads)
27 × 11

Beads you need

  • Red80-19005169
  • White80-190014

How to put it together

2 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead both pieces on one large pegboard and iron them together. Iron lightly so the slots stay open.
  2. Iron the back of each piece, then let both cool flat under a book.
  3. Stand up the piece whose slot opens at the top. Turn the other piece a quarter turn and slide it down onto the first, slot first, until the tops line up.
  4. Thread a ribbon through a bead hole near the top to hang it.
Customize

3D star

Two stars that slot together and stand on their points. It uses a single color, so it’s a quick first 3D project.

Beads
161
Colors
1
Size (beads)
27 × 13

Beads you need

  • Yellow80-19003161

How to put it together

2 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead both pieces on one large pegboard and iron them together. Iron lightly so the slots stay open.
  2. Iron the back of each piece, then let both cool flat under a book.
  3. Stand up the piece whose slot opens at the top. Turn the other piece a quarter turn and slide it down onto the first, slot first, until the tops line up.
  4. Stand it on its four lower points. Iron the tips well, because they’re the thinnest part.
Customize

3D mushroom

A red toadstool with white spots and a little face, standing on its own patch of grass.

Beads
209
Colors
5
Size (beads)
27 × 13

Beads you need

  • Red80-19005121
  • Creme80-1900245
  • White80-1900122
  • Green80-1908017
  • Black80-190184

How to put it together

2 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead both pieces on one large pegboard and iron them together. Iron lightly so the slots stay open.
  2. Iron the back of each piece, then let both cool flat under a book.
  3. Stand up the piece whose slot opens at the top. Turn the other piece a quarter turn and slide it down onto the first, slot first, until the tops line up.
  4. Stand it on the grass. A ring of four mushrooms makes a cute fairy circle.
Customize

3D cactus

A saguaro cactus with a pink flower on top, in a clay pot that it stands on.

Beads
200
Colors
4
Size (beads)
27 × 16

Beads you need

  • Green80-19080134
  • Light Brown80-1902152
  • Dark Green80-190109
  • Pink80-190835

How to put it together

2 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead both pieces on one large pegboard and iron them together. Iron lightly so the slots stay open.
  2. Iron the back of each piece, then let both cool flat under a book.
  3. Stand up the piece whose slot opens at the top. Turn the other piece a quarter turn and slide it down onto the first, slot first, until the tops line up.
  4. Stand it on the pot. It looks great on a desk or a windowsill and never needs water.
Customize

Cute 3D Perler bead patterns

Four cute 3D Perler bead patterns that stand up on their own: a penguin, a bunny, a frog and a robot. A tab under each figure’s feet pushes into a slot in its base, so it stands on a desk or a shelf. They use 153 to 186 beads each, base included.

Stand-up penguin

A penguin in a red scarf that stands on a slab of blue ice.

Beads
168
Colors
5
Size (beads)
11 × 20

Beads you need

  • Black80-1901855
  • Light Blue80-1900952
  • White80-1900149
  • Red80-190057
  • Orange80-190045

How to put it together

2 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead the figure and the ice base on one large pegboard and iron them together.
  2. Iron the back of both pieces, then let them cool flat under a book.
  3. Push the tab under the feet into the slot in the ice base until the feet rest on top. If it’s loose, add a dot of craft glue.
Customize

Stand-up bunny

A white bunny with pink ears and a pink nose, standing on a patch of grass.

Beads
171
Colors
5
Size (beads)
11 × 21

Beads you need

  • White80-19001108
  • Green80-1908052
  • Light Pink80-190798
  • Black80-190182
  • Pink80-190831

How to put it together

2 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead the figure and the grass base on one large pegboard and iron them together.
  2. Iron the back of both pieces, then let them cool flat under a book.
  3. Push the tab under the feet into the slot in the grass base until the feet rest on top. If it’s loose, add a dot of craft glue.
Customize

Stand-up frog

A big-eyed frog with a pale green belly, sitting on a blue pond.

Beads
186
Colors
7
Size (beads)
11 × 20

Beads you need

  • Green80-1908081
  • Turquoise80-1906252
  • Kiwi Lime80-1906126
  • White80-1900116
  • Dark Green80-190107
  • Black80-190182
  • Light Pink80-190792

How to put it together

2 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead the figure and the pond base on one large pegboard and iron them together.
  2. Iron the back of both pieces, then let them cool flat under a book.
  3. Push the tab under the feet into the slot in the pond base until the feet rest on top. If it’s loose, add a dot of craft glue.
Customize

Stand-up robot

A little robot with an antenna and a colorful control panel, standing on a gray base.

Beads
153
Colors
7
Size (beads)
11 × 21

Beads you need

  • Light Grey80-1518169
  • Grey80-1901752
  • Dark Grey80-1909225
  • Light Blue80-190093
  • Red80-190052
  • Yellow80-190031
  • Green80-190801

How to put it together

2 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead the figure and the base on one large pegboard and iron them together.
  2. Iron the back of both pieces, then let them cool flat under a book.
  3. Push the tab under the feet into the slot in the base until the feet rest on top. If it’s loose, add a dot of craft glue.
Customize

3D Perler bead boxes

Flat walls glued along their edges make boxes you can actually use: a heart trinket box, a rainbow pencil cup and a little house. Every piece of each box fits on one large pegboard, so you bead and iron the whole thing in one go.

Heart trinket box

A small open box with a heart on the front, sized for rings, coins and other tiny treasures.

Beads
273
Colors
4
Size (beads)
29 × 13

Beads you need

  • Pastel Lavender80-19054149
  • Purple80-1900781
  • White80-1900132
  • Pink80-1908311

How to put it together

5 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead the base, the front with the heart, the back and the two narrow side walls, then iron them all at once.
  2. Iron both sides of every piece so the walls are flat and strong, and let them cool under a book.
  3. Glue the front and the back onto two opposite edges of the base, white rows at the top.
  4. Glue the two side walls in between them. Craft glue works; a glue gun is faster but should be used by an adult.
Customize

Rainbow pencil cup

A rainbow-striped cup for pencils, markers or your bead tweezers.

Beads
465
Colors
7
Size (beads)
27 × 25

Beads you need

  • White80-1900181
  • Yellow80-1900364
  • Orange80-1900464
  • Red80-1900564
  • Purple80-1900764
  • Light Blue80-1900964
  • Green80-1908064

How to put it together

5 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead the four walls and the white base, then iron them all at once.
  2. Iron both sides of every piece and let them cool flat under a book.
  3. Glue the two wide walls onto opposite edges of the base, red stripes at the top.
  4. Glue the two narrow walls in between them, lining up the stripes so the rainbow runs all the way around.
Customize

Little house

A little house with a red roof, a door and windows. It has no floor, so you can set it over a battery tea light.

Beads
342
Colors
5
Size (beads)
27 × 18

Beads you need

  • Creme80-19002161
  • Red80-1900586
  • Cranapple80-1909666
  • Light Blue80-1900926
  • Brown80-190123

How to put it together

6 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead the front, the back, the two side walls and the two roof panels, then iron them.
  2. Iron both sides of every piece and let them cool flat under a book.
  3. Glue the side walls between the front and the back to make a box.
  4. Glue the two roof panels onto the slanted edges so they meet at the peak.
Customize

3D Christmas Perler bead patterns

A slot-together Christmas tree that stands about 9 cm tall and a gift box with a ribbon on every side. Set the tree on a mantel or a windowsill, and hide a tiny present inside the box.

3D Christmas tree

Two trees that slot together into a 3D Christmas tree, with a star on top and ornaments on every tier.

Beads
234
Colors
4
Size (beads)
27 × 18

Beads you need

  • Green80-19080168
  • Brown80-1901231
  • Yellow80-1900327
  • Red80-190058

How to put it together

2 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead both pieces on one large pegboard and iron them together. Iron lightly so the slots stay open.
  2. Iron the back of each piece, then let both cool flat under a book.
  3. Stand up the piece whose slot opens at the top. Turn the other piece a quarter turn and slide it down onto the first, slot first, until the tops line up.
  4. Stand it on its trunk on a mantel, a shelf or the middle of the table.
Customize

Christmas gift box

A red cube with a white ribbon on every side. Glue it shut as a decoration, or leave the lid loose to hide a tiny gift inside.

Beads
218
Colors
2
Size (beads)
29 × 11

Beads you need

  • Red80-19005172
  • White80-1900146

How to put it together

6 pieces, all on one pegboard

  1. Bead all six sides: two big squares, two wide walls and two small walls. Iron them all at once.
  2. Iron both sides of every piece and let them cool flat under a book.
  3. Glue the two wide walls onto opposite edges of one big square, ribbon stripes standing upright.
  4. Glue the two small walls in between, then set the second big square on top as the lid.
Customize

How 3D Perler bead patterns work

A 3D bead project is a set of flat pieces that you iron like any other pattern and then put together. Every chart on this page shows all of a pattern’s pieces laid out on one large square pegboard.

Slot together, no glue

Two pieces each have a slot one bead wide, one opening at the top and one at the bottom. Slide them together at a right angle and they lock into a 3D shape.

Tab and slot

A figure with a tab under its feet pushes into a slot in a flat base, so it stands up on its own.

Glued boxes

Walls, a base and a roof are glued along their edges. Craft glue works; a glue gun is faster but should be used by an adult.

Never ironed a bead pattern before? Start with our easy Perler bead patterns for beginners and come back for 3D.

Step by step: making a 3D Perler bead project

Bead every piece

Place all the pieces on one large pegboard exactly as the chart shows. Leave the empty pegs between pieces, and inside the slots, empty.

Iron lightly, then iron the back

Iron until the beads join but the holes are still open; slots shrink if you iron too long. Flip each piece and iron the back the same way.

Cool everything flat

Put the pieces under a heavy book while they cool. Slots and edges only line up if every piece is flat.

Put it together

Follow the steps on the pattern card: slide the slots together, push the tab into the base, or glue the walls.

Not sure about heat and timing? Follow our step-by-step ironing guide.

Tips for 3D pieces that fit

Check the slots before you iron

Each slot is one empty peg wide. Make sure no stray bead has landed in it, or the pieces won’t slide together.

Too tight or too loose?

If a slot comes out too tight, iron the next piece a little less. If a joint is loose, a dot of craft glue fixes it.

Fuse the thin parts well

Star tips and the strips beside a slot are only a bead or two wide, so make sure they’re fully fused on both sides.

Iron all the pieces together

Every pattern here fits on one large square pegboard (29 × 29 pegs), so all its pieces are ironed at once and come out the same thickness.

Looking for flat ornaments too? Browse our Christmas Perler bead patterns.

Want to design your own 3D piece?

Turn a picture into a flat pattern in the pattern maker, download two copies and leave the middle column empty from the top halfway down on one and from the bottom halfway up on the other. That’s the same slot trick these patterns use.

Open the pattern maker

3D Perler bead pattern FAQ

How do you make 3D things with Perler beads?

Bead and iron flat pieces as usual, then put them together. Two pieces with matching slots lock into a 3D shape, a tab can push into a slotted base, and walls can be glued into a box. Every pattern here shows all of its pieces on one pegboard and lists the steps.

Do 3D Perler bead patterns need glue?

The slot-together shapes, the stand-up figures and the Christmas tree don’t. The boxes, the house and the gift box are glued along their edges.

Which 3D pattern is the easiest?

The 3D star: it uses one color and 161 beads, and its two pieces slot together without glue.

How many pegboards do I need?

Just one large square pegboard (29 × 29 pegs). Every pattern here, with all of its pieces, fits on a single board, so you can iron everything at once.

How do I keep the slots from closing up?

Iron lightly, just until the beads join, and check that no stray bead sits in a slot before you iron. If a slot still comes out tight, iron the next piece a little less.

How big are the finished 3D pieces?

With regular beads, the Christmas tree stands about 9 cm tall and the stand-up figures about 6.5 to 7 cm. Each card shows the size of its chart in beads.

Are these 3D patterns free?

Yes. Every pattern here is an original meltybit design, free to download and print for your own projects and gifts. No sign-up needed.