Not only do I blog about crafts, sometimes I even make crafts. I’m not quite sure how I came up with the idea to make a portrait of Mr. T with Perler beads, but after many trips to the craft store, sorting beads and ordering more beads online, he was complete. It took over 10,000 beads to make Mr. T and he is more than two feet high!

Check back tomorrow for more Mr. T crafts!

• Mr. T in Perler Beads

Perler beads are perfect for recreating 8-bit video game characters and scenes. They can be used for all kinds of amazing geeky crafts and are so easy to use, anyone can do it. Below you will find 10 incredible examples of the things you can do with Perler beads.

1. Super Mario Brothers in Perler Beads

Danny_8bit makes some elaborate Perler bead art. This little scene from Super Mario Brothers is attached to a briefcase.

• Super Mario Brothers in Perler Beads by Danny_8bit

2. Float Eye Boss from Final Fantasy

The Float Eye Boss from Final Fantasy has great shading. Faith9990 really got the details in on this one. Is it just me or does this guy look like an evil version of Mike from Monsters, Inc.?

• Float Eye Boss from Finaly Fantasy in Perler Beads by Faith9990

3. Pokemon

I know my eight-year-old could tell me who all these little guys are. For now, I’ll take Fashion’s word that they are Pokemon and they are an impressive collection.

• Pokemon in Perler Beads by Fashion

4. R2D2

Here at Geek Crafts, we seem to always end up back on Star Wars. Flickr user Copy + Waste made this huge R2D2 from Perler beads.

• R2D2 in Perler Beads by Copy + Waste

5. Ape Lad’s Spock illustration

I’m not a big Star Trek fan, but this is the second Star Trek craft that I really like (the other was the Spock apron). blakewest did a great job capturing the look of the original illustration.

• Ape Lad’s Spock Illustration in Perler Beads by blakewest

6. Donkey Kong in Perler Beads

Here’s another one from Danny_8bit: a very elaborate Donkey Kong/Burgertime combo scene - not sure why the two games are mixed, but it still looks great!

• Donkey Kong in Perler Beads by Danny_8bit
  

7. Sinistar

Wow - what an incrdible likeness of the evil Sinistar himself. Awesome job done by CoderKev. “Run, coward!”

• Sinistar in Perler Beads by CoderKev

8. Space Invaders Key Chains

Faith9990 does it again with these little Space Invaders keychains. They aren’t attached yet, but if you look closely, you can see that a bead is purposely missing from each one to attach the keyring to.

• Space Invaders Key Chains in Perler Beads by Faith9990

9. Gameboy Color 3D

I love the dimensional Perler bead crafts. Doctor Octoroc used what looks to be three layers of beads to make this Gameboy Color 3D.

• Gameboy Color 3D in Perler Beads by Doctor Octoroc

10. Samus Aran vs. Omega Metroid

And one more by Doctor Octoroc: Samus Aran vs. Omega Metroid. I think this is the most detailed Perler Bead art I have seen. Details + shading + size = pure awesomeness. (I don’t think that’s a direct quote there from Samus)

• Samus Aran vs. Omega Metroid in Perler Beads by Doctor Octoroc

This weekend we’re taking a look at crafts based on old-school Nintendo controllers. (We’ll look at mod-ed controllers another week.)

1. Nintendo Controller Perler Bead Business Card Holder

Etsy seller Lost Mitten has this one-of-a-kind business card holder available in her shop. Made of fused Perler beads, this will look great on any geek’s desk.

• Nintendo Controller Perler Bead Business Card Holder from Lost Mitten

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Etsy seller Lauren of lost mitten makes all sorts of video game-related crafts, including these Pac-Man coasters out of Perler beads. The best part of this particular coaster set? They glow in the dark! You can make sure everyone uses a coaster even while watching a movie in the dark.

• Pac-Man Coasters on Etsy

My daughter got a Perler bead set for Christmas. The first thing I thought of when I saw it was “That would be great for videogame characters!” So, last weekend I made a Mario Question Box. It now proudly hangs from my rear view mirror in my car. Now I’m hooked. I want to do a thousand different things with them. You’ll see lots more Perler crafts here.

• Picture from meddygarnet on Flickr