4th of July Perler Beads (Over 25 Patterns!)

Get over 25 patterns for 4th of July perler beads! There are a variety of hama bead patterns including flags, stars, rockets, hearts, and more.

What are your favorite summer crafts for kids? I love all the standard stuff like slime and tie dye and sidewalk chalk paint.

When it comes to the Fourth of July, all of the kids’ crafts suddenly turn red, white, and blue as you might expect. And you might want to do all the standard projects in the USA color palette, because there are lots of great ideas for sure.

BUT you also might want to try something you haven’t tried in awhile. Something fun that kids of all ages love. Something you might have forgotten about?

Something like 4th of July perler beads!

If you haven’t picked up perler beads in a bit, use these patterns to get you rolling again. They are recommended for ages six and up, so this is a very fun craft to try with kids. They love perler beads (also known as hama beads, fuse beads, or melty beads).

There are over 25 patterns below with all sorts of traditional Independence characters and symbols like Uncle Sam, flags, stars, patriotic hearts, the Statue of Liberty, and more. They range from very simple to more advanced.

They aren’t just fun for kids either. EVERY time I bring out the beads for my nieces at my house, the adults join in. Without fail!

I know you’re absolutely going to love this post.

Tips for Using Perler Beads

Before we get into the patterns, I want to review a few basics of using fuse beads to make sure you get the best results. If you don’t want the tips, scroll down to the bottom to get the 4th of July perler bead patterns.

Remember that the overall goal is to melt the beads together on both sides while still leaving the holes open. Here’s how you get the best results.

Use Ironing or Parchment Paper

Place ironing paper or parchment paper over the beads on the pegboard. Be gentle so you don’t disturb the beads underneath.

Heat your iron to the medium setting (no steam). In a circular motion, begin to iron the project. Don’t press down too hard with the iron.

When ironed properly, the beads will still have an open center. Check and make sure your edges are melted. Let the design cool on the pegboard.

Note: BE CAREFUL about lifting up the paper while you’re ironing! If you want to check, carefully peel back paper around the edge of your design and see if all the beads are melted.

If you lift the paper up quickly and there are a lot of unmelted beads, they will easily fall off or go flying and you may be forced to start over. Sometimes the edges need more time so when you check, just check the edges and peel paper back slowly.

Peeling back the paper to check if the beads are melted

Another Note: some beads melt faster than others (clear melts faster than white, for example). So some holes might be larger than others. It’s okay! That’s part of the look of the project.

Iron the Other Side

Remove the bead design from the pegboard. Flip it over to the non-melted side and repeat the fusing process.

Ironing the other side of a fuse bead design

Remove the Paper

Let cool completely and remove the paper again (which is reusable). Some people pull the paper off after they iron the first side, but I just wait until the end and peel off both pieces. It’s up to you!

Peeling the ironing paper off the finished project

Now if you’re ready for the 4th of July perler beads, here are the patterns.

Fourth of July Perler Beads

Make sure to check out these notes:

A few of these patterns are larger than a 29 x 29 pegboard, so you’ll either need a extra large pegboard (49 x 69 tall) or to put multiple square peg boards together to form a larger “canvas.”
In addition to square pegboards, you’ll see heart and round pegboards. These are fun to have in your arsenal if you plan to do a lot of perler-ing.
You’ll see a couple of the pattern backgrounds below aren’t white – that’s simply to give contrast so you can see where all the white beads should go. You don’t need to add the background (but you can if you want to).
Don’t stick to my colors necessarily. Customize with your favorite shade or color of beads.
I typically start with easier, smaller patterns in my list and then move on to the more difficult (larger) ones. If you don’t see what you like right away, just keep scrolling!

Rocket, Rocket Pop, USA Letters, and USA in a Heart

Small USA and Flag

These patterns are done on the small square (14 x 14) boards.

Three Patriotic Stars

Here are three versions of 4th of July stars on small star boars using patriotic colorways, on star pegboards.

Red, White, and Blue Rainbow and Blue Pointed Star

Small Flag Heart and Large Intertwined Heart

The pattern on the left is done on a small heart pegboard. On the right is a red, white, and blue intertwined heart. The gray are either clear beads or just leave them empty.