Rainbow Perler Beads (20+ Free Patterns)

Get over 20 patterns for rainbow perler beads! Both kids and adults will love these patterns, perfect for spring or summer beading.

Do you remember where you were the first time you saw a rainbow? I’m not 100% sure where I was the very first time, but I distinctly remember my first double rainbow.

I was in elementary school (Hollywood Hill Elementary in Woodinville, WA), and my mom picked me up one day when it had just rained. As we were driving down the hill, I saw it.

Off in the distance. A double rainbow.

It felt so rare! So magical! I looked it up and they actually aren’t so rare – they’re just double reflections. A second arc, which is on the same plane as the primary rainbow, occurs when rays of sunlight are reflected twice within the raindrop. Boom, you have a double rainbow.

Well, whether they are rare or not, I remember my first. And I still love rainbows to this day!

Rainbows have a lot of symbolism, the most basic being the beauty after the storm. That is one of my favorite meanings. Here’s a little excerpt that sums it up perfectly:

“And of course, given that they usually appear after a storm, rainbows are a sign of hope. As Rambo explains, ‘Rainbow is about what’s on the other side of darkness,’ adding, ‘The message of the rainbow is inspiration to be in hope and joy because there are bright and beautiful times on the other side.'”
–MindBodyGreen

For many, rainbows mean prosperity (pot of gold), hope, love, friendship, and even inclusivity and diversity (Pride!).

Whatever their meaning is to you, it brings me great pleasure to share these rainbow perler beads with you today.

We’ve been doing a ton of perler bead patterns lately, and with spring and summer right around the corner – rainbows were important to add to the collection.

Perler beads 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). But don’t be shy – adults love them too!

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 rainbow 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. Move your hand around gently in circles and keep it going. You’ll start to get the hang of it after a few tries.

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.

Note: if you see any areas you’d like to re-melt, you can do that!

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 rainbow perler beads, here are the patterns!

Rainbow Perler Bead Patterns

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 round, heart, and hexagon 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 color beads!

Smiling Rainbow

This pattern uses 66 red, 29 orange, 23 yellow, 5 black, 21 kiwi lime, 18 cobalt, and 15 purple beads.

Three Colors

This three stripe pattern uses 76 black, 29 red, 25 yellow, 23 light blue, and 58 white beads.

Rainbow with a Stand

You’ll make the rainbow on a large circle board and the stand pieces on a square board. The stand pieces use 145 white beads. Insert each end of the rainbow into one of the stand pieces. Makes a cute cake topper!

Heart Pegboards

Heart pegboards make awesome rainbows. Both of these options use the large boards.

Shades of Pastel

This pattern uses 120 black, 25 mint, 22 pastel yellow, 18 cheddar, 17 bubble gum, 14 light link, and 208 white beads.

Spread Between Two Clouds

This pattern uses 200 white, 54 red, 46 orange, 44 yellow, 39 kiwi lime, 30 sky, 25 light blue, and 24 pastel lavender beads.

Rainbow Heart

This pattern uses 62 pink, 60 cheddar, 54 yellow, 50 kiwi lime, 48 light blue, 38 pastel lavender, 32 magenta, 24 apricot, 20 pastel yellow, and 7 sour apple beads.

Rainbow Heart with Unicorns

This pattern uses 10 fuschia, 62 red, 75 white, 75 black, 50 orange, 42 yellow, 36 green, 30 blue, and 16 purple beads. This pattern is also part of our St. Patrick’s Day perler beads.

unicorn with a heart rainbow perler patterns

Rainbow Pusheen

This pattern uses 135 black, 25 red, 38 orange, 33 yellow, 20 kiwi lime, 197 gray, 8 light blue, 6 yellow, 26 magenta, and 1 cotton candy bead.

Skull and Super Mario Star

The skull pattern uses 94 black, 4 cherry, 11 red, 9 orange, 12 yellow, 13 kiwi lime, 12 sky, 8 light blue, 8 dark blue, 10 plum, 4 purple, and 3 grape beads.

The star uses 64 black, 11 red, 21 orange, 20 yellow, 27 bright green, 22 sky, 12 cobalt, 5 purple, and 3 fuchsia beads. This pattern is also part of our Super Mario perler beads!

Colorful Frame

This frame uses 24 purple, 24 flamingo, 28 pink, 32 red, 36 orange, 40 pastel yellow, 40 yellow, 40 kiwi lime, 40 bright green, 40 robin’s egg, 36 light blue, 32 dark blue, and 28 light lavender beads.

When you’re done, you can glue a 3.5″ square photo on the back using regular craft glue or E6000.

Cloud with Streamers

This pattern uses 184 robin’s egg, 43 black, 97 white, 53 red, 53 purple, 52 orange, 52 yellow, 52 bright green, and 52 light blue beads.

Bright Salamander

This pattern uses 14 cherry, 29 yellow, 16 magenta, 2 yellow, 16 red, 26 fuchsia, 34 kiwi lime, 17 orange, 25 teal, 19 honey, 25 cobalt, 28 dark blue, 17 pastel lavender, 10 purple, 10 plum, and 7 tangerine beads.

Rainbow Heart Four Leaf Clover

This pattern uses 111 shamrock, 128 blue, 137 red, 339 white, 128 purple, 130 orange, and 109 yellow beads.

Rainbow with Raindrops

This pattern is done on a round board with four raindrops . . . leave the holes on your beads open enough so that you can tie the drops onto the bottom of the clouds and make a cute mini mobile!

Color Wheels

Color wheels are a perfect way to display a variety of shades in one perler project. There’s a version on the left for a square board and verison on the right for a large round circle.

Rainbow Coasters

We love perler bead coasters, and why not make them with rainbows? Here are two options on large circles.

Outdoor Scenes

Not only do you get the rainbows but you get grass, flowers, sky, clouds, and more! Make the pattern on the left with a large hexagon board, and the pattern on the right with a large round circle.