Hama bead heart bunting decoration

A few years ago I made a selection of Hama bead hearts and put them together to create a Hama bead heart hanging decoration. This year I decided that my Valentine's Day decor was in need of an update, and so I reused some of these Hama bead hearts, along with a few new ones, to create some simple Hama bead bunting that I can use to decorate our mantelpiece.

These Hama bead hearts are made using the small Hama bead heart board (affiliate link). The board doesn't use too many beads and can be used for both simple and more complex designs. It's a great activity for young children to help improve fine motor skills and let them come up with their own imaginative designs. I made my heart designs using pink and white beads, red beads would also work well.

I find that the best value way to buy Hama beads is to buy a large tub of mixed Hama beads (affiliate link) and along with other colours this tub contains the pink and white beads that I have used. But if you only want beads in certain colours you can also buy bags of colours individually. 

I ironed the designs on both sides so that they were firmly fused together but still had open holes in the beads.

Related post - Ironing tips for Hama beads

Then I looked through the designs and came up with a layout that I thought would work well with a balance of colours and shapes.

I used some narrow red ribbon (affiliate link) to join the hearts together. I used a sharp needle to thread the ribbon through the top of the heart in two places. I had tried to leave the holes as large as possible while ironing, but I've found that even if the hole is closed on one side the beads are usually soft enough that you can push a needle through them.

On my mantelpiece I have some small Command hooks (affiliate link) fixed up permanently which I use to hang fairy lights and bunting throughout the year. All I needed to do was to make a small knot in the end of the ribbon and hook it through to display the bunting.

I love the way that I've been able to re-purpose my Valentine's Day themed Hama bead hearts and make something pretty to gaze at while I'm sitting in the living room!

If you liked this Hama bead craft, you might also be interested in my other Hama bead crafts for Valentine's Day