Mini Hama bead Christmas pin badges

I recently shared some free mini Christmas pixel art designs that I created, and I promised to share how I had used them for festive crafts. You can see the free patterns below, or you can download them here - mini Christmas pixel art designs to download. They are perfect for cross stitch, or any other pixel based craft like Hama beads. 

I have already shared the mini Hama bead Christmas embellishments that I made using these designs, and I decided to use some of these embellishments to make some simple pin badges. Note that not all of these designs will work well as badges, you need to choose a design that has plenty of opportunity for several beads to stick together - the snowflake and star designs for example won't work for this craft.

To make the pin badges first you need to create the design on the pegboard using mini Hama beads. If you haven't used mini Hama beads before then you might find this post useful - A full guide to working with mini Hama beads. The procedure is the same as for the larger beads but these beads are tiny and quite fiddly to work with. The best way to place them on the board is with tweezers. 

When you are happy with your bead placement then it's time to iron them. If you don't have much experience with Hama beads then you might find this post useful - Ironing tips for Hama beads. In particular you need to take special care with the mini Hama beads as they don't require very much ironing at all. Make sure that the iron is on a medium or low setting and press lightly on the beads for no longer than a second at a time. I like to iron the beads on both sides to make sure that they are secure.

Then all you need to do is to attach a clutch back and blank pin set, these are also known as butterfly pins. They are easily available to buy and are not too expensive for a big bag. I used superglue to stick the pin part to the back of the Hama bead design.

Just note that these pin badges are not super sturdy, and they are best used in places where they won't encounter too much wear and tear. They are better used for display, or to embellish a Christmas decoration, like this Santa hat. 

I'm really pleased with my sweet little Hama bead pin badges!

If you enjoy festive crafting with Hama beads then you might also like this post - Hama bead Christmas crafts