What to do with leftover Hama beads

Most families with children will have encountered Hama beads at some point! Even if you've not bought them themselves you may have been given them as gifts or had them passed on by another family. You might discover that once you've completed a kit you have beads leftover which aren't enough to make another full shape, or that you are left with many odds and ends of random colours. So I've put together some tips for things that you can do with leftover and spare Hama beads!

The main thing - don't just throw them away! If your family has outgrown or finished playing with Hama beads then there is bound to be someone that you know that would appreciate them (I've received many beads that way!) You can also donate to a charity shop or give away on Freecycle or a local Facebook group, there are many people that would enjoy using them. Even if you don't have many beads or you don't have the prettiest colours, younger children often prefer the activity of placing the beads on the pegboards to creating the perfect design.

I've shared a few craft projects that would be perfect for using small amounts of different coloured beads. I love this pretty Hama bead quilt style picture which I keep framed in our bathroom. It's a really simple design, and can use up beads where you only have one in a single colour.

Simple coasters are a great way to use odds and ends of Hama beads to create something with a purpose. I've shared some ideas here - How to make Hama bead coasters - and all you need are the smaller sized pegboards which come in a variety of different shapes.

Of course you aren't limited to using Hama beads on pegboards. The beads can be strung together either alone or with other beads to make bracelets, or maybe onto long strings to create a beaded curtain. They could be used to embellish other crafts such as macramé or even crochet and knitting.

If you want to use the beads for bracelet making, something fun that you can do with them is to melt them in the oven, which makes for a flatter and smoother bead. You can find instructions here - How to make a melted Hama bead bracelet. 

There are also some other crafts that you can try by melting the beads. This works especially well if you've ended up with some of the cheaper beads that don't work quite as well when used as intended. I've written a blog post sharing several crafts using melted Hama beads. 

If your Hama bead collection is diminishing and you want to use up as many as you can, I'd recommend having a good sort out and arranging the beads by colour. I like to use compartmentalised boxes to keep my Hama bead colours separate, or you can also use small bags. It's a really good way to see exactly how many beads you have left of each colour, as well as helping you see the different types of beads and colour combinations that you have. You'll probably find that this gives you some craft ideas too!

If you are looking for some projects to work on using beads that you have around the house then you can find all my Hama bead craft posts here - Hama bead craft projects - I hope that you can make the most of the Hama bead supplies that you have!