Frog fuse bead pattern

About this design

This frog sits square to the viewer, so the chart is mirror-symmetric from the centre column outwards. The eyes sit on top of the head like two domes, each with a chunky black pupil and one white bead left in the corner as a glint. A long black smile runs almost the full width of the face, and two Blush beads on each side give the cheeks a little colour. Below the chin, Sherbet fills an oval belly, and short black lines mark where the folded back legs tuck in.

You will need roughly 288 Green, 143 Black, 83 Sherbet, 25 White, 14 Dark Green, 4 Blush and 2 Sour Apple beads. Buy a few spares of each, because the odd bead always rolls away.

Placing the beads

The frog is 25 beads wide and 26 tall, so it fits on one large square pegboard with a couple of empty pegs to spare on each edge. Count in from the top-left corner and lay the black outline first: once the eye domes and the smile line are in, the green areas are easy to fill by eye. Do the white of the eyes before the green around them so you do not lose your place.

Ironing and finishing

Ironing is a job for an adult. Cover the beads with ironing paper, set a dry iron to medium and move it in slow circles for 10 to 20 seconds until the beads just start to merge. Let it cool, lift it off the board, turn it over and press the back the same way. Leave it to cool flat under a heavy book. At about 12.5 × 13 cm it makes a cheerful coaster, fridge magnet or wall hanging.

Colour plan

Perler 80-19080 Bright Green does the most work, 48% of the 594 beads, followed by Perler 80-19018 Black at 24%. Perler 80-19063 Blush (4) and Perler 80-15241 Sour Apple (2) are used only a little: small details worth marking on the chart so you don't miss them. 9% of the grid is left empty.

Working notes

All the beads touch along a full side, so it irons into one solid piece.