Hello Kitty Organizer (Made with Perler Beads!)

March 20, 2023

Learn how to make a Hello Kitty organizer using simple supplies! Kids will love this easy perler bead project they can use in their room.

Skills Required: None. Even if you’ve never crafted before, this organizer is easy to make. You’ll be melting beads with an iron and gluing them together. The patterns are at the bottom of the post.

If there’s anything we can all use a little bit more of, it’s organization! At least me, anyway. It’s one of my struggles. I always need places to put things. Including all my pretty trinkets!

The children of my family also have this same need, including my nieces. They love cute little knick knacks, jewelry, and other fun stuff. And they want to organize them as well.

We’ve been playing a lot with perler beads recently, and we pulled together some Hello Kitty perler bead patterns that were really fun!

After trying a Hello Kitty door hanger, we were ready to go a bit “dimensional.” I’d made a perler bead box before, which is really easy. I figured we could tackle something a bit larger!

Once my niece Maria saw the this Hello Kitty organizer, she squealed. And she had to make it, including with her own color choices!

Not a problem, right? I mean, it’s only got multiple levels, drawers, and the beads have to be in all the right places for it to work. We accepted the challenge!

The drawers actually do go in and out, and hold stuff as well. Cute, right? What you should know is that this project uses quite a few perler beads. You’ll need approximately 3,000 of a primary color, about 300 black, and almost 4,000 white beads to make it.

This is a super easy summer craft or boredom buster that kids are going to love. Not that you can’t make it any time of year. It’s nice and time consuming!

Tray of a variety of colors of hama beads

Perler beads are recommended for ages six and up, so this is a very fun craft to try with your elementary age kids (and up). All children seem to love perler beads (also known as hama beads, fuse beads, or melty beads). But don’t be shy – adults love them too!

And what adult doesn’t love Hello Kitty! I’m in my late 40s. No shame here.

Tips for Using Perler Beads

Before we get into the organizer creation, 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 patterns and tutorial.

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 (with a rainbow as an example).

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. 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.

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

Once the pieces are done, you’ll assemble.

There’s only one additional step you’re going to need to do to make the Hello Kitty desk organizer, and that’s glue the bows down on each side on top of the outline.

I used a dab of clear drying craft adhesive (Aleene’s works great) to attach the bows, and they were secure. They dried completely in about an hour. You could probably hot glue them as well.

Gluing the bow down on the side of the organizer

Note: You CAN use glue to assemble the entire organizer and make it stronger. If you feel like it’s going to get regular use and it needs to be sturdy, I recommend gluing the beads at all the major intersections where you attach pieces.

Hello Kitty Desk Organizer

Now if you’re ready to make the project, here are the patterns! You’ll need to make a top and bottom, two sides, a middle shelf, and a back. Then you’re going to make the drawers (two of them!). There’s also a bow to embellish each side.

Once you’re done making all of the patterns, you’re going to assemble the organizer according to the photo at the top of this post. It’s pretty easy! Don’t forget to glue it together to make it stronger.

You’ll either need two 29 x 29 boards (and link them together) or an extra large pegboard to fit certain parts of the project. Let’s get started.

Top and Bottom

You’re going to make two of this pattern, one for the top and one for the bottom of the organizer. You’ll need a total of 1,028 beads in your primary color.

Organizer Sides

Make two of these sides. You can change the nose to any color you like. For both sides you’ll need 856 beads in your primary color as well as 190 black, 364 white, and 4 total for the nose.

hello kitty organizer box sides make two

Middle Shelf

Make one shelf. You’ll need 483 beads in your primary color and 16 white. These tabs are attached through Hello Kitty’s face on both sides (with the tabs toward the back).