Back in the 90s someone I knew made me a decorative black mage from Final Fantasy using perler beads. I’ve always thought it was cool, and have kept it around somewhere handy.

When my girlfriend suggested I make a Nintendo controller business card for my next video, I immediately went in search of how I could get my hands on some of these beads. It turns out they’re pretty cheap, and easy to get.

Although I borrowed the idea from an etsy post, I tweaked the pattern just a bit to look more like an actual NES controller. Of course it’s probably simpler to get one from the original etsy listing. But it’s my intention to eventually complete the Final Fantasy set of characters with beads.

You’re going to need:

1 – Peg Board
26 – Red Beads
240 – Black Beads
391 – Grey Beads
Wax Paper (Mine came with the pegboard)
Tweezers (For placing the beads)
An Iron
Hot Glue Gun

Putting the front and back together is pretty straight forward. Just follow the pattern and put the right beads in the right spot.

Put the wax paper on top and iron the beads. They should melt together after a short while.

Flip them over, and melt the other side.

Once the front and back are done, it’s time to build the side and bottom pieces. These are even simpler since there’s only one colour.

Iron these pieces, flip and iron the other side. Don’t forget the wax paper, or you’ll melt the plastic directly onto your iron.

Gluing it all together is the tricky part.

Start with the bottom piece, gluing it along the long side and sticking it to the bottom of a controller.

Then glue the side and bottom for each side piece.

The last piece is the hardest. You have to be REAL quick or the glue will dry before you have a chance to get the controller piece on. And be careful not to glue it upside down like I did. Twice.

And that’s all there is to it. One nintendo controller business card holder. Enjoy!