Ministry of Craft Tutorial: Stop! Hama Time!

We, the office team at Ministry of Craft, have six children under eight between us. Consequently Hama beads are a big part of our lives and the perfect rainy day activity. But who said it was just kids that get all the Hama bead action?

With a fab range of fun colours, (including glow in the dark!) and plenty of different shaped templates to choose from, we've been inspired to create this on-trend geo jewellery set: totally wearable and pretty unique!

Ingredients:  (All available at Fred Aldous)

Hama bead pack (1000)
Hama bead peg board
Glue gun
Rico Made by me Super jersey thread
Chain nose jewellery pliers
Ring base
Earring stud and back
Jewellery chain

Decide on the layout of your design and place your Hama beads on the individual spikes to create a pattern. I went for a geometric design and managed to get all of the items - a ring, two earrings and two necklaces - on one board.

If you want to create circular jewellery you'll need to use a circular board.

Iron over your Hama beads using the greaseproof paper on a medium heat, until all of the beads merge together to create one piece.

Be careful not to press down on the iron too hard as it's easy to melt the top of the plastic spikes as well!

Once the beads have cooled, remove them carefully from the bead board. 

Using a kebab stick or a similar pointed object, pierce through the back of your design at the point where you'd like to attach a jump ring.

Using the half nosed jewellery pliers, open up your jump ring and feed it through the hole you've created. Once it's through, use the pliers to close the hole.

Repeat on the other side. Now you're ready for the chain.

Feed the chain through your jump rings, so the chain lays across the top of the design.

Alternatively you could attach a chain with larger links directly to the jump rings by opening up a link.  

Pre heat your glue gun and then add a small amount of glue to the back of the your Hama bead earring. Press the flat base of the stud down onto the glue and leave to dry before adding the stud back. 

Repeat for the other earring and the ring design too.

In place of a chain we found this cool Rico super jersey in yellow, which has a thousand crafty uses! 

Follow the steps above to add a jump ring to your design and then simply thread through the jersey.


Et volia! New fab, fun and funky jewellery ready to wear! 


After modelling my creations for the tutorial pictures, Lindsey went and bought her own Hama bead supplies from Fred Aldous. She immediately made necklaces for her friend's imminent hen party; all the hens got a neon pink necklace to wear with the contrasting yellow jersey thread. And the lucky hen got this delightful L-Plate necklace (plus another beaded charm which is too X-rated for us to picture!). 

So remember that Hama beads can be employed for all your life events, and not just for rainy days!












Check out our Hama bead pinterest board for further inspiration. If you'd like to come and make jewellery with us at Ministry of Craft then check our forthcoming courses here. We also host awesome hen parties, so if you're a hen looking for a crafty send-off then take a look at our party page here.