Ryan Draper is a typical 12-year-old boy at Sapulpa Middle School, except for one pretty amazing skill: the kid is becoming a master at constructing cool and interesting objects out of Perler beads.
Perler is a brand of small plastic beads that are laid out and fused together using heat—usually from a common clothes iron through parchment—that typically give the appearance of a mosaic art piece, however some of the more ambitious crafters can build things ranging from small planters and pen holders to fidget cubes.
In an interview earlier this week, Draper showed off his collection of 2D and 3D objects, most of which are for sale—everything from ice cream and cupcake keychains, to more complex 3D objects like a baseball and even a small replica of a black and blue Air Jordan Nike sneaker.
“Actually, my friend gave me this Pikachu of these, and I said ‘I should probably start doing these,’ and so I started building in 2D, then I saw this shoe one, the actual Michael Jordan shoe,” he said.
Draper says that he’s only been making things out of Perler beads since April or May of this year, but he’s quickly shown himself to be a more advanced builder and is willing to be patient and learn how to construct complicated objects, even if the first time doesn’t go so well.
“I made this basketball right here, which failed,” he said, chuckling. “It’s too flat. If I had to start over, I’d make it more round like this,” showing off a baseball, with red beads to give it a rounded stitching effect.
Draper shows off one of his more complex pieces—a deceptively simple box with a lid that slides in and out. He explains how building the object in pieces allows you to create things that fit together without needing heat. He pops the top of the box off to show the small ledge he built on the inside that allows the lid for the box to slide in and out. Then he reattaches the top, which snaps together with an almost Lego-like quality. “I looked at a Minecraft picture and just turned it into this,” he said.
Of all the objects he brought, the Nike Air Jordan shoe is obviously the most creative, with layers upon layers of blue and black beads forming not just the outward shape of the shoe, but the inside as well, to give the whole thing stability, making it more like a trophy than an art piece.
“This one has more than 2500 beads in it,” he says, adding that it took about 5 hours over the span of 2 days to build.
He also says his smaller hands give him the benefit of using his fingers to lay out the beads. “Most adults have to use tweezers,” he said. “I can build things faster with my fingers.”
Ryan Draper’s Perler bead creations are on sale now, with prices ranging from $1-$3 for keychains, all the way up to $20 or $30 for 3D objects. He says he’d love to be able to make enough to buy a go-kart and yes, he takes requests. See more examples and make a purchase using his dad’s Facebook profile.
