Get ready to meet your favorite game night accessory… the mighty dice tower! Create your own with my original dice tower Perler bead pattern, which features structural supports so your dice tower survives countless campaigns.
If you play Dungeons and Dragons or board games regularly, you know the struggle: dice rolling everywhere, falling off the table, knocking game pieces over… next thing you know, you’re fighting with your friends about whether a roll “counted,” and nobody’s having fun at all. A dice tower (or two) not only adds a fun bit of ambiance, but it also keeps the peace.
Why make a dice tower out of Perler beads? First, because it’s easy, especially if you print my pattern and lay clear pegboards on top to copy it bead by bead. We’re talking 1 to 2 hours of zen bead art, a few minutes to iron it, and seconds to snap the pieces together. Other dice towers are made out of cardboard (flimsy and fall apart easily) or trickier mediums like clay. They take way longer, aren’t as sturdy, or make a big mess.
I’m not bragging when I say this is THE best Perler bead dice tower pattern out there. You can’t find it anywhere else on the internet. How do I know? Because I made it up. Inspired by a few others out there, I set out to make an even sturdier, more castle-looking pattern. Then tested it, improved my pattern, and tested it again. (You can see all of this on Instagram, where I tracked it as my “secret project” this week!)
Why go to all that trouble? First, the existing Perler bead dice towers I was finding didn’t have instructions or patterns posted anywhere, just a couple of pictures. Second, they all seemed flimsy, like they’d fall apart in a light breeze. So I added castle crenellations to mine, making sure the structure is rock solid and ready to roll. (hehe) 🎲
Okay, you ready to be the hero your game nights needed? Read on to learn how to make your own Perler bead dice tower!
What You’ll Need
- A large amount of 3 bead colors of your choice (2,200 beads total)
- 2 large *interlocking* pegboards (I used Perler Pegboards) — or 4 if you want to do it all at once
- Iron (I’ve used this one for years but any old iron will do)
- Parchment paper (the regular stuff works as well as the special Perler sheets!)
- Perler Bead Tweezers (for sanity)
Optional but recommended: I sell the printable pattern for only $3 on my Gumroad shop. Trust me when I say the time savings and ease of laying your board on top and copying a pattern are so, so worth it.
Step 1: Laying Out Your Dice Tower Perler Bead Pattern
If you’re not printing the pattern, you can copy it from the photo below. Make sure you’re precise with your bead positions. 3D Perler bead creations are like puzzles—the pieces need to fit together perfectly.
It’s best to use the large interlocking pegboards for this because the castle walls are 41 beads tall, spanning 2 of the 29 x 29 pegboards.
Step 2: Ironing Your Perler Bead Dice Tower
When you iron out your dice tower, make sure the two pegboards holding the castle wall are joined together tightly. The wall must be melted into one continuous piece—no gaps.
And this is KEY: Iron both sides! The beads must be solidly fused together to create a tower that can stand for many campaigns.
Using the tape method to transfer your design is a great idea for this particular pattern, but if you’re not comfortable with that, you’ll want to be careful to firmly iron the “seam” between the two pegboards. Sometimes there’s a small dip there that your iron doesn’t melt as much, which can spell disaster for your design.
After ironing, make sure you place a heavy object on top of your cooling design (like a textbook or two). This is a SUPER important step for the dice tower. It ensures the walls stay nice and flat.
Step 3: Building Your Dice Tower
This is my favorite step! Follow along with my video to put together your dice tower. First, snap together the castle walls and crenellations. Then, add the dice ramps. That’s it!
If you make a Perler bead dice tower, I’d love to see it! Share with me over on Pinterest or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe for updates to get my latest designs in your inbox.
Until next time,
Emily 💖
