Printable circle bead pegboard template

Designs that go round

Circle pegboards turn fuse beads into coasters, mandalas and round ornaments without the stair-stepped corners you get when cutting a circle from a square design. This template draws a 29-peg-wide round board at the true 5 mm midi pitch, with 665 pegs inside a circular outline. Each peg is shown as an empty ring you can color in.

Families and classrooms use round templates for coaster sets and holiday ornaments. Hobbyists design mandalas and kaleidoscope patterns, and some people iron finished circles lightly and shape them over an oven-safe bowl to make small dishes, a project that needs an adult at the iron.

Planning symmetry

Round designs look best when they are symmetrical. Mark the centre peg and the centre row and column with a pencil, then build outward in concentric bands of color. If you design a quarter and mirror it, the pattern stays perfectly balanced. For radial ideas such as sunbursts or clock numerals at even angles, sketching on polar graph paper first can help you place features before translating them to pegs.

The hexagon board variation is a natural choice for snowflakes and flowers, since its staggered rows produce six-fold symmetry. It has 631 pegs.

Printing and using the template

Print at Actual size. Measure across ten pegs along the middle row; they should total 50 mm, matching a midi board. The page holds one circle on Letter or A4; choose Tabloid to fit two side by side. For tiny round charms and earrings, the mini circles variation tiles six boards on one sheet at a 2.6 mm pitch.

Slide the colored template under a clear round pegboard if you have one, or simply keep it next to the board and copy row by row. Use midi beads, such as Perler®- and Hama®-compatible midi beads, and fuse with ironing paper on a medium setting.

Coaster sets are a satisfying first round project. Use the same outer ring color on every coaster so the set looks unified, then vary the centre design. A coaster that fills the whole circle uses 665 beads; leaving a plain background ring and changing the motif inside keeps the count lower and the project quicker for young makers.