Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Pour a few fistfuls of Perler beads into an oven-safe bowl. Spread the beads evenly around the bowl, including up along the sides of the bowl as far as you can.

At its peak, Perler Beads had 120 employees and sold kits all over the world, Quinn said. They were found in big-box stores, specialty toy retailers and school supply stores, she said.

Perler beads were one of those memories, and as an adult, I was psyched to share them with my kids. I started with a big bucket of mixed beads, and working alongside my kids, gradually began ...