Dress up a scary costume with a necklace made of skull beads.
Whether your Halloween costume needs some embellishing or you just want to add a darker touch to your everyday attire, making skull beads from polymer clay is both reasonably easy and a lot of fun. The level of detail you include is entirely up to you. With a little attention to detail, you can get very impressive -- and creepy -- results.
Instructions
1. Blend the clay. For a more realistic, bone-like result, use two parts translucent to one part white or ivory. If you'd like a cartoonish skull bead, use more white than translucent. Blend the clay by rolling the two colors between your hands, flattening it, folding it in half, and rolling it again. Continue until you have one ball of thoroughly blended clay.
2. Determine what size you'd like your bead to be and separate the appropriate amount of clay. Shape the bead by rolling it into an egg shape. Make it as smooth as possible, but don't worry if it's slightly uneven.
3. Decide if you would like the bead to be strung horizontally or vertically. Slowly pierce the clay ball with the floral wire, turning it slightly as you go to avoid smashing the bead. Leave the bead threaded over the wire. To keep the hole's shape, you will sculpt and bake with the wire in place.
4. Use the needle to designate where the eye sockets and nostrils will be by marking a small hole for each. The eyes should be a little less than halfway (starting from the top) down the front of the oval and evenly spaced. Below the nostrils, draw a straight line for the teeth.
5. Pinch the bottom of the bead gently to shape the jawline. Use the ball of your thumb to push in the eye socket and turn your finger to smooth out the line. Repeat on the other side, making sure that the hollow will be deep enough for the socket to stand out. Use the edge of the needle to mark the cheekbones by pushing it into the clay. Then use your thumb to press under that line and make a hollow. Repeat on the other side.
6. Mark the teeth, evenly spaced along the straight line, using the flat-edged tool. For added detail, you can trace along the outside edges of the teeth with the needle. Above the teeth, push the needle into the designated nostril holes and widen each one by moving the point in a fan motion.
7. Bake the bead at the recommended temperature for the brand of polymer clay you are using (between 230 and 275 F), for the recommended length of time -- usually about fifteen minutes per quarter inch thickness.
8. Remove the piece from the oven after it has thoroughly baked and let it cool completely. Mix a small amount of the acrylic paint with water and brush it over the surface of the bead as a wash. Buff the bead with the paper towel to remove paint from the surface of the skull, being careful not to wipe the paint completely away from the eye sockets, nostrils or between the teeth.
9. Paint a thin layer of glaze over the bead. Once it has completely dried, slip the bead from the wire and use it as desired.
