While “sugar skulls” are traditionally associated with the Day of the Dead (a Mexican holiday, and celebrated in other cultures as well), I’ve had this project idea on my list for months – so I thought I’d share this right before Cinco De Mayo (another Mexican holiday). I love anything having to do with florals and skulls to begin with (if you follow me on any social media, you probably already knew this!) so it’s just a cute and different DIY that I wanted to share. I’m all for skulls + flowers all year round! 🙂
Keep reading to see how I made this necklace —
Supplies:
– Long chain
– Jump ring
– Head pin
– Skull bead
– 4 crimp beads
– Seed beads
– 28 gauge wire
– 3-in-1 jewelry pliers
– Scissors
Optional:Â
-Small flower flat back embellishment
– Strong craft glue (such as E-6000)
1) Add seed beads to the head pin.
2) Add the skull bead, leaving about .25 in (0.635 cm) left on the head pin. Use the pliers to create a loop from the remaining length of the head pin.
3) Cut a length of wire. 10 in (25.4 cm) should be more than enough!
4) Add a seed bead, a crimp bead, and another seed bead. Take the end of the wire and insert it through the crimp bead and the first seed bead (second photo).
5) With the flat portion of the pliers, flatten the crimp bead. Add on about 7 more seed beads, make sure that the end of the wire is threaded through the seed beads as well.
 
6) Wrap the wire a bit below the skull (first photo), in between seed beads. I wrapped tightly about 3 times. Add another 7 beads – or however many you added on the first side! – Â a crimp bead, and another seed bead.
7) Insert the end of the wire through the crimp bead, then back through several of the seed beads. Pull the wire so that the second “arm” stays close to the “body”. I found that holding the entire arm down (first photo) then tugging the wire helped a great deal.
8) Wrap around the center a few times, and trim the wire with scissors. Repeat Steps 2-7 for the legs, making them a tad bit longer!
9) Add a jump ring to the loop, and add to the chain.
Optional: Use strong craft glue such as E-6000 to glue a small flower flat back to the arm. The one I used was ordered off of Etsy.
This is one of those quirky, kitschy projects – which I love. It really only uses up a few supplies, too. I’m tempted to make a few more in different colors!
xx K