Beaded Lobster KeyChain Pattern - Free Beaded Crawfish Keyring Pattern - Fun Beaded Key Rings

Materials Needed:

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You will need one connector such as a
Lanyard hook,
or any type of
Key Ring.

Cord:
You will need about
2 1/2 yards of cord for your crawfish.
There are lots of different types of cords you can use. For the lobster though, you will want a cord that is not thicker than 1mm thick because you will be feeding it through some of the rows multiple times and a thicker cord will be difficult to feed through at best. Alternatively, you can use a thinner cord and weave a little wire or a pipe cleaner into your keychain sea creature to help it keep it's shape that way. Either way works just fine but you can experiment with it to see which method you prefer.

One good choice is
Monofilament Cord. Other good choices would be jute or hemp cord, leather necklace cord, rattail cord, shoelaces, ribbon, paracord, or a strong jewelry cord like tigertail.

We used a 1mm red leather round cord.

Beads needed:
 99 - Red Pony Beads.

 2 - Black Pony Beads.

Other Things Needed:


Glue

Optional: For a stiffer monkey you can include a little wire or a pipe cleaner with your cord to help keep it's shape
 Beading Wire
OR
 Pipe Cleaners

Instructions

1. Find the half way point of the cord or wire you are using and attach it onto the keyring using a lark's head knot as shown in photo.

2. Begin weaving the beads onto the cord following the pattern. You can click on the image for a larger, better resolution photo.

3. After completing the first 3 rows of your crawfish, refer to the diagram on the right to create one of the pinchers. It is important that you follow the path in the lobster body between rows 4 and 5 where you go back up to the previous row in the center. This center criss-cross keeps the rows on your lobster together.

4. After finishing the pattern your cord ends will be on opposite sides. Tie each end off and then feed a little of the excess cord back through your bottom row to conceal the ends. Apply glue to each knot secure.

5. If you've chosen to stiffen your monkey weave your wire or pipe cleaner through your beaded lobster keychain. You probably only need to do this on one of the rows of each claw.

(Seed beads or E beads can be used in place of pony beads to create smaller characters.)

The illustration below uses green and blue to show you how each cord side is woven into the beads. Your cord, of course, will be all the same color.