Beaded Jack O'Lantern KeyChain Pattern - Fun Beaded Halloween 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 beaded jack o'lantern.
There are lots of different types of cords you can use. We prefer a cord that is about 1 1/2mm to 2mm thick because it helps your jack-o-lantern keychain keep it's shape better. Alternatively, you could use a thinner cord and weave a little wire or a pipe cleaner into your keychain 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
or
2mm metallic cording.
Other great choices would be:
2mm Jute or Hemp cord,
1.5mm Leather necklace cord,
1.5mm Satin Rattail Cord,
OR
1/8" Satin Ribbon

For ours, we used a 1mm orange cotton jute cord.

Helpful Hint: If your cord end frays easily try dipping it into a little melted wax and smoothing it out with your fingers. This will help prevent fraying and also create a stiffer end for threading into your beads.

Beads needed:
 77 - Orange Pony Beads

 23 - Black Pony Beads

 5 - Green Pony Beads

Note: these are the colors we used. You can use these colors or you can make your jack o'lantern in other halloween-y colors like black, lime green, purple, or whatever colors are perfect for you.

Other Things Needed:


Glue
 (We used "super glue")

Optional: For a stiffer jack-o-lantern you can include a little wire or a pipe cleaner with your cord on the 2nd or 3rd row 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 (shown in photo).

2. Begin threading the beads onto the cord following the pattern below. You can click on the image at the bottom of the page for a larger, better resolution photo.

3. After finishing the pattern you will notice that your cords do not end at the same place. You can either bring them around and tie them together at the bottom with a double knot or surgeon's knot. Or you can do what we did which is tie each one off at the ends of the last row. Add a little glue to each knot to prevent them from unraveling.

(Optional) Weave your wire or pipe cleaner through one of the widest rows in the 2nd or 3rd row of your beaded jack o'lantern keychain to make it stiffer and hold it's shape.

The illustration below shows you how each cord side is threaded into the beads.

Would you like to make other Halloween themed beaded critters? How about some cool Beaded Skeletons OR Beaded Ghosts OR Beaded Bat

Make a bunch of them and string them up onto Halloween garland!

Follow the same pattern using seed beads or E beads in place of pony beads to create smaller characters and create a great pair of earrings or a necklace pendant.