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Frankenstein Necklace – Halloween Jewelry Tutorial

by Rena Klingenberg.

Make a Frankenstein necklace with this fun Halloween jewelry tutorial.

With a few beads and some wire, you can create this haunting project.

Also, you can give Frankie two different facial expressions – one on the front of his head, and one on the back.

Turn his head to show the expression you want to show (I gave one side of his head a smiling face, and gave the other side of his head a growling face):

This tutorial is dedicated to Boris Karloff, who played the fascinating character of Frankenstein’s monster in the classic 1931 film “Frankenstein”.

Supplies:

• 1 plastic or acrylic lime green large-hole (4mm hole or larger) bead for the head; a cylinder, rectangle, or square shape bead, or pony bead is best.
  I used a neon green plastic cylinder bead, 8mm x 10mm (0.031″ x 0.40″) size.
• 5 plastic or acrylic purple large-hole (4mm hole or larger) beads for the torso, arms, and legs; rectangle or cylinder shape beads, or pony beads are best.
  I used purple plastic cylinder beads, 8mm x 10mm (0.031″ x 0.40″) size.
• 2 round lime green beads for the hands, 8mm (0.031″) size.
  I used acrylic beads; make sure these bead holes will accommodate 1 strand of the 20 gauge wire.
• 2 round black beads for the feet, 8mm (0.031″) size.
  I used acrylic beads; make sure these bead holes will accommodate 1 strand of the 20 gauge wire.
• 1 jump ring, medium size, for attaching Frankenstein to a necklace chain or cord.
• Wire cutter.
• Round nose pliers.
• Flat nose and chain nose pliers.
• Necklace chain or cord.
  I’m using an antiqued copper ball chain, 16″ (406mm) length.
• Black Sharpie pen
• 2 pieces of 20 gauge soft round wire; I used Artistic wire in “gunmetal” color.
  

  How to figure how long your wires should be:
  Add the length of the head bead + the torso bead + one of the leg beads + 1 of the foot beads. Then double that length, and add 70mm.

  Example Measurement:
  This is an example; be sure to use the measurements of your own beads.
  Add 10mm head bead + 10mm torso bead + 10mm leg bead + 8mm foot bead = 38mm of beads.
  Now double the 38mm bead length: 38mm + 38mm = 76mm.
  Now add 70mm: 76mm + 70mm = 146mm.

  So in this example, you would cut two pieces of wire, each 146mm long.

How to Make a Frankenstein Necklace

The cylinder beads I used for this project came from this bag, which I purchased at a local Hobby Lobby craft store:

Here are the cylinder beads and round beads I used for this project, plus the wire I used:

Let’s start by creating Frankie’s head.

Use a fairly sharp black Sharpie marker to draw a zig-zag line all around one end of the bead, for his bangs:

Use the black Sharpie to color in the bangs all the way around the bead, including the top surface of the bead:

Let the inked hair dry completely for a few minutes before moving on to the next step, so you don’t accidentally smear the hair.

When the hair is dry, use a black Sharpie to draw a face on one side of the head.

Let the face dry completely.

Then draw a different face on the opposite side of the head, so he can have two different facial expressions:

Now cut your 2 pieces of wire to the length you calculated.

Use a Sharpie marker to mark the center point of each wire:

Place the two wires side-by-side.

Use the widest part of your round nose pliers to grasp both wires, right on the midpoint you drew on the wires:

Use your fingers to bend the wires straight downward, creating a smooth U-shape over the lower jaw of the pliers:

Still grasping your wires with the pliers, wrap the wire ends smoothly around the lower jaw of the pliers, so that the wires cross each other like this:

Now use your fingers to twist the wires once, right where the wires cross:

Just below the wire twist, use your fingers or flat nose pliers to bend the wire ends straight downward:

Now your wires should look like this:

Remove your wires from the pliers.

String the Frankenstein head bead onto the wires, so that his hair will be next to the loop at the top of the wires:

Push his head firmly against the wire loop:

. . . and use the top jaw of your round nose pliers to grasp the wire loop, with the wire ends pointing straight upward:

Why are we making Frankie stand on his head now?

Because the next few steps are easier if gravity is working with us instead of against us. 🙂

Grasp two of the wires, and bend them straight outward, one on each side. These will be his arms:

Now string the torso bead onto the two remaining upward wires. The torso bead should be resting snugly against Frankenstein’s wire underarms:

The two remaining wires are his legs. Stretch the leg wires out so it looks like he’s doing jumping jacks:

Now he should look something like this:

Get one of his leg beads and one of his foot beads ready:

String the leg bead and foot bead onto one of his wire legs:

Press the leg bead and foot bead tightly against the torso bead.

His leg wire end should poke out about 8mm (5/16″) beyond the foot bead. Trim this wire end if it’s longer than that.

Use the tips of your round nose pliers to make a small loop at the end of the leg wire, to keep the leg and foot beads firmly in place.

Now this leg is finished. He should look something like this:

Finish the second leg the same way you did the first:

Now we’ll finish his arms and hands.

Get one of his arm beads and one of his hand beads ready:

And finish the arm and hand the same way you did with the legs and feet:

Finish the remaining arm and hand the same way:

Now we’ll add a jump ring to the loop at the top of Frankenstein’s head.

If you’re new to using jump rings, see my quick tip, How to Open and Close a Jump Ring.

Use your flat nose and chain nose pliers to twist open your jump ring:

Use your flat nose and chain nose pliers to twist the jump ring shut again.

String your necklace chain or cord through the jump ring – and you’re done:

Your finished Frankenstein Necklace may look something like this: