Free Halloween Craft Project: Vintage Plastic Hooty Owl Necklace

Hooty Owl Necklace Set Copyright 2009 Margot Potter

Hoot, hoot! I gave you a sneak peek of this necklace a while back. It's so seasonally apropos, I thought this would be the perfect time to share the instructions. This is another easy to whip up in a flash idea and you can sport this puppy all year long. These adorable owl beads come in a variety of colors. I'm a HUGE fan of vintage plastic beads and Beadin' Path has a phenomenal selection. I think plastic is a highly underrated material. It's lightweight, it comes in fantastic colors and effects and often you find far more whimsical ideas done in plastic than would ever be done in gemstone or crystal. I'm not a materials snob...I'll make jewelry from anything! Heck even trash if it's clean! (Designer note: I ended up going back and taking off the last two black beads after I photographed this, so the instructions reflect the updated version. You can add more beads if you want it to be longer.)

Free Halloween Craft Project
Vintage Plastic Hooty Owl Necklace
Copyright 2009 Margot Potter

Materials
6 15x30mm "limey" vintage plastic owl beads
5 18mm white with black polka dot vintage German plastic rounds
12 10mm _Plastic&search=yes&page=search.html">filigree white vintage plastic rounds (these are available in bulk only on Wolf Myrow)
2 15mm frosted black Plaid Fresh rounds
2 3.5" segments Beadalon polyester chain
Frosted black Blue Moon Beads Noir toggle clasp
2 sterling silver EZ-Crimp ends
11 5mm silver plated jump rings
6 2" silver plated head pins
4 1.5" silver plated or sterling head pins
2 silver plated or sterling French ear wires

Tools
Round nose pliers
2 pairs chain nose pliers
Mighty or EZ Crimp Tool
Scissors

1. Cut off 2 3.5" segments of Beadalon polyester chain.

2. Create 6 coiled owl dangles, 2 coiled polka dot dangles and 2 filigree double loop dangles.

3. Attach an EZ-Crimp end to a 12" segment of .018 19 strand Beadalon wire
.
4. Slide beads on in the following order: filigree, owl, filigree, polka dot, filigree, owl, filigree, frosted black, filigree, owl, filigree, polka dot...continuing this pattern until you reach the final (12th) filigree bead.

5. Thread wire into EZ-Crimp, use chain nose pliers to pull it through. Keep piece rounded to prevent it from being too stiff. Attach EZ-Crimp. Cut off excess wire.

6. Use jump rings to attach EZ-Crimp ends to your two poly chain segments.

7. Use jump rings to attach the clasp to each open end of poly chain.

8. To create earrings, attach ear wire to one end of double looped filigree, attach open bottom of filigree to coiled polka dot and repeat for second earring.

Designer Note: All materials used in this design were donated by the manufacturers and website owners for use in my work.