Beaded Skeleton Earrings (Preciosa Ornela)

Give your Halloween lineup some playful chills with these beaded skeleton earrings. This project uses PRECIOSA Candy™, Hill™, pressed glass sugar skulls, and 8/0 rocailles linked on eye pins—quick to assemble, and delightfully dangly!

Materials & Tools (counts per earring; double for a pair)

• PRECIOSA Pressed Skull bead ~20 × 16 mm
• PRECIOSA Hill™ 8 mm (H1) — 4 pcs
• PRECIOSA Hill™ 6 mm (H2) — 5 pcs
• PRECIOSA Candy™ 8 mm (C) — 1 pc
• PRECIOSA Rocailles 8/0 (R) — ≈33 pcs (white)
• Fine chain — ~29 links (≈2.7–3.0 cm), fold in half
• Eye pins — 30 mm (2 pcs) & 40 mm (5 pcs)
• Rings — 5 mm (several)
• Earring hook — 1 pc
• Tools: needle‑nose, flat‑nose & snipping pliers

Difficulty: ●●○   Technique: eye‑pin linking   Time: ~1–2 hours

Step‑by‑Step

1. Prep the rib chain. Cut ~29 links of fine chain. Fold in half; this creates a central link with two equal tails.
2. Head & hang. On a 30 mm eye pin, add the skull bead (hole vertical). Form the top eye, catching the central chain link before you close it.
3. Top ribs. On a 40 mm eye pin: string H1 – 3×R – link through the 2nd chain link on one side – R – the 2nd link on the other side – 3×R – H1. Close the eye so both eyes sit in the same plane.
4. Middle ribs. Repeat the rib step, linking through the 4th chain links. Make three more ribs the same way, threading the 6th and 8th chain links for the last two.
5. Pelvis. On an eye pin: C – last chain link – R – last link – C. Close the eye, keeping both eyes in the same plane. Add a second pelvis pin through the other holes of the Candy beads, linking through the 3rd from last chain links with R spacers before closing.
6. Legs (make 2). On a 40 mm eye pin: H2 – 6×R – H2. Make four bone segments; connect them into two legs with rings. Hang each leg from the pelvis eyes using rings.
7. Arms (make 2). On a 30 mm eye pin: H1 – 3×R – H1. Create two segments per arm and connect them, then hang each arm from the ribcage “shoulder” eye.
8. Finish. Attach the top skull eye to an ear wire. Repeat all steps for the second earring.

Tips

• Twist eyes in the same plane on each pin so components hang straight.
• Keep ring openings facing the back of the skeleton for a cleaner look.
• Use saw‑cut rings for the strongest joins; give every connection a gentle tug test.

Design credit: Preciosa Ornela / Helena Chmelíková. Instructions adapted and paraphrased for clarity for the Shipwreck Beads blog.