Decorative Skull Earrings Tutorial

Prep skulls & paint (optional, recommended first): Peel off the protective film from skull front/back. Paint or decorate now if you want a finished look before beading — it’s easier. Thread the skull & start anchor: Cut ~3 ft thread. Pass thread through the top hole of the skull, leaving a short tail to knot later. This gives you one working tail and one short tail for tying off. Make the top bead loop for the wire guard Slide 6 × 8/0 seed beads onto the working thread (this sets the height for the wire guard). Bring the wire guard down, pass the thread up through the guard and back through the beads and skull so the guard sits snug atop the bead stack. Pull tight. Prepare for fringe: position & first pass: Exit the skull toward the outer beads. You’ll build multiple fringe strands (“hair”) of descending length. The basic strand format Ally uses: (N × 15/0) → 11/0 → crystal (or pearl) → 15/0 anchor where N steps down each pass (5,4,3,2,1). Build the long fringe strands (left side first): First (longest) strand: add 5 × 15/0, then 11/0, then a small crystal (or pearl), then a final 15/0 (do not sew back through this last 15/0 — it acts as an anchor). Sew back through the row of beads you added so the crystal hangs and the anchor 15/0 sits at the tip. Continue with the next strand using 4 × 15/0 → 11/0 → crystal → 15/0, then 3 × 15/0 → …, then 2 × …, then 1 × …. Each time follow the same thread path: down into the anchor area, then back up through the anchor beads to secure. Add the small top accent: When you reach the top position near the wire guard, add 11/0 → crystal → 15/0 to lay along the top before returning through the wire guard to the opposite side. Mirror the fringe on the opposite side: Come down the other side and repeat the same descending sequence (1,2,3,4,5 or mirrored order as shown) so the skull has symmetrical “hair.” Third rotation with pearls (optional): Ally does a third pass replacing some crystals with small pearls for a softer look: repeat the same N counts but swap the crystal for a 2–4 mm pearl (keeping the 11/0 spacer and 15/0 anchor pattern). This adds depth and shimmer. Add optional bottom drop: For a bottom dangle: pick the point opposite a RounDuo location, thread a larger drop/crystal and 3 × 11/0 under it (or 3 × 15/0 depending on scale), then sew back up through the drop to center and stabilize the pendant. Adjust placement so the drop exits through the skull bottom area. Final tightening, route & wire guard finish: Sew around the outer edge following your thread paths until you reach the top bead/point where the wire guard sits. Pass through the wire guard a second time, then shape the wire guard slightly with pliers so it sits like a teardrop on a single bead (this helps it nest in the design). Tie off & hide tails: Pull threads snug, bring working thread back to the initial knot at the skull top, tie the thread ends together securely, and bury the tails by stitching under bridge threads. Trim and zap (melt) synthetic thread tails if using DragonThread. Attach ear wire: Open the ear wire sideways (not by pulling back), slip it onto the wire guard, then close/twist so the ear wire keeps its teardrop shape and the earring hangs centered.