Wood Halloween Pendants

Wow, 2 posts in one week.  School has been keeping me very busy so there has been very little crafting in my life the past couple of months, much less blogging about what I make.  Here is a super quick and easy craft just in time for Halloween.  I will be making some more durable Christmas ones to sell at a craft show on the weekend after Thanksgiving in McConnells, SC. 

Supplies (all from Hobby Lobby): Mod Podge, Scrapbook Paper, 1" wooden disks, and larger jump rings. 

Cut out round pieces about the same size as your wooden disks.  I glued them down with Mod Podge.  Then I sanded down any edges that might be hanging off.  That was easier than getting the circles cut perfectly.  I put 2 coats of Mod Podge on top of each one.  Use Triple Thick on top if you have the 3 or so days to wait for them to dry.  It will be more durable than Mod Podge, but since it is already so close to Halloween, I went the fast route for these.

Drill a small hole close to the top, slide your jump ring through, and pinch closed.  My jump rings were big enough and bent easily enough I didn't even have to go find pliers!

Slip them onto a piece of cording and pass them out to your little girls best friends who just so happen to live in the neighborhood.  Pumpkin for Abby, Bat for Aly, Ghost for Taylor, and Frankenstein for Evelyn.

It took me just 3 hours which included driving to the store where I saw the inspirational halloween scrapbook paper, tracked down wooden disks and jump rings, picked the girls up from school, made an afternoon snack, did homework with both girls, cooked supper, found the drill, charged the dead battery for the drill, and finally delivered the finished necklaces.

Total cost not including Mod Podge or cording $4.42 and you will have enough to make 12 with lots of jump rings left over.

Scrabble Tile Necklace

Aleene's Paper Glaze 2 oz $5.99 (Michael's)

Triple Thick 4 oz jar $3.99 (Hobby Lobby)

Scrabble Tiles (from a $1 Goodwill game)

Mod Podge

Fabric or Paper design of choice

Eye Hooks

I much prefer the Triple Thick over the Paper Glaze. The Triple Thick will have more tiny bubbles left after it dries, but for making these for myself or as gifts, I am ok with that. If I were going to make them to sell, I would probably want to go with epoxy, but it's just not worth the hassle for me when I am only making 3-4 at the time. The Triple Thick will get much harder than the Paper Glaze even with a week or more drying time. I like the initial overall look of the Paper Glaze but like the durability of Triple Thick much better.

I found these eye hooks at Hobby Lobby in the clockmaking section. Odd place if you ask me, but that's the only place I saw them. I found them by accident actually. I think there were 30 in a pack for about $1.99.

For Donna's I chose to use fabric, and on Aly's I used an image that I found online and printed out on my inkjet printer which everywhere I read said not to do because the colors would run.

From Left to Right: Donna, Aly, Abby

1) Paint a thin coat of Mod Podge on your Scrabble tile and stick your image to that.

2) Trim paper or fabric so it is even with the edges of your tile.

3) If you used paper, apply a thin coat of Mod Podge to the top of it and let it dry completely. This will help the colors not run.

4) Apply a coat of Triple Thick using a paintbrush. Let this dry for 3 days. The jar says 24 hours, but mine was not completely hard so I waited extra time.

5) Drill a small starter hole for your eye hook. On my first one, I drilled the hole too far. The smallest drill bit I had is slightly larger than the diameter of the eye hook so it wouldn't stay in. What worked best for me was to drill into the tile only a tiny bit, then hold the eye hook with my jewelry pliers in my left hand, tile in my right hand and screw the tile onto the hook instead of the hook into the tile if that makes sense.

You can find the ball chains sold individually or in packs of 5 at Hobby Lobby. They are pretty cheap to begin with and I happened to find them when they had jewelry supplies on sale for 50% off. I think the single one as around $1.47 regular price. I also picked up some lobster claw clasps and cord ends so I could make necklaces from thin ribbon or cord.