Halloween Pony Bead Bat Pattern - Fun Beaded Halloween Keychain Crafts

Materials Needed:

• 1 - Lanyard Hook OR 1 - Key Ring

• Cord - Approximately 2 1/2 yards

  There are lots of different types of cord you can use for your beaded bat. We prefer cord about 1 1/2mm to 2mm thick because it helps your bat keychain keep its shape. Alternatively, you can use thinner cord and weave a little wire or a pipe cleaner into your keychain for extra support. Either method works, so experiment to see which you prefer.

  Monofilament Cord OR 2mm Metallic Cord OR 1mm Black Jute or Hemp Cord OR 1.5mm Leather Necklace Cord OR 1.5mm Satin Rattail Cord OR 1/8" Satin Ribbon

  For ours, we used 1.5mm black cotton jute cord.

  Helpful Hint: If your cord end frays easily, try dipping it into a little melted wax and smoothing it out with your fingers. This helps prevent fraying and creates a stiffer end for threading through your beads.

• 7 - Purple Pony Beads
• 44 - Black Pony Beads
• 30 - Gray Pony Beads

These are the colors we used. You can make your beaded bat in other Halloween colors, such as orange, lime green, purple, or whatever colors are perfect for you!

• Glue (We used super glue.)
• Scissors
• Ruler or Measuring Tape

• Optional: For a stiffer beaded bat, you can include a little wire or a pipe cleaner with your cord to help the bat keep its shape.

  Beading Wire OR Pipe Cleaners

Instructions

1. Locate the halfway point of your cord or lacing and fold it in half. Attach the folded cord to your key ring or lanyard hook using a lark's head knot as shown in the photo. You should now have two cords of about the same length hanging from the key ring.

2. Begin weaving your pony beads following the bat pattern. This beaded bat uses Peyote Stitch, a different weaving technique from the one used for many of our other pony bead keychain patterns. If you're unfamiliar with Peyote Stitch, here's a helpful Peyote Stitch tutorial to get you started.

3. When you've finished weaving your bat, you'll notice that the two cord ends do not finish in the same place. You can bring them together and tie a double knot or surgeon's knot at the bottom, but we found that it looks better to tie off each cord individually at the last row where it ends. Apply a little glue to each knot to help prevent unraveling.

Optional: Weave a piece of wire or a pipe cleaner through one of the widest rows near the top of your beaded bat keychain to help it hold its shape.

You can also follow this same pony bead bat pattern using seed beads or E beads to create smaller versions. These little beaded bats would make a fun pair of Halloween earrings or a necklace pendant!