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Halloween Designs By Bethany Waldrop Keiper . "October is crisp days and cool nights, a time to curl up around the dancing flames and sink into a good book." -- John SinorOctober is a good time to sink into a good book, but how about sinking into a big pile of beads instead? October is time for Halloween, and this holiday's colors are great for bold designs. You can use all shades of orange, yellow and gold for pumpkins and candlelight; tan for haystacks and harvested grain; green for Frankenstein, gourds and pumpkin stems; white for ghosts; and of course, black, for the spooky night itself. Purple has also gained popularity as a Halloween color, and a Christmas color as well. One of the best contrasts of Halloween is the yellow-orange glow of candlelit jack o'lanterns in the black night. Keeping with that theme, these ghostly white holiday-perfect bumpy beads with their yellow and orange 'eyes' seem to have an inner glow.
Less intricate opaque bumpy beads in black and white, orange and black and yellow and black would add interest to a holiday design. Glittering gold-core beads are always festive, and look stylish combined with opaque black disks and sparkling orange firepolished facetted rounds. This design could be worn beyond the holiday, throughout the rest of the autumn season. Another design that can be worn long after candy treats have disappeared features white lampwork tubes with orange and green ‘jewels' and goldstone trailings. Bead caps on the ends of the tubes add elegance, while firepolished beads in the same vibrant tones as the bright jewels add eye-catching color.
Beaded designs are not only accessories for this holiday -- they can be used as part of Halloween costumes. A female vampire might wear a black necklace with dangling bugle bead fringe, while a male vampire could wear a golden medallion on a black ribbon. A witch's hat would be much more memorable with a big, scary spider made of beading wire, a large round or oval focal bead and black and purple seed beads. Check with local costume shops to see if they would be interested in buying some of your designs for costumes. Jewel-toned beads strung on stiff wire could be formed into a shining tiara or crown, perfect for those dressing as princesses or beauty queens. Long strands of sparkling gold beads would be perfect for a Cleopatra-style headdress. You could even make a velvet, rhinestone, or faux fur choker with a large dangle to be a fancy jeweled ‘collar' for those who like to dress feline style for Halloween.Speaking of kitties, many pressed glass beads feature the divine feline shape. To play up the shape of these beads, space them between slender bugle beads in a contrasting color.
You can also make pendants from these and other seasonal beads and use them as charms on a solid black bracelet. You don't actually have to have pumpkin beads to enjoy a seasonal theme. Large round beads in the appropriate colors will be fine in designs. In this bracelet of beautiful lampworked rust-orange pumpkins, three big pumpkin beads, six copper disks and two orange glitter-core tubes are all the fancy beads you really need. Orange druks, facetted gold spacers, two orange whiteheart beads and two tiny orange firepolished beads fill in the rest beautifully. A bracelet this heavy can use a nice, weighty dangle, and an orange lampworked teardrop with gold and black accents adds both weight and interest.
The yellow and orange of the whiteheart beads remind me of candy corn, a favorite Halloween treat. I have also seen lampworked candy corn shaped beads, which would be great for pendants. Of course, the best Halloween pendant for any roaming, costumed trick-or-treater is a good flashlight. Have a safe and happy Halloween, and please remember to keep your pets indoors and safe on this spooky night .
Click here to read more about pets on Halloween
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