Skull Beads

If you are looking for accessories that you could wear to a pirate theme party, it would be a good idea to wear necklaces and bracelets made from skull beads. You can even don such beads with your Halloween costume. While some might adorn these as a fashion accessory, there is more to these beads. If you thought that these beads are solely used for making fashion accessory for teens, you need to think again. While many youngsters might wear these to portray their wild side or fearlessness, these are sometimes used as prayer beads by followers of Buddhism and Hinduism. Is a deeper meaning attached to these beads? Let's find out.

What Do Such Beads Symbolize?

In Tibet, these are widely used as prayer beads or religious jewelry. Followers of Buddhism use necklaces made from these beads for chanting. Skull has always been symbolic of death. When used as prayer beads, these help one understand that death is inevitable. So, for those who are on the path of spirituality, these help in surpassing the fear of death. In fact, Indian deities such as Shiva and Kali are also seen adorning necklaces from skulls. The symbolism of the skull is surely very intriguing, no wonder, many youngsters are donning skull tattoos and jewelry made from skull charms and beads.

Types of Skull Beads

These beads come in a wide variety of designs, colors, shapes and sizes. The material used for making the beads also lends a whole new look to the beads. These are made from wood, porcelain ceramic, metal, glass, acrylic, gemstones, alloys, yak bone and crystal. Those who wish to use them for the purpose of meditation, can use the beads that are finely carved out from crystal, bone or wood. The glazed black ceramic beads, raku style ceramic beads and pewter beads are widely used in handcrafted and beaded jewelry items. The high-fired ceramic beads with a black glaze have holes running from side to side and can be used in necklaces, key chains, bracelets or any other type of funky fashion jewelry. Most of these beads have holes drilled at the sides, so, all you need to do is pass a string or cord through the holes. Plastic beads also come in a wide range of hues such as turquoise, orange, red, black, white, silver and gold. You can also check out the hand painted bone skull beads. These are great for Halloween or other wacky theme parties. Though the high-fired tiny ceramic ones are quite popular, you can also use the tall or elongated ones.

Those of you who have an interest in beading and love to make handmade beaded jewelry on your own can buy these beads and use them along with different types of beads or pre-drilled gemstones. You can use innovative jewelry ideas to create groovy bracelets or even earrings. A single bead might cost you anywhere between two to ten dollars. The cost will vary depending on the material and designs. You can even buy the hand carved skeleton beads. The beading holes run from top to bottom and these can be easily strung. If you are planning to make a necklace, you can choose the tall or elongated bead as the focal point or the center of the necklace. If you are not very keen on shelling out money on the beads, you can carve out beads from polymer clay. All you need to do is mold the clay in the desired shape and create eye sockets and other features. You can then create top-drilled or side-drilled beading hole using a toothpick. Bake the polymer clay beads. Once clay beads are ready, you can apply paint on them and make beaded jewelry, earrings and necklaces. Isn't that great!

Now that you have some idea about the different types of skull beads, you can use them for making funky jewelry. So, what are you waiting for? Get hold of these beads and create trendy fashion jewelry on your own.