You could also use twine or yarn, though they will wear through much quicker than wire, leather, or suede will.
You can buy packs of keychain rings from your local craft store very inexpensively. A 10 pack will cost you $4 to $5. [3] X Research source
The knot/crimp bead helps to hold the cord in place on the keychain ring.
You can buy lots of different sizes of plain, wooden beads at the craft store and paint them to go along with any color scheme you like. You could even use spray paint to cover the wooden beads.
For example, you could make a rainbow-themed keychain with red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet or a color gradient by using deep purple, bright purple, light purple, and clear beads (or use any other color you like). Use letter beads to spell out a name or a word. There is no wrong or right way to design your keychain. Be creative and have fun!
If you decide you want to go in a different direction with the order of your beads, simply pull them off the cord and begin again. You can even change the shape of the beads by lining them up in the order you want to use them on a parchment sheet. Melt them lightly in the oven at a low temperature to turn them into discs.
If you find you don’t have enough space for all the beads you want to use, you’ll need to either eliminate some of the beads or cut a new, longer piece of cord and start over.
If you’re using leather or suede, you could also apply a dot of hot glue to the knot for some extra security.
For leather and suede, it’s good to leave at least 1⁄2 in (1. 3 cm) of cord hanging down so that your knot is less likely to come undone.
Save your beads and other materials so you can make other crafts with them in the future.
The ribbon or cord needs to be able to fit through each bead twice, as that is how the lizard will be shaped.
Green beads would be more realistic for a lizard, but don’t be afraid to choose other colors, like yellow and red or pink and blue. You can buy pony beads in bulk from the craft store really inexpensively.
Then add 2 regular beads to the right cord and thread the left cord through them the same way to create the neck of the lizard. Tightly pull the cord after each row to keep the beads in place. The head will be made up of the regular beads, plus the 2 eye beads, but none of the colored beads.
The leg-making process does not require the left-side and right-side cords to intersect. The 3 colored beads are what make the actual foot of the lizard, while the 2 regular beads are the leg of the lizard.
After threading each row of beads onto the cord on the right side, pull the end of the cord on the left side back through the beads, pulling it tight to form the rows of the body. If you have more beads, you can make the lizard as big as you’d like. Simply add more rows of beads, or make each row wider to increase the size of the lizard.
You could always make the bottom feet a different color from the top feet if you have enough beads. Use your creativity to make a unique lizard!
Make the tail of the lizard as long or as short as you like.
Use a glue gun to add a dot of hot glue to your knot for extra security if you’d like. You can mix whatever colors you’d like to make a truly unique keychain.
