High Holy Day Craft...Tree of Souls or Cool Skull Jewelry

Tree of souls with friend

Tree of souls with little skulls glowing happily in the darkness

I bought a little metal tree from an import store a while back and although I liked it, I didn't know what to do with it.  I have always loved the little skulls that are synonymous with the Mexican Day of the Dead and then it kind of hit me when I saw the article what to do with my little tree besides slash my shin on it when I leave it in the floor.  If you don't have a deadly metal tree full of rust and tetanus hanging around, you could use some branches and hang them from that which would look quite nice I would think. Not only are these really cool as little ornaments, they would be great as jewelry for Day of the Dead or Hallowe'en.  A couple of findings and you could have little skull earrings or a bracelet or necklace. I wish I could take credit for this but I have to thank Martha Stewart for the bead tutorial in her October issue (not much else though, I was a bit disappointed in this year's Hallowe'en issue). Although I couldn't find a link to a tutorial, I'll show you how I did it...

Tree of Souls

Reaper of souls, otherwise known as Karma the Kitteh

Ooh pretty...I MUST MURDER IT!

Karma making a case why we can't have a Christmas tree

Materials needed:

• Fimo clay (I used glow in the dark)
• Small thin nail, thin metal skewer or even a straight piece of wire
• Pin with large head
• Something like a very small flathead screwdriver

Fimo Glow clay, hard to deal with until you get it warmed up in your hands then it's pretty fun.

Make a marble sized ball....

Mold and pinch it a bit on the bottom to add a chin...

STAB IT THROUGH THE BRAIN!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Use the end of a pin to make an eye socket.

Make another eye socket.  Don't worry if it doesn't look perfect.

Make two little slashes for the nasal cavities.

Make a line and then add teeth using an instrument like the screwdriver I have here.

Removed the pick through the brain...notice the head is a bit flat looking.

Head after gentle remolding back into shape.

Finished head prior to baking in regular light and dirty work table.

Skull glowing brightly with features really pronounced!

Now make a whole bunch of them and bake them according to package directions.  If you're making them as beads or ornaments, you're all set when they come out and cool.  For earrings, you might want to embed a very small metal loop in the clay before baking so you can attach the posts to them.  Hey, I have piercings, I know what I'm talking about!