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Put your holiday attitude to good use and make this adorable little grinch keychain ornament! This free grinch design is one of our Christmas pony bead keychain patterns, with instructions and diagrams to help you turn a handful of beads into a grinch of your own. Make him as a grinch keychain and show your attitude everywhere you go, or use him as a beaded grinch Christmas ornament or decoration for your tree.
Hang your grinch on the Christmas tree among all those cheerful ornaments (he'll hate that), carry him as a keychain, add him to a package or let him bring a little mischief to your Christmas decorating. Make one for the person who grumbles about putting up the tree, the friend who has had enough Christmas music by December 2nd, or keep him for those moments when you're feeling a little grinchy yourself.
Here is a fun idea for taking these easy to make characters to another level. Combine several Christmas pony bead characters into a handmade garland, holiday swag or ornament strand. Mix Santas with elves, reindeer, grinch, Christmas trees and other holiday designs, then hang them from ribbon or cord, place them into greenery, or space them along a strand of Christmas lights. A beaded Christmas garland can drape across a mantel or doorway, decorate a wall or window, or wrap around a Christmas tree. It could even become a group project, with each person making a different character to add to the finished Christmas decoration.
If you make this project please share your photos with us. With your permission we'll add it to the page and credit it to you.
Pom poms have a much longer history than the craft-store variety might suggest. Decorative tufts of yarn and thread have been used on clothing and accessories for centuries, sometimes as decoration and sometimes to identify particular groups or uniforms. Over time, the pom pom made its way from clothing into home decorating, toys and crafts. Today they range from traditional yarn pom poms to the small, fuzzy craft pom poms available in almost every imaginable color and size.
24 - Green Pony Beads (Used for the grinch's face, hands and legs.)
22 - White Pony Beads (Used for the trim on the hat and suit.)
34 - Red Pony Beads (Used for the grinch's hat, suit and shoes.)
2 - Yellow Pony Beads (Used for the eyes.)
1 - Key Ring
5 feet of smooth 2mm leather cord, pony bead cord, plastic lacing, satin cord, or similar stringing material.
Scissors
Ruler or Measuring Tape
Craft Glue
1. Locate the halfway point of your cord or lacing and fold it in half. Attach the folded cord to your key ring 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. Using the bead diagram for the grinch keychain located at the bottom of these instructions, begin weaving the rows of beads. Pass one cord through the row of beads, then pass the other cord through the same beads from the opposite direction as shown in the illustration. Pull both cords until the new row rests against the previous one.
3. Continue following the pattern from the top of his hat downward. The arms are created with one side of your cord. Thread the appropriate beads through the bead stack, out the end, around the last bead and back through the other beads back to the body.
Note: The tension of your cord does make a difference. The rows should sit snugly together without being pulled so tightly that your grinch begins to curl or twist. If a row doesn't sit straight, loosen it, straighten the beads with your fingers and pull the slack out again.
4. Continue to the bottom of the pattern. The diagram for the grinch's legs may seem a little confusing because the cord passes through only the first 5 beads of the white row, leaving the 6th bead unthreaded. (That is not a misprint.)
To make each leg, thread all of the beads for the leg onto one cord. Starting at the bottom of the leg, begin working the crossover back UP through the beads toward the body. When you reach the top, from the center of the row go back through the last 3 beads towards the outside, and bring the cord out where the pink star is shown on the diagram. Repeat with the other cord to make the other leg.
If you want to stop and tie off the two cords here at the pink stars, that's fine. Skip down to the next step. I always try to be a little creative and hide my cord ends when possible. If you'd like to finish yours the way I did, feed each cord end back through the first 3 beads of the last 6 red bead row. At the very center, where the yellow star is shown, bring both cord ends out. Knot and glue them, then push the ends of the cord back inside the beads where they become invisible.
5. Tie the cords together with a surgeon's knot or a good double knot. Add a small drop of craft glue to the knot to prevent it from coming untied during normal usage. Let the glue dry, then trim away the excess cord.
The diagram below uses orange and blue to show the paths of the two ends of the cord. Click the diagram to open a larger version whenever you need a closer look.
Looking for more Christmas pony bead projects? Here are more free patterns to make for ornaments, keychains and handmade Christmas decorations.
