OK, mono eyes cannot be much cheaper, bit of heat and some heavy mono.
But for anyone else like me who has trouble getting uniform colour and size in their melted creations can use this as a substitute.
Look in budget or bulk stores for cheap hair brushes meant as kids toys for dolls or even hair brushes intended for human hair. They can be found really cheaply if you look for them.
The ones to look for have "matchstick" bristles made from stiff nylon and if you are lucky may already have the black heads. The ones in the photo have been touched with black nail varnish.
Very uniform and can be trimmed in the stem to suit the tie, can be painted with any nail varnish colour you have..... and easier (if not as cheap) than burning them.