Skull & Bones Necklace

[e.r.i.k.a]

Hello, Craftsters!
This is my first post, and so I'd like to start by saying how you guys rock!  This is the most supportive art network I've ever had to pleasure to become involved in. 

I'd like to post my newest necklace which I made for my friend Mary.  She loves pirates and she has a strange aesthetic, like me.  So, I made her this sterling silver chain necklace with skull and bones pendants for her upcoming birthday.



Ingredients:
Sculpey Colored Clay (black & white)
20 inches of ss chain
3 headpins
1 ss clasp
1 ss jump ring

This was pretty easy to make.  Sculpt the skull & bones and pierce with a headpin.  Bake at 275 for about 20 minutes.  Cool the beads and turn them into charms with one head pin each that should be looped at the end.  Then attach the pendants to chain in any manner you like.  It's so easy to customize this to numerous configurations.  Anyone can make this truly original.

What do you think?  Questions? 

[SarahFroggy]

i think its pretty cool! your friend is luck i have tons of sculpey but have yet to try it cause i'm afraid... sometimes i'm a bit too silly

[iciclegirl]

that is so cute!  I absolutely love skulls (I dunno why).  I have skull shirts, shoes, and even on my truck hubcaps!

[Diane B.]

Oh, I love your skull and bones!!  I'm definitely drawn to Halloween too (I once made a bones necklace for my son out of glow-in-the-dark polymer clay, and some skull rings... both totally fun!)

Your skull reminds me of the Dia de los Muertos figures which I also love... have you ever tried making those??? 

(If you're not familiar with them, look on these pages for some examples:
http://www.glassattic.com/~glassatt/imagesOBJ_SEAS_MISC/Hallow+/Joanne_Dia.htm
--those are on my website, but weren't done by me-- also:
http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/mexicansugarskull/SkelFolkArt.htm)

Don't those look like they'd be a riot to make?

Have you given Mary her gift yet??


Diane B.

[wootwoot]

I love that so much.  I absolutely must have one now.  Luckily I have both black and white sculpey, but sadly, no rings. 

[e.r.i.k.a]

Your skull reminds me of the Dia de los Muertos figures which I also love... have you ever tried making those??? 
Don't those look like they'd be a riot to make?
Have you given Mary her gift yet??
Diane B.

No, I haven't given Mary her gift yet.  Her birthday is in August.  But, I'm not great at keeping a lid on things.  I'll have to give it to her early. 

I'm totally familiar with the Dia De Los Muertos skulls and I, too, LOVE them!  I'm Latina, with Mexican Heritage to be more specific and living on the Texas border, I'm very aware of the celebrations. 

I think it would be fun to make a series of the little characters.  One of the things I LOVE about the skeleton figures is that they are given everyday roles.  I've seen a prostitute skeleton.  A surfer skeleton.  And the 3 Mariachi singer skeletons rule!  The list goes on and on.

Thanks for the compliments, everyone!

[Diane B.]

wootwoot, I actually made the rings completley out of polymer clay (...Sculpey brand isn't the best to use though because it isn't strong in thin areas which could be flexed after breaking and easily break). 

Here's a tidbit from my website on how I did them though:

I once made some skull rings for my son's classmates by making a mold from a small, cheapie, plastic skull I found somewhere... I pressed glow-in-the-dark clay into the mold, then baked, and "antiqued" the crevices of some of them with brown acrylic paint and some with gold acrylic paint. . . after baking, I just glued the skulls to  bands of clay which I'd made by forming flat noodles of clay around a dowel (leaving a small gap for stretch) and baking. Diane B.

You could sculpt a simple skull and or bones, etc., if you can't find something the right size to mold.  Here's one lesson for a simple skull:
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/castle/dinkoskull.html
(this one is completely 3-dimensional though... it would probably be best to have a flat back)

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And MissErika,

Because of your post yesterday , I got into browsing through lots more fabulous Dia de los Muertos websites... thanks!
(...a lot of those are now at my website along with the others I already had... if you're interested in checking them out, they're on this page:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/Halloween_etc.htm, under "Dia de los Muertos")


Diane B.

[moobaa]

That looks heaps mad!
I've formed kind of a pirates rash lately and am in the persuit of making some pirate theme jewelry.
I came across this ages age and thought you skull types might like to give it a go! Its a polyclay skull. Took me a few try to get it right, sort of fun and frustrating at the same time!

http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/castle/dinkoskull.html

[snirky]

moobaa, that tutorial is so hot.  I have to go make a dinko skull cuff or something now. 

[girlieface]

that is really neat...i've been wanting to try to work with clay, now i just may have to