Octopus Obsession? There's a tutorial for that!

I have been so consumed by the fabric-y embroidery screenprinting -ness of it all, that I thought a change of pace might be in order. I was browsing some of my old old files and rediscovered one of the very first tutorials I have ever made and thought I should definitely share here. Please please forgive the rather rotten pictures; they are at least clear enough to illustrate my point as I progress.

Who doesn't love tentacly goodness? Who would love to make their own? Me! =) Here's a quick and simple tute on how to make a wrapped tentacle pendant with poly clay and a flat glass marble you can pick up at any dollar store.



For this particular pendant I made, I flattened out a circle of clay to lay the glass piece on. I then made logs tapering at one end and pressed them against the circle to form sort of a starfish type of shape. Then I pushed the flat marble into the center.



The suckers themselves were just small balls of clay flattened on the logs. I used the pointy of a protractor to make a hole in each one as I pressed it down. You don't have to press too hard or go all the way through. Especially the smaller the suckers, the more likely it will not want to come off the tip of your pointy tool!



After putting on all the suckers, I carefully twisted the legs around the glass marble. The clay is pretty flexible so don't be afraid to play. But go slowly for sure to make sure the clay is stretching rather than breaking off.



After baking, I finished it off by mixing modge podge and pearl ex to give the suckers an iridescent sheen. After letting that dry I modge podged the whole thing and then covered it with a coat of spray gloss. I left the back untouched so there wouldn't be any stickiness to the skin. I glued a bail to the back as well.



Here's some earrings I made in the same style.





Hope you have fun making your own tentacles! =)