Sculpey is extremely versatile. You can make pretty much anything you want out of it. While I was making the Sculpey Sea Dragon, I realized how easy it would be to make a mermaid tail charm. The process is very similar, and if you are following along with my tutorials, you probably already have everything you need to make the mermaid tail charm.
Supplies:
Make the Base Pieces
Start off with a small ball of Sculpey. Make a cone shape and roll it in your hands to make it as long as you want. Take another small piece and make it a triangle.
Make the Wire Frame and Fins
Then see how much wire you need to go through the whole tail and about half of the triangle. Cut it off and bend it to however curved you want your pendant to be, and put it into the tail. Attach the fin after that is done and start to shape the fin. I made mine look like a moon shape sort of, and I did this by just gently pulling out the two outer edges and smoothing the middle.
Finish the Details
I then took my toothpick and carefully put a few lines in the fin. You don’t have to do this, It is completely optional. You can also use your toothpick to carve out scales if you want to, but it will make it harder to paint later. Also something I learned from this craft- MAKE SURE YOU SMOOTH YOUR FINGERPRINTS OUT OR WEAR GLOVES. When it bakes, it will be permanent and you are stuck with it , or you can choose to buff it out with a fingernail file which I do not recommend as it can break your mermaid tail.
Bake the Tail for 30 Minutes
I put my mermaid tail in the oven for about 30 minutes at 275 Fahrenheit, however bake according to your package instructions. Please use a parent’s help with this if you are younger to avoid being burned. Wait for it to cool before touching it… I waited about 10-15 minutes for it to cool. Allow it to dry for at least an hour to make sure it is fully hardened before you paint it.
Paint and Decorate
Once your tail has dried, coat your mermaid tail in a layer of purple metallic paint. If you are using Folkart, do one coat and let dry before continuing. Add a second coat and this time while the paint is still wet, dip your brush in a very minimal amount of gold and green, and very lightly streak it into the mermaid tail to give it a bit more color. Seal it all in with a clear coat of nail polish or varnish and you are DONE