Halloween Costume Jewelry - Polymer Clay Sabertooth Beads

Video #703: Polymer clay is the perfect art medium for adding authenticity to any costume... Cosplay enthusiasts take note... More Info: www.beadsandbea... Polymer Clay Tutor.
It's coming up to Halloween, so I thought it would be a fun to show you how to make some Sabertooth Tiger Beads for making Caveman Jewelry.
Last year my daughter and her boyfriend made themselves Caveman and Cavewoman Costumes. When I saw their outfits I just had to make them some Sabertooth necklaces to add to the look.
Since it was a very last minute project, last year, I didn't have time to show this at the time. Instead I saved up and am showing you now. They are very easy to make!
You need some Premo Ecru, Premo Regular Translucent, and a 50/50 mix of Premo Ecru and Premo White polymer clay. You'll also need some brown and black acrylic paint, and some acrylic glazing medium. I used Golden Paints and Glazing Medium, but any acrylic craft paint will do.
In the video I show how to layer, form, bake, drill and antique your Sabertooth Tiger teeth, and also provide some ideas for stringing. A great source for necklace design inspiration, can be found by Googling 'whale teeth necklace' - this search will bring up lots of examples of ancient Fijian Tooth Necklaces, perfect for a caveman costume.
I hope you enjoy this mini tutorial. Polymer clay can be used for all kinds of Halloween and Cosplay Costumes. I would love to hear how you have used Polymer clay in your costume designs...
Related Article: Polymer Clay Halloween Jewelry Ideas... www.beadsandbea...
Related Video: Pumpkin Canes... www.beadsandbea...
Related Article: Pumpkin Bead Earrings... www.beadsandbea...
Related Video: Harry Potter Eye Of Newt Halloween Props... www.beadsandbea...
And... more info about today's video is at my blog... www.beadsandbea...
Cindy Lietz & Doug Lietz Social Links:
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Polymer Clay Tutor... "Make what you love... Love what you make."

[@iseejewelz3874]

my daily therapy, watch a few of your videos

[@lynncampford1905]

Wonderful job, love the saber tooth necklace! Excellent! Wow 😮 You are so creative, Cindy. I am sure your daughter and her gentleman just loved the addition to their HALLOWEEN costume.

[@PolymerClayTutor]

Thank you so much Lynn! They looked really cute that year. They even ended up winning the costume contest which was cool!

[@shellydouglas8832]

Love these! Cindy, your hair is getting so long! I just thought I'd mention that it looks great and it really makes you look 10 years younger! 😎 Thanks for sharing another fabulous "Tute" looking forward to seeing what's next!

[@Trix3Mix4]

This will be perfect for my vampire costume ! Thank you!

[@Arkie80]

A lot of times these ancient fossil teeth turn colors from the minerals that have leeched into them from the ground water. They're often black or brown but can turn spectacular colors depending on the mineral content of the surrounding soils. If they stay kind of dark it's not necessarily a disaster.

[@severinamarsh]

This is just wonderful! What a great idea for Halloween!

[@galady8632]

For a nice group of friends I made several different necklace/earring/bracelet sets that included teeth. Since I knew the costume party would be held in a club that frequently utilized their black lights I also added some Glow In The Dark clay. That addition was a big hit. The ladies sent pix but the glow did not photograph well. They also enjoy 'glowing' during outdoor nighttime get-togethers. One lady kept her bracelet hanging from her rear view mirror. One night a police car pulled her over, 2 officers walked up (one on each side of her minivan), with huge smiles. They said they had to know what was on her mirror, they had a bet between them and wanted to know who was correct. She explained the only way to keep her children from fighting over it was to hand the bracelet in her van. She called me from the traffic stop. I eventually made several toothy items for the officers. Otherwise they said no one would ever believe them.

[@PolymerClayTutor]

+faye austin cool story!

[@actuallybeelzebub5766]

Might use this idea for a wendigo mask in my sculpture class

[@rationalskeptic1]

Awesome! I would love to see more of these Halloween costume accessories idea videos, this was so inspiring! Thank you:)

[@chaotic_one3758]

planning on an executor costume, gonna use this for the smaller decorative bones!

[@pandasmilez4ever246]

Sooo making this :) They look super rustic and would look amazing on earrings. TFS!

[@kaliblakeney9271]

I've been working on making the beads for my captain jack sparrow (from Pirates of the Caribbean) costume this year. I know no one's really gonna notice if they look like the movie but I love getting as close as possible.

[@laurenhogan953]

I love it! This is amazing. They look so old and real. Really amazing. I do have a question though. If they are being cavemen and cavemen were around the time of Sabertooth tigers, wouldn't the teeth look a little more fresh? Since the cavemen took it right from the kill. (at least I think they would) If so would I go about doing the same process but without the antique process and a more yellowed tone for the layers to show uncleanness, instead of earth breakdown?

[@PolymerClayTutor]

+Lauren Hogan LOL But what if the caveman had been frozen in the tundra all these years and finally unthawed in time for Halloween? Wouldn't he too be dirty from all those millions of years in the soil? :) Sure... if you did want the tooth to look cleaner, you could definitely change the way you antiqued the finish... say with a raw sienna or deep yellow instead of the black and brown. Since this is purely fantasy... there really aren't any rules.

[@laurenhogan953]

PolymerClayTutor OHHHHH, Lol I see. Hahaha you're right! I will definitely try the sienna. Thank you!

[@stumuertos]

really enjoying your videos!

[@TheThrillofTheThrift]

Absolutely love this idea Cindy!!! Thanks so much for sharing! :O)

[@jcb0818]

10 thumbs up!!! Love it.

[@MegaPraiseHim]

Love these!!!!

[@TwinklingMysticShot]

Thanks so much for making this video!

[@eternal8song]

a few years ago i cosplayed as Katara from Avatar the Last Airbender, and i made her Water Tribe necklace out of light blue clay with a dark blue inlay in the carvings. that was a cool prop.

[@beckymurphy4714]

Argh! Why didn't I find this before I finished my dragon pauldrons!? Now I'm trying to figure out where else on my armor I could use fangs. (I have a series of teeth on the ridge of the pauldrons; a cheap plastic "caveman" necklace I got at Goodwill yielded 14 fangs that I repainted to look more realistic.)

[@PichiMagic]

Love it...!! Do you glaze it after wiping off the paint?

[@PolymerClayTutor]

+PichiMagic If you want but it's not necessary. You don't really want them to look shiny or anything.

[@PichiMagic]

+PolymerClayTutor Thaaaaanks, I just wonder if the Golden acrylic glazing medium would help to protect the paint... Love all your videos. Thank you...

[@TheNetymags]

Gcute! I did something like that to do a basilisk tooth for a Harry potter necklace

[@claygirl6133]

Pretty cool, thanks!!!

[@tshandcrafts9018]

this looks PERFECT for my barbarian costume.... do you havee how to make other bone shapes?

[@PolymerClayTutor]

Hi there, no I actually don't have any more bone shape tutorials, but if you do the first part of this tutorial and then Google some images of the shape you need, you should be able to create the bone shapes you are looking for. Good luck!

[@bubbles_addiction2660]

Very nice creation i really like it very much, thank you for sharing! :-)

[@Stoney327]

Hello I have a few questions. I used to carve birds and I have about 20 or 30 new tubes of Gouache paint left. Can I use these instead of going out and buying a ton of Acrylic craft paints? Next...do you bake the "tooth" prior to aging? It looked like you did, but due to the way the paint seemed to absorb into the "tooth" I was just wondering? I figured if it were baked first, the paint would lay on the surface more and not penetrate? LOVE the videos. I signed up for your website. Got my clay color recipe files, thank you. God bless: Dave

[@PolymerClayTutor]

Hi Dave, thanks for your comment! You should do some tests with your Gouache paint on both raw clay and baked clay to see how it holds up. If the paint does not have enough binders in it, it will flake off your piece. So testing is the best thing to do to be sure.You may also want to test mixing the Gouache into glaze to make a more stable paint, should the paint not be strong enough on its own. I did antique mine after baking using glazes, paints and Gilders Paste (I do show that in the video don't I?). The clay isn't exactly porous like wood is, but there are small holes, pits and scratches in the surface that the paint sits in, so it sorta seems like it is absorbed into the clay. Hope that helps to answer your questions. The best thing to do is to go to our blog at www.polymerclaytutor.com and use the search box there to find your answers. The community there is very friendly and helpful so you should be able to get the answers you need. Good luck!

[@Stoney327]

Thank you, you've been a great help. I'll try experimenting with my Gouache a bit. God bless. Dave

[@kcsniperboy7148]

Where would I get these exact types of clays and do I need that roller mill machine u have? I need to make a jaw bone for a cosplay I'm doing

[@beckymurphy4714]

You can buy polymer clay at any craft store - Hobby Lobby, Michaels, etc. They come in small bricks, and a variety of colors. You can also sometimes find Sculpey at Walmart. You don't need to use a pasta machine to roll out your clay, but it helps to achieve an equal thickness; you can use a rolling pin, a marker, a wooden dowel, a soda bottle, just about anything that rolls.

[@marcsugrue7630]

Would love to see a link or any help with the braid. Do you have a tutorial on that? Can't seem to find anything that would help put these teeth together.

[@PolymerClayTutor]

Hi Marc, I don't have a tutorial on the braid, I kind of just "winged it" in an afternoon, before their Halloween party. I think I might have used three cords, like macrame... one down the middle (through the holes of the tooth beads)... and one cord on either side of the beads with a macrame type knot in between each tooth. I remember Googling antique tribal teeth necklace and finding some necklaces from Papua New Guinea with a similar look as a jumping off point. Perhaps if you try doing some searches you will find a picture with better detail, that will help you out? Good luck!

[@sandradavis847]

Thanks I like it.

[@DigiZero0]

You bake it on card stock? Is that correct?

[@PolymerClayTutor]

+Wolfie_'sART yes. I have lots of videos on baking that you should check out.

[@r2cosplay731]

Does anyone know of any good video tutorials on how to string the teeth together the same way it shows that it has been done above?

[@PolymerClayTutor]

Hi there, unfortunately I don't have a tutorial on stringing this necklace. I believe I used three hemp strings. One down the center that I strung through the holes that I drilled at the top of the beads, and the other two I kind of wrapped and knotted around the outside of the beads like Macrame. Then I braided the ends. I found inspiration on Google. I think it was some ancient Maori necklaces or something. Perhaps one day I will do a proper tutorial on the entire necklace.

[@rogerjimenezguerrero1693]

☺☺

[@marisol137]

Luv it