How to Make a White Dolphin Necklace

Dolphins inspire art.

Dolphins are aquatic mammals that people have incorporated into works of art, including paintings, sculptures, and jewelry. A necklace made with white polymer clay dolphins is a craft that can be made with a range of ages for an aquatic and artistic piece of personal expression.

Things You'll Need

• White polymer clay
• String
• Jewelry clasps
• Scissors

Instructions

Dolphin Pendant Necklace

1. Warm up the clay in your hands and knead it until it's pliable. Shape a 2-inch long dolphin that is at least 1/4-inch thick. Poke a hole in the dorsal fin for the string.

2. Bake the dolphin shape according to the manufacturer's instructions.

3. Cut the string to the length you want, adding extra for the necklace connectors. Double the string over. Poke the middle of the doubled over string through the hole, and poke the two ends of the string through the loop of string sticking through the hole. Pull on the ends of the string to tighten the string. Attach the necklace clasp.

Dolphin Necklace

1. Pick a desired kind of string that you want for the necklace, such as hemp, silk or twine.

2. Warm up the clay in your hands, and knead it until it's pliable. Practice shaping the white polymer clay into dolphin shapes, keeping the ones that you like. Use the skewer to poke a hole gently through each dolphin shape either down the top of the dolphin through its belly, or from its beak to its tail. Bake the dolphin shapes according to the clay manufacturer's instructions.

3. Cut a desired length of your necklace-making string, plus extra for tying knots and attaching the clasp pieces.

4. Decide how far down from the ends of the string that you want the necklace decorations. Pick an end to start with and tie an overhand knot at the point that you want to start the necklace decorations. Slide on a dolphin and tie a overhand knot after it. Repeat adding dolphins and tying overhand knots until you reach your stopping point. Attach the clasp pieces.

Tips & Warnings

• If you would prefer a nonpolymer clay necklace, learn how to glaze beads and either obtain a kiln to fire them or find a place that lets you sculpt clay and fires it for you.

• If desired, bend a piece of wire into the outline of a dolphin, roll out some polymer clay and use the wire frame as a cookie cutter to make uniform flat clay dolphins. Then poke holes in the clay to slide them on the string.

References

• Crafts-For-All-Seasons: Working With Polymer Clay
• "Big Book of Beautiful Beads"; Krause Publications; 2003

Resources

• "Dolphins"; Seymour Simon; 2009