Mermaid Tail Charms!!!

[Ayla of Duluth]

I was finally able to get to the store and buy myself some sculpey clay! And let me tell you, it is so much better than trying to work with actual ceramic earth clay. I don't have a kiln so I can't fire that kind of clay anyways.

So I got myself the clay and some glaze, and I made THESE!
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I painted two of the necklace charms to look like my tail. the bigger one in the sitting position is for me, and the smaller one that's straight is for my friend's mom. The black one with white spots is for my other friend.

The thing is, these are so fun and easy to make, and I'm always trying to sell the crafts I make, so I wanted to get your input. These charms were inspired by Raven's tail necklace charms, and people seemed kinda sad that she wasn't selling them anymore. So I figured, hey. why not? I'll take a whack at it.

The necklace charms are soft and slightly flexible. They bend under stress and go back to their normal shape. They feel very durable on the body part and flexible on the fluke part, just like a real mermaid. I'm sure I could add gems and such to some tails, and I know I saw metallic colored glaze at Hobby Lobby when I bought my colors.

So if I decided to sell custom shaped necklace tail charms for like...$3-$5 bucks a pop, would you guys be interested? I can make them in 3 sizes, small, medium, and large. [The bigger tail charm in the picture is a large, the smaller one is a medium. I'm not sure how to classify the black one.] So how bout it? :)

[Lotus]

Raven did these once, and they look great! I think it's a really awesome that you made one that matches your tail!!! I've been thinking about doing the same thing just for kicks. Great work!!

[Ayla of Duluth]

Raven did these once, and they look great! I think it's a really awesome that you made one that matches your tail!!! I've been thinking about doing the same thing just for kicks. Great work!!

these were inspired by the tail charms Raven did. by the time I discovered that she made these, she had already stopped selling them. So I've decided to try selling them instead cuz i know a lot of people really like them and probably want ones to match their own tail.

[Mermaid Harmony]

Yeah! These are fantastic! How big are they, can you take a picture with like a dollar next to them so we can see the size? 3-5 dollars is super cheap, you could charge 10. Granted, I don't know how long they take for you to make them, but this is totally cool, and I'd buy one if you made them. :-) It'd remind me of selkies wearing their pelt around their necks, except we'd wear our tails around our necks.

[Ayla of Duluth]

sure thing. Now that I'm looking at the charms, they aren't really distinctly different sizes. the straight one is as long as the curved one. I guess the fluke size is a way to tell whether its small medium or large. I couldn't find anything to compare sizes, so I just took pictures with them all.

here's the large one
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Here's the medium one
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Here's the large one compared to the medium one. The fluke size is how i'm going to be judging the size of them.
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Here's the one i made for my friend. I suppose it's also a medium.
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Do forgive my shabby appearance. My parents are coming back from a 2 week vacation and I woke up and immediately started cleaning the house without bothering with my hair or makeup.

[Ayla of Duluth]

3-5 dollars is super cheap, you could charge 10.
It would be 3-5 dollars plus shipping. I don't know if these will ship in a regular paper envelope so that shipping is free, but if not, I have little manilla folders that should be rather cheap to ship.

Also they take me around an hour/hour and a half to make, but that's once I have the template. I guesstimate these will take me from start to finish, around 2.5 hours. I can mass produce them too, because I take the design sent to me, trace it onto computer paper, and laminate it. Then I just cut it out and lay it over the clay and use that to cut out the clay in the right shape. But most often people will get their very own, one time use template, which means no other charm will be exactly like it.

[Alveric]

Don't charge too little or you won't be able to sustain your business. Remember, your time is worth something too. Charging $5 for something that takes 2.5 hours to make is like working for $2 an hour! That's not counting the cost of materials.

[Ayla of Duluth]

Well I get the clay for around 1 dollar. The glaze is 77 cents for a 2oz bottle. So I'm not too worried about the costs of materials. The thing I'm thinking about is that these are so simple and easy to make, I don't want to charge too much or people will just go making them themselves.

[MerEmma]

I think it's a good idea to start out fairly low. Once you get some good, solid experience and happy customers you can easily raise the price for them. :)

[Kanti]

Really cute!
You should offer them as keychains as well! Hmm well actually they might be a bit delicate for that sort of stuff o_o At least for me, I completely mistreat my keys lol

[Moongazer]

I REALLY like the look of the medium one. Let me know when you start taking orders!

[Ayla of Duluth]

Kanti, these actually get really hard if I cook them right, I'm sure that I could make little ones that could stand up to the task. :) My biggest concern with a keychain would be how to keep the paint from getting damaged from banging around so much

[Ayla of Duluth]

I REALLY like the look of the medium one. Let me know when you start taking orders!

I take orders as soon as I get them :)

I should probably say that if anyone wants to order a keychain, they can email me at aylaofduluth@aol.com with a sketch of what they would like it to look like and whether they want a small, medium or large one.

[Kanti]

Oh cool!
That'd be awesome if you could make them keychains too!
But yea the paint may be an issue. You could always try a topcoat of some sort. You know what works GREAT? Super glue! It might be hard to get an even coat, but sometimes I use superglue as a clear topcoat and that stuff is strong enough that it doesn't buff away instantly.
You could also try a clear resin, they sell those either at AC Moore, Joanns, or Michaels. A bit expensive, but it will guarantee you won't have any paint problems.

[Ayla of Duluth]

Oh cool!
That'd be awesome if you could make them keychains too!
But yea the paint may be an issue. You could always try a topcoat of some sort. You know what works GREAT? Super glue! It might be hard to get an even coat, but sometimes I use superglue as a clear topcoat and that stuff is strong enough that it doesn't buff away instantly.
You could also try a clear resin, they sell those either at AC Moore, Joanns, or Michaels. A bit expensive, but it will guarantee you won't have any paint problems.


on the one I made for myself, I used clear nail polish. aside from the smell which should go away soon, I think it holds up really well. otherwise there's clear lacquers at the store i can buy

[Shivice]

Kanti, these actually get really hard if I cook them right, I'm sure that I could make little ones that could stand up to the task. :) My biggest concern with a keychain would be how to keep the paint from getting damaged from banging around so much

When I was in art class and we did jewelry with sculpy, my teacher had us use tempera pain and a clear glaze that protects the paint. I can't remember the name of the glaze I will ask my teacher.

[Ayla of Duluth]

Tempera paint might work well. But aren't there a limited amount of colors? I always thought they only had your basic colors and then some pink, brown, and black. Idk. :P

[Ayla of Duluth]

Update: I accidentally dropped the larger tail charm on the ground and the very tippy tips of the fluke broke off. When I make the charm, I try to make it look realistic, which means a thin flexible fluke and a stiffer body. I'm going to try making a new charm and I'm going to try to make the fluke a bit thicker. Ideally I would like to keep the fluke thinner than the rest of the body, but if it has to be thick, I suppose I can work with that. :)

[Mermaid Arianna]

Try baking eye pins into the fluke it will make it stronger and you can keep it thin, and invest in some triple thick glaze, just use a paintbrush you don't care about and brush it on the top, let it dry, and then paint the back. Btw I LOVE these!

[Ayla of Duluth]

What's an eye pin?

[Mermaid Arianna]

an eyepin is just this little metal thing with an "eye" or loop at one end, they're about an inch tall and pretty cheap too, I use them in clay charms all the time so I know they can go in the oven. :)

[Lotus]

I was inspired by Raven too- I did the exact same thing, Ayla... didn't get to buy one in time so I made one myself!
They look really great (yours) :)

[Mermaid Saphira]

so cute! I want one one day :D

[MermaidBrittany]

Wow those looks great! I Absolutely love the fluke shapes, I would definitely buy one as well! :)

[Ayla of Duluth]

Alright, it feels a bit early, but I wanted to let you guys know that I have opened myself an etsy shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwinkleTailEmporium) and I have just started listing items. I have solved the problem of the broken fluke tip by making the flukes just a bit thicker. I actually just made one a few weeks ago and I've been wearing it non stop, even to bed, and nothing has broken/chipped/taken any sort of damage whatsoever. It's still flexible too!

I'm pretty sure I solved the keychain question. When I make the tail charm, I wrap the loop at the top where the thread would go around a metal keychain ring. It can go in the oven with the clay so there's no worrying about scraping and damaging the charm by trying to fit it through the loop after it's been baked.

I only have two things listed so far, but over the next few days, I'll be adding a lot more. I'm trying to add white unpainted charms because these charms are fully customizable. the customer decides how they want the charm painted, so listing the charms I've already made seems a bit misleading to me.

Up to 5 petite gems can be added to your tail at no extra cost. Having your charm coated in clear lacquer is free as well.

Just to keep you guys updated on everything my etsy will have in store:
-The two tail charms you see listed already are called fluke pendants. They're pendants of tails that do not include the body of the animal with them.
-I will also be adding tail charms called mermaid pendants. Those are pendants that include the body of the animal. So you have a choice between having just the fluke, or having the whole tail made.
-Of course I will be adding etched glass pieces, although people seem to not be interested in those as much. But hey, my shop IS an emporium. Gotta have some variety.
-You want an octopus pendant? You got it. Coming soon are octopus shaped necklace pendants! Also fully customizable, the octopus can come in two styles. With the octopus holding onto the necklace, or with a loop behind the octopus's head and the tentacles hanging down.
-KEYCHAINS!!! I will soon be posting keychains, just like the necklace pendants. They can come with or without a body, and can have up to 5 petite gems added to them at no extra cost.
-ANCHOR PENDANTS! Woo! I love anchors! I'll be making and listing a few to see how they sell.

And totally non mermaid related:
-Video game themed pendants! League of Legends, Dead Space, Portal, stuff like that. (This is an experiment to see how good I am at working with clay, these pendants will generally be cheaper because they'll probably suck more.)

Anyways yeah, like I said, there's only two things listed there, its because I'm making each pendant unpainted to show that it's customizable. I'll be listing more tomorrow. I'm not exactly sure how payments work, but my shop says I accept credit cards and gift cards, and I'm pretty sure I set it to accept paypal. If anyone's interested in buying something, you can check it out to see if anything needs fixing. :)

[Ayla of Duluth]

I should also mention that silver glitter is also an option when ordering your tail charm. I have it on both of mine to represent where the glitter is on my merbellas tail, and it looks really cool. adds a whole new sort of depth and texture to the tail. well not texture exactly, but it looks better than having it plain. :)

[Mermaid Lorelei]

I tried to follow your link, but your shop does not appear to be open to the public yet. I will try again later. :3

[Ayla of Duluth]

really? that's odd...did it say anything specific? I'll go check it out.

[Ayla of Duluth]

oh. I guess you have to open the shop. Here's a new link if the old one still doesn't work. (http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwinkleTailEmporium)

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Working now. :>

[Ayla of Duluth]

awesome! <3 I'm so excited

[Ayla of Duluth]

I just finished these charms today! I got a tiny tiny tiny TINY brush from Hobby Lobby and I'm so glad I did because I could never get this level of detail on the two brushes I was previously using.

Large dolphin fluke pendant, painted up like that one weird striped fish. This one has a lacquer finish.
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And a merbellas style fluke pendant I made for my friend because I don't like the other one I made her. This one has petite gems and glitter on it with a lacquer finish.
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[Ayla of Duluth]

If you want to see smaller thumbnails, you can go here (http://longshortshort.deviantart.com/) or here. (http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwinkleTailEmporium)

[Ariel-Starfish]

Looks awsome! Do you make custom tails? :) Would love my tail in miniature size ^^

[Ayla of Duluth]

Yes, every tail is custom made, so you can have it painted up just like your tail. :)
you can choose between small and large (see the pictures at the beginning of this thread)
you can either have a body on your tail or have just the fluke
you can have up to 5 petite gems added at no extra cost
same goes for glitter
you can have a gloss coating or you can leave it uncounted for a matte look

I know all the size and type options aren't up on my etsy yet, (should be by the end of the day) but you can still place orders with me on here. :)

[Bellasea]

These are so cute Ayla! :D I will probably order one from you

[Ariel-Starfish]

Yes, every tail is custom made, so you can have it painted up just like your tail. :)
you can choose between small and large (see the pictures at the beginning of this thread)
you can either have a body on your tail or have just the fluke
you can have up to 5 petite gems added at no extra cost
same goes for glitter
you can have a gloss coating or you can leave it uncounted for a matte look

I know all the size and type options aren't up on my etsy yet, (should be by the end of the day) but you can still place orders with me on here. :)


You totale inspired me to make my own meemaken tail necklace ^^ Just one for personal use ( I don't want to copy u)

[Ariel-Starfish]

Meemaken = mermaid tail. STUPID AUTOCORRECT

[Ayla of Duluth]

Here's one of the first ones that I did, and its the one I wear the most. Needless to say, my paint jobs have gotten a lot better since then.
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[Ayla of Duluth]

Got a keychain done! A large dolphin fluked mermaid keychain pendant. 3"x6" about the length and width of my hand.
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[Lotus]

Those are so cool! I made one for a gal I work with:
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Do you mind if I use the template of the fluke only? I'm not gonna sell them, just want one for myself :)