"Doo bee doo bee doo wah, doo bee doo bee doo wah. He's a semi-aquatic, ear lobe dwelling mammal of action"... So Phineas and Ferb is one of my all time favorite cartoons and Perry the Platypus is my all time favorite cartoon character. We recently reached 1000 page views, so as a thank you, I am posting what could be the coolest earrings I've ever made.
You will need:
- Clay in blue, yellow, red, white and black. I used Crazy Clay by Bostik, the same clay as the Biscuit Earrings. The soft, spongy nature of this clay is particularly important for this project because you need to be able to cut it when it's dry. If you don't like mixing colours, get clay in black, white, teal and orange. However these particular colours are quite specific, so I would advise mixing the colours yourself for accuracy.
- A place mat or clean working surface.
- Superglue
- Scissors
- Basic studs (See Vocab Tab)
Method
To mix the super specific teal colour of Perry, use blue, yellow and white. First mix the blue and yellow in a ratio roughly 2 is to 1, maybe less than 1, to form a dark ugly green. Add white until you are satisfied. It helps to look up a picture of him. But do not be fooled, Perry is teal and not blue. Use a picture of him from an actual episode for best results. You then need to mix a small amount of pale orange by mixing yellow, white and red in an approximate ratio of 3:2:1. Remember, you are mixing enough for 2 Perries. One for each ear. Divide both colours in half and lay one half aside for the second earring.
To form the body, make a soft rectangular prism about 2.5 cm x 1.5 cm, 2 cm high. Leave a tiny piece of teal clay for the comb later on. If you prefer smaller earrings, make adjustments, but remember that the smaller you make them, the more difficult and less effective they are.
Pinch out four legs on the corners of the body. I do not recommend attaching here because it messes with the shape of the body and just adds more problems later on if it's not done properly. Make sure that the back legs are shorter than the front legs to allow space for the back feet. Take the piece of teal clay that you saved and roll it into a small sausage. Pinch a little spike in the middle and then fold all three points upwards to form Perry's cool spiky 'do. Attach the hair on the top of the body at the front end, the one with longer legs.
Next take the orange clay you mixed and pinch some off. Use this to create a soft, flatish tapered rectangle for the tail. Use the scissors or a knife to etch shallow criss-cross cuts on it to form the little pattern on Perry's tail. Stick it on the back end of the body, the one with the shorter legs, and then bend it so it looks like it's trailing on the floor.
Take the left over orange and pinch off two equal sized pieces for the feet. There must still be some orange left over for the bill. To make the feet, roll the pieces into ovals, then squish them gently to flatten them. Attach the feet onto the shorter legs bu the tail. Take the remaining orange clay and make the bill look like the one in the picture. I honestly cannot explain how I did it, partly because I don't remember. I think I started with a thick sausage and flattened one end. Anyway, when that's done attach it to the front end of the body, the one with the hair and without the tail. Make sure it's not too low down and remember that the eyes will go on either side of the nose bridge.
To make the eyes, simply roll two equal oval balls in white. Take a small amount of black and split it into two tiny black balls. Flatten the black and stick each onto their respective white eyeball. Then stick the eyes close together on either side of the bill bridge on the front end.
Go back and make a second Perry, then keep them somewhere out of reach of children and dream crushers while you wait for them to dry.
I waited about 2 days for my clay to dry completely. It's important that you wait for them to dry fully before you go further, because otherwise the shape will change and all your work will be for nothing. When they're dry, cut the bodies in half, just behind the front legs. Make a small slit in the back end to implant the butterfly of the basic studs. Superglue the butterfly in place so that it doesn't stick out. The superglue the front ends of the basic studs on to the front end of Perry. Be generous with the superglue as this clay is quite absorbent. Wait for the glue to dry completely before putting them on.
Rating:
Effort Required: 7/10
They can be quite fidgety to make, but overall they just take up a lot of time, not so much effort. And they're totally worth it!
Durability: 6/10
They're quite durable compared to the Biscuit Earrings, but just remember that there are many parts that they consist of and they can get easily snagged. Keep them away from water, exuberant hugs and curious fingers.
Cool Factor: 10/10
These are the coolest earrings I've made yet by far. The responses to these have been awesome, I even got one, 'oh, there you are Perry'. I think I did Perry the Platypus proud. These are seriously worth everything it took to make them. Plus the front and back thing really adds to the overall effect.
Thank you for sharing this informative information with us. Its very helpful. Front Back earrings .
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