Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo Polymer Clay Pendant

I was very inspired by NerdECrafter's tutorial on how to make an African Grey Parrot charm, so I decided to try to make one myself! I had to modify the original pattern quite a bit, so I thought i would show you the process of making one of these cute charms! I hope you enjoy my instructable on how to make a red-tailed black cockatoo clay pendant!

NerdECrafter's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/NerdyCraftsies

Firstly, you will need a template to make the parrot's body. This step is optional!

To make the body of your parrot, you will need to take the main body color of the parrot, and cover the template with it. You should have something like the picture.

If you don't want to use a template, you can just make a shape like one shown in the picture, you could even try making other species!

If your bird has more than one color on the body, you can take the second color and roll it into a thin sheet (about 1mm thick), like i did with the red. Then, you put it onto the area that you want a different color, and smooth it out. Make sure there are no bubbles!

To make the eye, take a ball tool and make a small indent where the eye goes, then get a ball of black clay and put it in the hole. Add a white piece of clay on top and your'e done!

To make the beak, you take a small piece of clay and roll it into a teardrop shape. Then you curve the tip down a tiny bit, and flatten it out very slightly. For the bottom piece, make a semi circle, flatten it a bit, and curve it on the tip of your finger.

Your cute little bird needs something to sit on, right? To make a branch, you take two shades of brown clay and mix them together, so that they not fully blended. Your clay should be a two toned brown, then you roll it out and put it around the parrot's tail, near the top.

For the leaves, you take green clay, roll it into a teardrop shape, flatten it, and add small lines so it has veins like a real leaf.

To make the wing, it is very simple. you take a piece of clay, and roll it into a teardrop shape. Then, you flatten it and put small lines on the side tat is away from the parrot's head, to imitate large flight feathers!

If your chosen species of parrot has any other details, you can add them now! Mine had small spots on the wing, so I added them now.

As well as the characteristics of your bird, you can also add texture at this point. You can use your fingernail to make small feathers on the body, and a pin tool to make the large tail feathers.

Also, if your clay has some dust on it, or too many fingerprints, you can take some rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab, and gently rub it where there is imperfections in the clay! Then, sign the back, make sure to put the year!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial I made, in total this project took me about 2 hours! But it was very fun, and I hope you had fun making your pendant if you decide to do one. (If you do, make sure to post a picture in the comments!) I also enjoy reading critique, so please tell me if there is anything I can improve on! Enjoy!