Pink Coiled Snake Pendant Necklace

Condition each color until smooth. Roll the pink body to one even rope thickness so it does not bake heavier on one side, and roll the yellow for the belly strip and head to one even slab thickness on the tile. Mix enough pink for the whole coil at once so the body color stays consistent.

Texture the pink rope: dust a knit, braid, or rope texture mat or roller lightly with cornstarch, then press or roll the texture along the full length in even passes so the raised pattern reads the same everywhere. Peel the clay away gently and wipe off any release powder with a damp swab.

Lay the smooth acid-yellow belly strip along the inner curve of the textured pink rope, then coil the rope into its S-curve directly on the ceramic tile so you do not distort the texture by moving it later. Where loops touch, wipe both faces clean and press them together so they weld into one piece during the bake.

Pattern option A, sculpt the head freehand: shape a flat yellow blank, then carve the stepped pixel-staircase outline and the mouth line with a needle tool and blade so the edges stay blocky and hard, not rounded.

Pattern option B, cut the head from a slab: roll an even yellow slab on the tile and cut the stepped pixel outline in one clean downward press with a sharp blade or a stepped cutter, so the staircase edges stay crisp. Cutting from a slab lets you make matching spare heads.

Pattern option C, mold the head: press conditioned yellow into a clean silicone mold of a stepped head shape, working clay into every corner so there are no air gaps, then pop it out and trim the back flat. Dust the mold with cornstarch first for a clean release.

Add the eye: roll a small blue dome and seat it into the head with a ball stylus so it presses in cleanly without tearing. Wipe the neck join on both the head and the body, then press the head onto the end of the coil so they fuse.

Plan the hang before baking. Find the left-to-right balance line of the coil (the line where it hangs level), mark the top hanging point on it, and keep that point well in from the top edge so there is a solid margin of clay around it. The top coil is the natural spot.

Set up the hanger now if you are embedding one. For a screw-eye, press a small starter hole on the balance line, smaller than the screw threads, so it does not crack when you twist the eye in after baking. For a pierced hole, push a bead pin through from both sides so the channel meets evenly, and leave the pin in for the bake so the hole stays round.

Smooth the back before the first bake: burnish it, work a touch of isopropyl alcohol over any seams, and check the back is flat against the tile. The back shows when the pendant turns on the chain, so treat it like a second front.

Bake the coil flat on the tile over cardstock or parchment at your clay brand's package temperature and time, timed by the thickest part of the rope. The cardstock keeps the back matte. For a gentle dome instead, nest the curve in polyester fiberfill so it holds its shape. Let it cool fully before drilling or gluing.

Finish the hanger on the cooled piece. Twist a screw-eye in with a dab of two-part epoxy on the threads, or score and alcohol-wipe the back and glue a flat bail centered on the balance line with the loop pointing up, or seat a pinch bail into a top hole. Pierced or drilled holes can take a jump ring straight. Test-hang from a fingertip and adjust the mark if it tilts.

Open a jump ring by twisting it sideways like a tiny door, thread it through the bail loop or hole and the chain, then twist it closed so the ends meet flush with no gap. Match the ring and opening to your chain so it passes freely.

Wet-sand the back and edges after baking, then finish. Bare baked clay needs no sealer for protection, so a glaze is a look choice: a thin water-based gloss or a small UV-resin dome on the blue eye lifts it against the matte body and head. Test any finish on baked scrap of the same clay first, then coat front and back so they match.