The first jewelry I ever made had everything to do with Mattel's "Thing Maker" bug molds. This is back in the early 70s, when kids were encouraged to play with plastic goop, water, and electricity. Never heard of these toys?? That's okay. I'll school ya.
Back in the day, my brother had the complete Creepy Crawler kit. We're talking the whole shebang: aluminum molds of all manner of critters (bugs, toads, bats, skeletons, the coveted shrunken head -- you get the idea); squeeze bottles of colored liquid "goop" (glow-in-the-dark too!); a hot plate, over-sized tweezers, cooling pan, and "jewelry findings" like embeddable rings and such.
We spent hours making rubbery plastic creatures. It was fairly easy. First, ooze goop into a mold. Then, bake the mold in the hotplate. Next, use the tweezers to transfer this baked business into a pan of water. Finally, once the mold was cool enough to touch, the final step; emancipate your critter by peeling it from the mold. I was crazy about Creepy Crawlers. I turned some of my creations into pendants or pins. Feeling a bit nostalgic, I hopped on ebay to see what I could find. Check out my recent purchase:
Now, if only I can get one of those Green Hornet molds I liked so much.... ;) Jill