Amulet of Talos Fit For a Dragonborn

Special thanks to Gladys from Usagi In Wonderland who gave me the Nord figure!

When I first began playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim a few years ago it quickly became my favorite game. An open world where I create my own character who has awesome Dragonborn powers?? Count me in! Since then I have also played a little bit of III: Morrowind and IV: Oblivion. One of the biggest features of the games are the Daedra and Aedra, basically the Greek Gods of Tamriel, who play around with the world and its people for their own entertainment. Of all of the deities in the game, the one that stood out most to me was Talos, AKA Tiber Septim. Though many refuse to accept him as a deity, because he was once a man, he is a favorite among the Nords of Skyrim. Not so much with those jerks the Thalmor, who had it outlawed during the White Gold Concordat.

But I digress. The Nords remind me of my own Norwegian heritage and so I feel a connection with Talos. Even though my own character is a badass Redguard, she still has the warrior heart of a Nord. In the game the Amulet of Talos allows the wearer to decrease their shout cooldown by 20%. If you don't play the game that probably means nothing to you, and that's okay! When I first saw it I immediately wanted one, and not just in the game. I searched the web hoping to find something in my price range, but I didn't come up with many results. As I had been playing around with the idea of working with polymer clay at the time, I figured I might as well try to make my own!

It had been over 10 years since I worked with clay last, and I was really impressed with what I was able to accomplish for a first go! Don't get me wrong, I made a LOT of mistakes. The point is, I did my best. And now you can too!

Here's what you need to forge your very own Amulet of Talos:

• Gold clay- I used Premo! Sculpey in "Antique Gold"
• Liquid clay
• Clay carving tools
• Chalk pastels and/or acrylic paint in gold, black, green and blue
• Wire
• Leather/leather-ish cording
• Necklace clasp, chain, and metal end caps for the cord
• E6000 or super glue of your choice
• Rubbing alcohol and Q-tips
• Pictures for reference and size

I didn't take many pictures of the process (as usual. I will improve, guys!). Here are a few that will give you an idea of how I went about making this: 

These are the steps I took:

1. Find a picture of the amulet that you like. You can re-size it in a photo-editing program to give you a better idea of scale and print it out as a guide. 
2. With the gold clay, start forming the "body"/double-sided-axe shape. It's thicker in the center and thinner at edges. You can carve it now or wait untill later. Do use something to texture the curves on top and bottom.
3. Next, work on the swirly cone "neck" that connects the body to the "bail" (part that holds the cording.) Start with a plain tapered cone of clay to size. Cut a piece of wire long enough to go through the body, neck, and the bottom layer of the bail. Stick the piece of wire in the center of the cone with a small amount sticking at the top. From there carve and shape it to your liking.  
4. Stick the wire into the body in the center, and use a bit of liquid clay to attach the neck to the body. Add two discs of clay on the top of the neck. 
5. There is also a pointy bit on the bottom of the body. Form that piece separately and attach it with liquid clay after you have carved the body.
6. Form the "bail" separately. There are many ways to do this, so do what makes you most comfortable. Make sure that the hole in the center of the tube you are making is large enough to accommodate the cording. I had to re-do my bail because the first attempt was too small. 
7. Attach another pointy bit to the top of the bail. Use liquid clay to stick the bail to the neck in the center. Make sure that the piece of wire is short enough to provide support but not long enough to go through the clay of the bail. Trim if necessary. 
8. Carve any other details you need to finalize the piece. Once you are satisfied with the way your amulet looks, use the rubbing alcohol to clean up the piece of any fingerprints or dust. 
9. You can either bake the piece now using the instructions for the clay and paint it after, or use some chalk pastels to give it dimension before baking. Like me, you will probably still need to paint in the crevices to give it dimension and a worn look after baking. I recommend baking on a sheet of parchment paper. 
10. Slip the cord through the bail, cut it to preferred length, add the caps to the ends with the super glue, and attach the clasp and chain. 

And you are done! Those Dragons don't stand a chance!

If you decide to make an Amulet of Talos using my method, please share it with me on Twitter or Instagram @craftylilgeek and use #FangirlCrafter


While we're on the subject of Skyrim, I recently made Capt. Jill's Skyrim Beef Stew using a recipe from Skill Up Skillet! The recipe is great! It was a change from what I normally do, and considering that it had a lot more ingredients than the game version (raw beef, carrot, salt pile, garlic) I really enjoyed it. From this recipe I learned that butter and red wine make the beef super tender and delicious. I also had to use a crock pot because I didn't have a cooking pot large enough, but it allowed the stew to simmer for like 10 hours which made it perfect anyway. I also added a can of Rotel, because I like my stew to be a bit spicy.

Here are my delicious results:

Vs. the game version: 

Definitely a more delicious (and nutritional) version!

When you're done here, go check out the other geeky recipes they have at Skill Up Skillet!

Now tell me, what piece of jewelry from or inspired by a video game do you want most?