Padme's Jappor Snippet

Hello there, random fandoms and fellow enthusiasts! I recently watched a video of things you can buy at Disney and the Jappor snippet Anakin gives Padme in The Phantom Menace was on the list, However, to buy it at Disney it costs $11.99 USD before tax! My pennypincher brain knew that I would never pay that much for a necklace (it also knew that I wouldn’t be going to Disney, but that’s another matter), so I decided to make it. Now, I would include a price comparison, but given that the Disney version is on a chain as it appears in Revenge of the Sith, and mine is on braided embroidery floss, I didn’t think I could get a good estimate of my expenses, as I was working with stuff I already had. Anyway, on to materials.

Black embroidery floss

Brown embroidery floss

White polymer clay

Tan polymer clay

Glass jar (needs to have a smooth surface. I used a half pint canning jar)

Flour

Brown acrylic paint

Water

Paintbrush

Needle tool (or a pin)

Exact-o knife

Coffee stir stick straw.

Reference image

Short fingernails! Long nails make dents in the clay that are hard to get rid of.

Working on a ceramic tile is easier than working on the jar. Just flour the surface so the clay doesn’t stick.

Baking clay in a toaster oven outside is a good idea, because it doesn’t smell very nice when baking or burning, and it can stink up your house.

If your clay feels too soft, throw it in the freezer for a minute or so to firm it up.

And wash your hands! Little dust flecks and bits of clay from other projects can ruin the look of your clay.

Jappor appears to be a light tan-colored wood. To achieve this color, I started with white and gradually mixed in bits of tan, rolling and kneading until even. I think it ended up being about half and half. Make more than you think you’ll need.

The necklace is a square with two notches cut out of it. I folded my clay into a thick pile, and then cut the edges off to make a neat square. Using the exact-o, I cut out the little notches. I then used the coffee stir stick straw to punch out a hole for the cord. Straws work as great cookie cutters for polymer clay. Then I pressed it onto the floured side of a canning jar. This gives the necklace the little bit of curve we can see in the reference image.

As Anakin tells us in The Phantom Menace, this necklace was carved. So, looking carefully at my reference image, I used a needle tool and exact-o to carve the design in. I used the exact-o to add the X details to the hole for the cord, and to cut the little square in the middle. My designs ended up a little off—some of them were too close to the middle or edge or the diagonal streaks—so be careful when you do this!

After I finished with the main design, I very lightly dragged the tip of my tool across the surface to make the wood grain. You could also do this with one of those paintbrushes you let the paint dry into (be honest, we all have them. It’s a rite of passage.).

Follow the directions on your package to bake your clay. Rest your glass jar on its side in the oven. Watch the baking carefully, to ensure it doesn’t fall off the jar or anything. And be careful, because the glass will be hot when you take it out! Fully baked clay makes a clink sound when dropped on a ceramic or china-like plate, so that will help you test if it is done. If it needs to bake again for a bit, don’t worry about the jar, it won’t need it.

The necklace looks OK, but to get it looking really good, you need to make the cuts pop. To do that, I put equal amounts of acrylic paint (the craft kind, not the nice stuff for painting canvases) and water in a little dish, mix it together, and then use a soft brush to get that paint all over the necklace. Get it all over your fingers if you have to. Then use a paper towel or napkin and get all the paint off the surface. Leave it in the cracks. This is much easier if you use thinner paint. It is much easier to add more than it is to take it off!

Now it is time to string your necklace. Find a necklace that you like the length of, and then cut three strands of embroidery floss twice that length. Fold all the strands in half, feed through the hole, then pull the ends through the loop you just made to knot the strings to the necklace. Then braid the ends and tie them together.

You’re finished! This necklace is great for Batuu-bounding, Halloween, or cosplay. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you make this, be sure to show me down below. May the Force be with you!