Slimey the Worm - Tutorial

Since my original post 4 years ago (gasp!) I have received so many inquiries regarding my Slimey the Worm replicas.  Well I've finally gotten around to creating a tutorial on how to make one of your own.  He is very easy to make and requires very few supplies.

Materials:
Upholstery foam or Memory Foam
Sharp Scissors
Light Orange, Dark Orange and Red Acrylic Paints
Paintbrush for acrylic paints (or any small brush with stiff bristles)
Wire
Small scrap of pink paper
Glue
Black Puffy Paint (or two black beads)

Instructions:
 Step 1:  Cut a piece of upholstery foam or memory foam no smaller than 1 1/2"wide x 6" long.  (I was short on foam one day so I actually cut a piece off of my husbands memory foam pillow...tee hee.  You can't even notice it's gone!)

Step 2:   Trim the foam down into an oblong cylinder shape with the scissors.  Make the cylinder as smooth around as possible with no ridges.  The worms I make are about 3/4" wide and 5 1/2" long. 

Step 3:  Paint the worm with a watered down light orange.  Squeeze out the excess paint and let it dry completely.


Step 4:  Paint the dark orange stripes onto the worm.  The stripes for either end of the worm could be about 1/2" wide and the stripes down the middle could be about 1/4" wide.  I try to make my worms with no less than 9 small stripes.  Let the paint dry completely.

Step 5:  Cut a slit on one end of the worm for the mouth.  The slit should be about 6/16" from the outside so that his lower jaw is much smaller than the top of his head.  The slit can go back as far as the dark orange paint (so about a 1/2" deep).  


Step 6:  Paint the inside of the worm's mouth red.

Step 7:  Insert the wire into the worm's back side, right through the middle of the cylinder.  Draw it up into the lower jaw.  Cut off the excess wire making sure that none of it will stick out when the worm is bent and posed.

Step 8:  For the tongue, cut out a small, but fat, heart shape from the pink paper.  Round off the sharp tip of the heart.   With a small dab of glue, place the tongue in his mouth with the bottom of the "heart" facing out.

Step 9: Place two drops of the puffy paint for the eyes on the top of the worms head.  They can be placed about 1/4" away from the end of the dark orange paint with 1/4" of space between them.  Let dry completely.

Prop him up onto a dirty pair of yard boots (or any old piece of trash) and your Slimey the Worm will make a great conversation piece!  Then surprise a Sesame Street fan by setting him up by the garbage can!  Awww...


Here is a picture and photo booth design by K.D. Kinkade.  One of my Slimey Worms completes her set perfectly.