Projects
Welcome to our projects page, these projects are for your personal use only and are not to be reproduced for sale. You can view any of the projects by selecting from the list below.
Making a novelty hedgehog cake Making a simple Victoria sponge cake Making a Yule log cake Carrots To make whole onions Making potatoes Spring onions (scallions)Making a novelty hedgehog cake
Form a 5/8th inch (16mm) diameter ball of dark brown clay to an oval and press it down onto a tile, flattening the base. Form a ¼ inch (6mm) diameter ball of light brown clay into a small cone, ¼ inch long with a ¼ inch diameter (6 x 6 mm). Cut off and discard one end of the oval, and press the cone against it. Use a pair of fine pointed tweezers, and pinch the tips all over the surface the dark brown clay. The act of pinching will roughen the surface, imitating piped, butter cream, spines. Make two, 1/32nd inch (1mm) diameter balls of black clay and position one on each side of the face for the eyes. Make a 1/16th inch (2mm) diameter ball of black clay and position it on the end of the cone for the nose. Bake the cake for the time and at the temperature recommended for your chosen brand of clay.
Making a simple Victoria sponge cake.
This project would be suitable for children, with supervision,
although they made need some assistance to cut the cylinder in half.
Mix together a 5/8th inch (16 mm) diameter ball of white clay with a
1/10th inch (2 mm) ball of yellow clay and add one quarter of a teaspoon
of semolina powder, as this will give texture to the cake. Form the mix
into a ball, and then flatten the top and bottom and then the sides to
create a three-quarter inch (19 mm) diameter cylinder. Cut the cylinder
in half, half way along its length. Flatten a 3/8th inch (9 mm) ball of
white clay to a circle big enough to cover the cake, and place the
“cream” on top of one cut surface. Repeat the process with a 3/8th inch
(9 mm) ball of dark red for the jam. Assemble the cake and use the side
of a pin to mark the lines of the cooling tray’s gridlines on the top.
Rub a piece of orangey brown artist pastel on a piece of paper and use a
paint brush to apply the dust to the top and sides of the cake. Once
baked the pigment will be colour fast and permanent. Place the cake in
the refrigerator for an hour, the clay firms as it chills, this will
mean you can cut a slice from the cake with minimal distortion. Bake the
cake and slice for the time and at the temperature recommended for your
chosen brand of clay.
Roll a ¾ inch (19 mm) diameter ball of dark brown polymer clay to the
depth of 1/8th inch. Roll a ½ inch (13mm) diameter ball of light brown
to depth of 1/32nd inch. Place the dark brown clay on top of the light
brown, prick out any air bubbles between the layers of clay, and cut a
1¼ inch (32mm) square. Discard the excess clay.
Cut a triangle of clay away from one side of the square, leaving an
angle along one edge of the dark brown clay - see diagram
Turn the clay over so the light brown clay is now on top. Roll the clay
up on itself starting from the angled section and finish with the
opposite straight edge resting on the tile. Reduce the diameter of the
cylinder to 5/16th inch, by stretching the cylinder not by rolling it;
you want to retain the straight edge. Cut away and discard both
distorted ends. Cut a 5/16th inch (8mm) segment from the cylinder. Make
a diagonal cut across the segment so one side is now 3/16th inch long
and the other 5/16th inch long and place the angled piece against the
side of the cake near one end.
Cut a 3/16th inch (5mm) slice from the other end of the cylinder and
place it flat on the tile. Use the end of a cocktail stick (toothpick)
to very gently depress the light brown clay in the slice and at one end
of the cylinder. Use a pin to texture the two flat surfaces of the dark
brown clay (the end of the cake and the top of the slice). Hold the pin
at a shallow angle to the clay and use the tip to texture the surface,
do not gouge holes into the clay; just gently roughen the surface so it
looks like the cut surface of a cake. Avoid distorting the light brown
clay.
Make the chocolate cream filling by mixing a 1/8th inch (3mm) diameter
ball of light brown clay with a small amount of liquid polymer clay to
the consistency of double (thick) cream. Place a line of the “chocolate
cream” in the spiral depression in the light brown clay on both the cut
end of the cake and on the slice.
Bake the cake and slice for the time and at the temperature recommended
for your chosen brand of clay. Allow the baked cake to cool before
proceeding to the next stage.
Bake a 5/8th inch (16mm) diameter ball of dark brown clay and once cool
grate it though a fine kitchen grater, the one used for nutmeg is ideal
(do not then use the grater for food use). Mix the resulting powder with
some liquid polymer clay, which has been coloured with a tiny amount of
dark brown oil paint, to the consistency of “butter icing”. Coat all the
surfaces of the cake, bar the two textured ones, with the “butter
icing”.
Texture the “butter icing” to resemble bark.
Roll out a very thin layer of dark green clay and cut three holly leaf
shapes (cutters are available from Diane Harfield – see links). Use a
pin to mark the lines of veins in the clay, and gently curve the leaves
to a more natural shape. Position the holly leaves on the cake and add
some tiny red balls of clay for the berries.
Bake the cake for the time and at the temperature recommended for your
chosen brand of clay.
If you wish to have a dusting of icing sugar on your cake, carefully
sponge a thin coating of white acrylic paint on the top.
Tint a 3/8th inch (9mm) diameter ball of translucent clay with a tiny
amount of orange taken from a ½ inch (13mm) ball of orange clay. Divide
off 1/3 of the coloured translucent clay and mix in another tiny amount
of orange clay. Roll the remaining 2/3rd translucent mix to a 1/8th inch
(3mm) diameter cylinder. Wrap this cylinder with the remaining 1/3rd
translucent mix, butting the edges at the join; do not overlap the clay.
Wrap the cylinder with all the remaining orange clay again butting the
edges at the join; do not overlap the clay.
Reduce the diameter of the cane to 3/16th inch (5mm) and cut it in half
and put one half aside. Taper the end of the remaining cylinder to a
point and cut off a ½ inch (13mm) length. Repeat the procedure cutting
more carrots of slightly varying lengths.
Rub a piece of brown pastel stick onto a piece of paper and dip a blade
into the powder. Run the blade across the sides of the carrot. This will
cut short lines into the sides of the carrot, and the pastel will colour
these lines brown. If you inadvertently cut the carrot in two just put
it back together again, pushing the cut sides against themselves. Pick
up the carrot and gently squidge it up on itself; this not only
consolidates all the cut edges together, but gives it an irregular
indented appearance. Curve the edges of the top surface of the carrot,
and indent a hole in the centre of the top with a ball tool. Tint a ¼
inch (6mm) diameter ball of translucent with leaf green and roll to a
1/16th inch (2mm) cylinder. Cut off a ¼ inch (6mm) length and taper one
end. Place a tiny drop of liquid polymer clay into the hole and insert
the green top. Pinch the translucent/green clay with tweezers to divide
it into stalks.
Bake the carrots, on crumpled foil, for the time and at the temperature
recommended for your chosen brand of clay.
Bake the remaining cylinder of clay and whilst it is still warm (be
careful not to burn your fingers) cut it into slices. These can be used
as vegetables on a plated meal or they add interest to a vegetable
preparation scene.
Use the same technique to make parsnips, but use white clay tinted with
a small amount of beige clay instead of orange clay.
Tint a ¾ inch (19 mm) diameter ball of translucent clay with some caramel, the amount you use depends on how dark you wish your onions to be. Onions that have lost their outer layers of leave are a lighter colour than those that have retained their outer skins. Form the mix to a ¾ inch (19mm) diameter cylinder. Roll some light brown clay to a very thin cylinder (1/64th inch, 0.5mm diameter) and lay about 16 lengths evenly around the outside of the cylinder. Reduce the diameter of the cylinder to about ¼ inch (6mm) diameter. Form the base of the onion by gently pressing the cut edges to the centre of the cylinder. Cut the onion away from the cylinder and form the top to a point. Tint a small ball of translucent clay with light brown and place a tiny ball on the base of the onion. Use fine, pointed, tweezers to pinch the ball so it resembles roots. Bake the onions, on crumpled foil, for the time and at the temperature recommended for your chosen brand of clay.
To make sliced onions
Roll a 1/16th inch (1.5mm) diameter, 1inch (25mm) long cylinder of
translucent clay. Roll out a very thin layer of white clay - paper thin.
Wrap the cylinder with the white clay, cutting away the excess so that
the clay butts together at the join, the clay must not overlap. Roll
some translucent clay to 1/16th inch (1.5mm) deep, and wrap the cylinder
with the translucent clay, again butting the join and cutting away the
excess. Repeat the procedures alternating with a very thin layer of
white and a thicker layer of translucent. Complete until there are six
to eight layers of white, finishing with a white layer.
Cut the cane in half and put one half aside and reduce the diameter of
the remaining cylinder to ¼ inch (6mm) by squeezing from the middle of
the cane. Bake the cylinder of clay for the time and at the temperature
recommended for your chosen brand of clay and whilst it is still warm
(be careful not to burn your fingers) cut it into slices. These can be
used to add interest to a vegetable preparation scene or as a garnish.
Mix together translucent and ochre clay to onion colour. Roll at thin
layer of the clay, paper thin, and wrap the remaining cylinder with the
clay, butting the edges at the join. Tear off tiny segments of the
remaining skin coloured clay and curve the edges with a ball tool, bake
these flakes of onion skin for the time and at the temperature
recommended for your chosen brand of clay.
Roll some light brown clay to a very thin cylinder (1/64th inch, 0.5mm
diameter) and lay about 16 lengths evenly around the outside of the
cylinder. Reduce the diameter of the cylinder; by squeezing from the
middle of the cane, to a ¼ inch (6mm) diameter cylinder. Finish the
onions by using the same technique employed to make whole onions. Whilst
warm from the oven the onions can be sliced in half, showing off the
intricate rings.
Mix together equal amounts of translucent and white clay. Roll the to
mix to a 3/16th inch (5mm) diameter cylinder and cut into ¼ inch (6mm)
segments. Roll each segment to an oval. If you wish to make new potatoes
make the ovals slightly smaller. Rub a pastel stick on a piece of paper;
the colour used will determine the type of potato, red/brown = Desiree,
dark brown = King Edwards, sandy colour = New potatoes. Roll the ovals
in the pastel powder, when they are coloured press the tip of a cocktail
stick (toothpick) into the potato to mark the “eyes”. Bake the potatoes,
on crumpled foil, for the time and at the temperature recommended for
your chosen brand of clay.
If you wish to have a peeling potatoes scene leave a couple of ovals
uncoloured and cut them into quarters. Once baked and cool place the
potato segments in a saucepan and cover with a water substitute. I
personally use Solid Water, a two part resign mix, available from Deluxe
Materials, (see links)
Use a blade to carefully peel a potato whilst is still warm from baking.
If you want a large pile of peelings colour a cylinder of clay and once
baked, and whilst still warm, cut away segments of peel from that.
Spring onions are made up of three definite sections, the pure white
bulb at the base, a longer section of white with fine, pale green lines
evenly around it, then the leaves at the top.
Mix together equal quantities of white and translucent, divide off a
small amount and put aside. Form the remainder to a ¾ inch (19mm)
diameter cylinder and add seven pale green 1/32nd inch (1mm) diameter
cylinders evenly around the outside. Reduce the diameter of the cylinder
to about 1/10th inch (2.5 mm), and cut into 3/8th inch (10 mm) lengths.
Add a small ball of the remaining white/translucent mix to one end of
each segment, smooth the join and taper the other end to a point. Roll
two, ½ inch (13mm) long, 1/32nd inch (1mm) wide cylinders of green for
the leaves, point one end and place two leaves side by side, then use a
blade to flatten the lower end. Place the white section on the leaves.
Prepare another leaf and having flattened the end as before place it on
the top of the white segment. Gently roll the base of the leaves around
the spring onion. Tint some translucent with a small amount of the leaf
mix and add a tiny ball onto the base of the spring onion. Pinch the
ball with fine pointed tweezers to make the roots.
Bake the spring onions (scallions) for the time and at the temperature
recommended for your chosen brand of clay.
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