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To decorate Christmas toys from polymer clay is a pleasure! Such creativity gives a lot of positive emotions, both during and after work. There are several advantages to modeling:
- do not need a large number of tools;
- you can sculpt anything;
- Cheap and affordable material;
- minimum of labor.
We prepare the workplace and proceed
By and large, the manufacture of such hand-made articles is no different from modeling plasticine. The only difference is that the toy will have to be baked in order for the clay to freeze, and the artifact retained its beauty. Before work it is necessary to prepare a place. Put all the necessary materials and tools on the table:
- polymer clay;
- a little flour or talcum powder;
- a small knife;
- paints;
- paper clips;
- thread.
From clay we will sculpt figurines. The knife is useful for leveling the surface, as well as applying patterns, grooves and so on. Staples will play the role of ears, to which we tie the thread. Talcum or flour perfectly eliminates the adhesion of clay to hands or table, which prevents molding.We will paint the crafts after the clay has solidified.
Before styling, wash your hands thoroughly! Clean hands - the basic rule of modeling. No mote should get into the clay: this material adheres well, thereby it will "collect" all the garbage. This also applies to the workplace, which should also be as clean as possible.
Let's start with a simple
You need to start with the manufacture of the most simple Christmas tree toys made of clay. For example, with conventional balls. In addition to the above items, you need a foam ball.
Note that the balls can not be made entirely of this material, as they will not be properly baked. The maximum thickness of clay should not exceed one centimeter! To make three-dimensional figures, use "stuffing" from another material, for example, from foil or polystyrene.
If you do not have a foam ball, then take the foil. Make a small ball of foil, 3-4 cm in diameter.Clothe it with clay and roll it all in the palms to make a smooth ball. Take one small clip and stick it into the ball so that the eye of the dumb sticks out. Again, roll the ball in the palms of the hands: the clip will securely fix in the clay. Everything, it is possible to bake (rules of baking read in the following section).
After baking, wait for cooling. It remains only to decorate our toy. The background color is better to apply with aerosol paint. After it dries, you can draw other colors (brush) anything: the symbol of the year, snowflake, snowman or Santa Claus. Insert a thread into the eye of the paper clip and tie the loop. A beautiful Christmas ball is hand-made ready, just like the factory one! In a short time you can make dozens of different toys, without much difficulty.
Learning to make various figures
The simplest of them are flat toys. It will take a little clay and a little secret. Culinary forms for biscuits, with which we will literally punch blanks. We put clay on the table and start rolling it out like a dough. We take tin molds and "stamp" the billets: hearts, fir-trees, diamonds and so on.
In the upper part, insert paperclips or eyelets from the wire. Put them on a baking tray and bake them like biscuits. Next - only your imagination. You can glue or draw on them.
Do not forget to pour flour or talcum powder on your hands. Without this clay will stick strongly to the fingers and the table, which greatly complicates the making of the crafts!
Complex (volumetric) Christmas decorations made of clay require a little more attention and perseverance.It may be necessary to sculpt individual pieces of polymer clay, and only then to collect from them a whole figure.For example, this snowflake. It is collected from the base, many different petals and circles.
Or, for example, a figure of an animal, where the body, head, paws and tail are molded separately, and only then assembled into one.It is better to use matches, as a reinforcing material.
A beautiful little house from a fairy tale.
A little bit of patience and in the hands of a cute little love bird will appear.
Firing rules
Deserves even more attention, compared with the modeling of Christmas toys made of clay own hands. Improper baking can lead to very unpleasant consequences. Agree, it will be insulting if the handiwork on which you worked for a long time, simply collapses. So you need to follow the rules.
What to use for baking
As a cookware for firing, earthenware plates, ceramic tiles or the simplest steel baking sheet are used. On the last, be sure to put parchment for baking, and only on top - crafts. It is better to put several layers of paper so that the products do not deform.
What is the temperature and what is the time
It depends on the craft, or rather, on its thickness and type of clay. Such data is always written on packages, be sure to read them before burning. Usually the optimal temperature is 110-130 degrees Celsius.
It is best to use a thermometer for the oven to control the temperature.
When the craft is thin, for example, a flower or a leaf, the necessary time will not exceed five to eight minutes.For massive textures, sometimes it takes half an hour. If you decide to burn something voluminous, use a toothpick, as shown in the photo. This is done so that the article is uniformly fired from all sides.
If the firing is incorrect, a poisonous gas can be released from the clay! Keep track of the temperature and time, be sure to follow the recommendations. Do not bake clay crafts with food.
