Polymer clay (Fimo or Sulpey) Christmas Critters

Also check out this free stocking ornament tutorial!

Also check out my fimo rocking horse!  It's my favorite!  (or all the other amazing projects you can make in the polymer clay section of this blog.

For supplies and tutorials visit my etsy shop, or find Polymer Clay Bakery on Facebook!

Christmas Workshop

When I was little I wanted to be one of the elves in Santa's Workshop. What could be better than working all day to make beautiful things to brighten other's lives? As an adult I've conducted Christmas workshops every year. Christmas camps at Youth Haven Desert Ranch, Christmas parties at GAP Ministries, soup kitchens, and of course, special workshops for my students. This is an opportunity for students to make Christmas presents for their families. This year my workshops will be held at Trinity dance studio. I beautiful little boxes and bags at Tucson Store Fixtures for the students to wrap the presents they make.

Peek-a-boo Insects and Bugs Preschool Lesson

I started this lesson with a beautiful Melissa and Doug insect puzzle. After discussing the insects we found in the puzzle, I showed the students how to draw simple insects hiding under fake fall leaves that I had stapled to the paper. This would also make a great small book or class book.

Fimo Turkeys

This week several of my classes made Fimo Turkeys. They all turned out great! Even preschool. I had to portion out the amounts of clay. A few of the boys turned them into remote control robot turkeys...

Polymer clay Miniature Gingerbread House

OK, This is way too advanced for most students, but I wanted to show you anyway. There are people in this world that take an unaccounted for, unexplainable delight in miniature stuff. I am one of these people. I spent a few days dreaming in miniature, and this was the result. Stay tuned for a simpler version that will be great for the kids.

Here are the instructions for easy peppermint candy!

How to Make Pop-up Cards

Today we made turkey and Christmas tree pop-up cards. I've always loved pop-up books, and I would have loved making these as a child. I would upload pictures, but the web-site I got them from already has great instructions. Check out the link I added on the right and print off some of the patterns. It's so much fun!

How to Paint a Waterfall

This project can be done with several mediums. Sometimes my students work with acrylic on strong brown paper. Other times we paint with oil on canvas. The first step is to paint the entire background a dark blue or brown if it isn't already. Then use a fan brush to create the waterfall. I point out to the students that the brush always has to be held at the same angel. A sideways stroke will create a thin line like I use for the pools of water. A vertical stroke will create thick lines to create the waterfall effect. Remind the students not to overdo it. They should use only one stroke for each section.
Then we fill in dots for brightly colored leaves. It's good to have a photograph of a tree in the fall. The colors are slightly separated into sections. Otherwise it looks more like rainbow confetti. After a lot of color is filled in, then we add dark branches in and out of the leaves. Don't forget the splash of the waterfall. I also added mist by very lightly adding white paint when the first layer was dry.

Preschool Lesson on Spirals

Yesterday was all about spirals. The students made FIMO snails and lollipops. To make the stripes on the lollipops, it's not important to separate the stripes of colors. I had the students smoosh, mix and swirl the colors all together. Then they roll the colorful ball of clay into a "snake". When I helped the students roll the ends of the clay in opposite directions, the colors make stripes like on a candy cane. From there the students roll their clay into a spiral.

It's fun to paint with water. Brown butcher paper or boxes turn color when painted with water. Absolutely no mess. After we walked around the spiral path a few times, we practiced painting spirals with water. After that, we drew snails and lollipops with gel sticks using our new knowledge of spirals!

Cloud Castle Gallery

I took a lot of pictures this week. I LOVE these drawings (If you drew a castle and don't see it here, it's only because some of the photographs I took didn't turn out as well as others).
For this project I brought in pictures of clouds, and taught about how the light illuminates parts of the clouds. The students used white prismacolor colored pencils and black sharpies on dark blue card stock. I let them use a circle stencil for the moon, but the rest was up to them! Old CDs make good circles, but these I cut out previously from card stock.

Preschool Mushroom Lesson

This week I started preschool lessons again. I really hope I get a lot of students. For my first lesson I read Mushroom in the Rain by Mirra Ginsburg. I forgot my giant mushroom (a brightly colored blanket), but had I brought it we would have played out the story of the animals hiding under the mushroom by hiding under the blanket. Before class I cut out and colored stems and mushroom "hats" to match. Then I separated them and taped them (with painter's tape) on the walls all over the room. I asked individual students to go find and match the mushrooms. Then we stuck them to a large paper that I had taped to the wall by the story circle. Together we added grass, rocks, rain etc. This served as a mural size example of the project they each worked on. Then I gave them each the parts of a blank mushroom that I had cut from this pattern. The students colored them with gel sticks and then glued them to a piece of paper. We also made fimo mushrooms. Even little ones can do well with this as long as you portion out the amount of clay and help them one step at a time. These mushrooms are special because they glow in the dark!