Doll Size Tomato Slices

Watch the video here.

I do want to preface this blog post by telling you that if you also follow my dollhouse miniature channel/blog I am doing the same project over there this week. In fact some of the video will be the exact same footage, but then will cut to scale specific to finish the project.

This week I decided to tackle a cane that I have wanted to do for a couple of years. I have just been to chicken to try it. I have looked at several of my resource books at directions and the tomato cane just looked so complicated that I was a bit scared to try it. But I really wanted to make this so I made the decision that this was a good time to just jump in and do it already! So here you are, tomato canes.

I am really happy to tell you that it really wasn't as hard as I feared it would be. Just go step by step and take it slow, it really isn't any harder than some of the other canes I have demonstrated on this channel in the past.

I did manage to make this entirely out of Sculpey III and Premo clays this time too. I know that some of you have a lot of trouble both getting Fimo and using it once you do find it.

Here are the colors I used today:

Sculpey III Lemonade (a light yellow)

Premo Spanish Olive (a dark green)

Premo Translucent

Sculpey III Beige (a pinky flesh color)

Premo Pomegranate (an orange red)

I have put a description of sorts after the colors to help you find other colors in your collection that might work. The only ones I didn't do this for is the translucent because other than Cernit I don't think any of the other translucent clays will be translucent enough for this project.

After you get your cane reduced to the size you want, remember that tomatoes come in a variety of sizes, place the cane into the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm up.

Now just slice the cane into as many slices as you think your dolls will need.

Bake at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes if you just have slices or 20 minutes if you decide to take some of those leftover ends and create a whole tomato too.

Once baked you can add the optional gloss to the liquid areas of your tomato slices.

If you made the whole tomato my favorite coating for that is Future floor polish. Here is a link to what the bottle looks like now so you can find it. A little bit of this goes a long way.

A little note on the floor finish stuff, I did a bunch of searching online and this is what keeps coming up as being the same thing. I am not sure since they have changed the name of it significantly, but I am pretty sure it is the same. (fingers crossed)

I hope you enjoyed the project this week. Be sure to share pictures with me if you make any of my projects I love to see what you make.  

Doll Size Hamburger Buns

Watch the video here.

This week we are continuing our ongoing project of creating hamburgers for the dolls by making some hamburger buns. I love making breads of all kinds out of Model Magic from Crayola. This air dry clay remains a bit on the squishy side when dry to it is just fun to use for things like bread.

For this scale I am making the buns in two pieces rather than one piece and cut them like I do with the smaller scales. To begin portion your clay out in balls that are 1” in diameter and an equal number of balls that are ¾” in diameter. By starting with slightly different sizes of clay balls we can make the buns more in proportion, keeping the top bun a bit taller than the bottom.

When you form the bun parts try to keep the diameter the consistent throughout the project. Remember real buns are all about the same size in the package. For the bottom buns use the smaller balls of clay and try to make them fairly flat. For the top buns try to make the tops a bit domed just like the real thing. I am forming these on a piece of sandpaper so that it will texture the inside part of the buns.

Next we need to add some color with chalks to make our buns looked baked. This is a fairly easy procedure and one we use a lot in making doll foods. Just be sure to start with the lightest color (the yellow ochre) and work up to the brown. I like to use an eyeshadow brush for this rather than a paint brush. I find I have better control with the eyeshadow brush.

Now allow your buns to dry at least over night. I did find that mine were not all the way dry on the sides that had been against the sandpaper. So flip them over and allow them to set up a while to dry that side too.

So there we are, we now have some buns for the hamburgers. 

Doll Size Condiment Bottles

Watch the video here.

This week we are making some of those cute condiment bottles for the ketchup, mustard and mayo just like I used to have when my older kids were little. They were sure a lot easier to take with when we ate outside in the yard or had a picnic somewhere.

Since the shape of these bottles is so simple they are easy to replicate with paper and wood. If you have ever made any paper beads the technique I am showing you should be somewhat familiar.

The first step is to create the nozzle for our bottles. For this (after trying several ideas) I decided that using a bamboo skewer from the kitchen was going to be the best option. I didn't want that long sharp point so I used my pencil sharpener to make a more gradual blunt point. This then becomes the center of our bead.

For the bulk of our bottle I used 1 strip of regular printer paper cut 11 ½” by 2 1/8”. Wrap this around the skewer really tightly using some Mod Podge to secure it. Follow this with 4 strips of the same paper cut 2” by 11 ½”. Keep the cylinder as tight and straight as you can. Keeping the bottom flat is the hardest part of the process.

When you have finished wrapping the paper around the skewer give it a good coat of Mod Podge and let it sit long enough to completely dry. Overnight is probably a really good idea.

When they are dry use some sand paper or emery boards to smooth everything up. Spend more time on yours than I was able to on mine. I really needed to finish up quickly so I could get this video up on time. Take you time and get yours a lot more even.

Follow up with a good coat of craft paint and a clear finish.

If you are feeling especially creative you can add a cute design to the side of your bottles. Or just leave them plain like mine.

Doll Size Burger Patties

Watch the video here.

This week I am showing you how to create some burger patties from polymer clay for the dolls. This is actually part one of a multi-part series. I decided that it would be nice to offer some longer projects that require several parts by dividing them into a series rather than one long video.

The meat mix for the raw patties does look really complicated but if you stick to the ratios it is easy to do. Here are the amount for all the color mixes I used in the video:

Raw patties:

mix 1

1 part white

1 part translucent

(note the brands really don't matter on this one since these clays are comparable in all brands for this use)

mix 2

2 parts Premo Pomegranate

1 part Premo Alizarin Crimson

(note you can use other brands but you will have to find very similar colors to get the same results)

mix 3

2 parts Sculpey Tan

1 part white (any brand)

1 part Premo Pomegranate

½ part Sculpey Elephant Grey

4 parts Premo Ecru

just a touch of Sculpey Sweet Potato

For the cooked burgers:

use mix #2 from the raw burgers

Premo Raw Sienna

As far as making the meat mixtures the longer you spend chopping the snakes of clay and the finer the texture you get the better they will look. This is especially true of the raw patties. The cooked ones are a bit more forgiving since we coat them with the Gallery Glass and sand for a cooked look.

So I hope you enjoyed this project be sure to check out the Facebook group to get the latest information on blog and video posts.

And remember if you make one of my projects be sure to send me a photo. I want yo see what you making.

Next tutorial will be another part of our burgers.