Doll Size Grapes

 

Watch the video here.

 

 

 

This week I decided to show you how to make grapes. This project is a bit on the fiddly side but I love how it turns out and I feel it is well worth the effort to make them. They will be very fragile when completed, if you want to make them a bit stronger I would recommend covering the bottom of the bunch with more TLS and baking again to cure that.

As always it is a good idea to have the real thing in front of you while you are working if at all possible. That way you really see what it looks like, the color, the shape, the size, etc.

For the red grapes today I used Scupley III in Plum mixed with Sculpey III in translucent. You only need a very small amount of the plum, about 1 part plum to 8 parts translucent. This will tint the translucent to be “grape” colored and still allow for the light to pass through keeping the finished grapes looking like the real thing.

If you want to make green grapes I usually use a combination of a leaf green and a yellow (about equal parts of each) in place of the plum we used today. If you want to do other colors of grapes just play around with the clay colors you have to get the color you want. And be sure to bake a sample of the color since it can change when baked. Let me know if you would like a tutorial on mixing colors to match real life objects.

The first step after mixing the clay color is to make a core to build our bunch of grapes on. This step cuts the number of grapes we need to create but a huge amount. It also makes the finished bunch a lot stronger than if we just made the individual grapes and tried to connect them. This core needs to be approximately 1/3 the size you want your finished bunch to be. You are going to layer on a lot of grapes onto the core so you need to account for them when sizing the core.

At this point we also need to make our grapes that will go onto the bunch. For this roll the remaining clay mixture into a snake that is no bigger than ¼” in diameter. Don't make it uniform though, you want some variety in the diameter so your grapes vary a bit. Then cut this snake into pieces that are up to 3/8” long. Again vary it, you want your grapes to vary in size.

Now roll each piece into a ball then just use your finger to roll it a bit to make it more grape shaped.

Now bake the core and the grapes at 250°F for 5 minutes. We are not trying to completely bake the pieces yet just harden them enough that they keep their shape.

From this point on be sure you are working on a non-stick baking surface. I like these parchment squares I get at the Dollar Tree.

Now using TLS (Transparent Liquid Sculpey) add some of the individual grapes to the core. Work in small batches and bake often to harden the TLS. Again you are not baking this to cure it just enough to set the TLS and stick the grapes in place while you work. Keep the oven temperature at 250°F for this step and bake about 5 minutes each time. 

Once all the grapes are in place and you are happy with your bunch of grapes raise the oven temperature to 275°F and bake the entire bunch for 20 minutes. This will completely cure both the clay and the TLS.

Once cool trim any excess cured TLS from around the bottom of the bunch and give it a coat of matte Mod Podge.

There now your bunch of grapes is ready to place in your fruit bowl for your dolls to enjoy.

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