This week I am so happy to be back to filming tutorials for all of you. I am sorry for the long absence but life got in the way and I just wasn’t able to film for the channel. I have set up things to hopefully keep me on track with the channel this year and into the future. So happy new year and thank you for stopping by to learn how to make some green beans for the dolls.
I was initially going to be making both fresh green beans and cooked ones but I decided it would be best to do two videos this on the fresh green beans and then next week a separate tutorial on the cooked ones. I was afraid trying to cover both would make the video way too long and be overwhelming both you the viewer and for me.
Since we making our beans from polymer clay if you haven’t worked with it a lot here is a link to my Clay 101 playlist on YouTube. I do recommend taking a look at some of those videos if you aren’t feeling confident in your clay working skills.
The first step in any clay project is to condition the clay. I did that off camera. Since I needed to mix my clay color I did that as the same time. If you have a leaf green clay go ahead and use that. If not here are the colors I mixed to get the color I used. I used all the colors in approximately equal parts. You can mix a similar color if you a good range of clay on hand in your stash.
Be sure work with the clay until it is well conditioned to make forming the beans easier.
Once you get the color you think is correct go ahead and roll a small bit into a snake about 1/16” in diameter and a couple of inches long. Lay on a plain paper plate and bake for about 10 minutes. This will do two things. First off it will let you check what color your clay will be when it is baked off. Green clays usually stay pretty true to the raw color when baked but it is always a good idea to check. And even more importantly this will become the stems to go onto the ends of some of your green beans. Because of this I try to lay mine stem snake out in a curved shape so it makes better looking stems.
Once the clay is conditioned break off pieces and form small balls. They can range from just a bit bigger than ¼” to just under 3/8” in diameter. You want a variety of sizes in the range so that your beans are each a slightly different size. After all in real life they would each be a bit different in length. Each ball will become 1 green bean.
You will also need a very small amount of a light beige color of clay. I used Fimo Sahara but any similar color will work. Just barely condition this so that you can work with it and form it into a ball on your work surface.
Now using your fingers and working with one clay ball at a time roll the ball into a snake with one end very pointed. I try to go no longer than 2 ¼” for most of the beans with a few up to 2 ½” long. Be sure to make some shorter too.
Then add just a tiny drop of a clear liquid polymer clay to the not pointed end.
Add a tiny bit of the beige clay with a pointy tool.
Then add a small piece of the stem snake.
Use you fingers to shape the end of the bean so it looks right.
Make some of your beans longer and some shorter. Some pretty straight and some curved. If you make them all the same size and shape they loose the look of the real thing.
Add all the beans to your baking surface, I use a plain paper plate. And bake the beans at the temperature called for on your clay package. Since I am using multiple brands of clay with different baking temperatures and I know my current oven has a habit of drifting in temperature I usually bake my clay at 225°F for 10 minutes.
Allow the beans to cool and they are ready to use in you doll scene.
Next week come back and learn how to make some cooked green beans for the dolls.
As always I do want to sincerely thank all of you for watching my videos and reading my blog posts. It means so much to me that you are supporting me in this way. If I could ask you all to do just a bit more by subscribing to the channel and liking the videos and leaving comments. Those help more than you can imagine. Also if you could pass the links on to your friends I would appreciate it so much.
Happy New Year! I've always loved your channel and am soo happy you're back!
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