Doll Size Trail Mix

 

Watch the video here.

Trail Mix, I have been thinking about doing this project for a while now. I know there are several parts and some of the pieces look a little bit hard but if you watch how I make each one you will see they are really pretty easy to do.

If I were making this not for a video I would make all the pieces and bake them at the same time. For video purposes I made each component of the trail mix separately. I felt it would be easier to follow that way. The only pieces I would keep separate in baking are the “M&M’s” and I would just put them on their own plate to bake. And that is only because they are the only pieces that are going to get any kind of clear finish.

So for the “M&M’s” I did my best to match the colors from the clays I have on hand. I am going to list the colors I used but feel free to use colors you have or can get easily that are similar.

Red- Sculpey III Red Hot Red

Yellow- Sculpey III Lemonade

Orange- Sculpey II Just Orange

Brown- Sculpey III Suede Brown

Blue- Fimo Blue

Green- Fimo Green

When you are working with different color clays do your best to work from the lightest color to the darkest leaving any red clays for last. That way you minimize color transfer and you won’t spend so much time cleaning up between colors. After you use any of the dark colors and especially red you will need to thoroughly clean everything before you move on to working on anything else.

Condition all the colors of clay then roll a small amount of each color out to a snake about 1/8” in diameter. I like to use my drill gauge to size snakes of clay.

 

Next cut the snakes into 1/8” segments. I use 8 square to the inch graph paper to make measuring easy.

 

Next roll each piece into a tiny ball then use your fingertip to gently flatten each one slightly. You want to make a very round disk shape, like a real M&M,

These are baked at the recommended temperature for 10 minutes and allowed to cool to room temperature.

 

Once cooled make a mixture of about equal parts Satin Mod Podge and water. Coat the pieces and allow to dry on a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper.

 

The raisins are the one piece of this project that took me the longest to figure out. But I am so happy with how they worked out in the end. To start with have you every really thought about what color a raisin is?? I had no idea what color clay to use so I googled it and found that the correct color is a very dark purple red. So that gave some guidance as to what clay color I was looking to create. So my mix was_

 

Sculpey III Plum- 2 parts

Sculpey III Suede Brown- 1 part

Translucent (brand doesn’t really matter here) – 1 part

 

 

Mix these three clays together to get a nice raisin color.

Now roll into a 1/8” snake and cut into about 1/6” pieces. With the raisins you have more leeway in size because they are not all the same size.

Now once again roll into tiny balls.

 

Then on top of a piece of aluminum foil that you have tightly crumpled and flattened out place each ball of clay and use a coarser crumpled piece of aluminum foil to create each raisin.

Again these are baked at recommended temperature for 10 minutes.

Now we can make some peanuts for our trail mix. For those I am using the clay color I many time refer to as my “dough color” and I since I use it so often I normally have a baggie of this color pre-mixed so it is ready to use at all times. It is just a mix of equal parts of any white polymer clay and Fimo Sahara (a light beige)

For these we are stating the very same way we have been a snake that measures 1/8” cut into 1/8” segments, rolled into balls then into ovals.

Then we need to use some light yellow ocher chalk to color the peanuts. For the not broken nuts that is all there is to making them. But I have never gotten anything that didn’t have at least some broken peanuts in it so that is the next step.

Take a few of those finished peanuts and place in a container and then in the freezer for 15 minutes. This will make them firm enough that when we cut them they will keep their shape.

As soon as you take them out of the freezer use your clay knife to cut them in half lengthwise. You will need to work quickly so that they stay firm for this step. Once cut use something pointed to make the mark in the center of the cut surface.

Then bake at the recommended temperature for 10 minutes.

On to the final component- the cashews. We are going to use the same clay as for the peanuts. Make a snake that is just a bit bigger than the 1/8” we have been working with and cut it into pieces that are ½” long. Roll into balls. Then into longer shapes that are about ½” long slightly thicker at o
ne end.

Brush with the same yellow ocher chalk then in a reddish brown chalk.

Form the final shape around a bamboo skewer.

Bake at the same temperature for 10 minutes.

 

 

And that my friends is al there is to this project. I love how it turned out and it really isn’t all that hard to make. Just follow my steps and you will have a batch of doll size trail mix for your dolls in no time. .

 

 

 

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.

Doll Size Potato Chips

 

Watch the video here.

This week I have another project with a pattern you can download and use for free. The pattern has a version to cut by hand and one to use with your electronic cutting machine. This pattern is free to download and you can use it as many times as you wish. You can even sell the items made from my patterns. I just ask that you don’t sell or pass along my patterns. If someone wants a copy of the pattern send them to the video and here to the blog so they can download their own copy.

The free download has 3 parts in the file. There is a PDF if you want to cut by hand. And for those of you that want to use the pattern with an electronic cutting machine the pattern itself is a PNG and there is a text file that has the information about the sizing as well as hints that I have to make the process smoother.

The pattern is located here.

Depending on how you are cutting your chips will determine when you paint the sheet of paper.

If you are going to be cutting by hand with the PDF, go ahead and print the pattern sheet on regular printer paper. I do suggest using whatever setting on your printer that uses less ink. Sometimes it is called something like draft. Sometimes there might be an “ink saver” setting. Try to pick a setting that will use less ink. You might also need to set your printer up to print edge to edge to get the entire pattern. Once printed I would let the ink dry at least a couple of hours then proceed with the painting process. Most printers I’ve had over the years the ink will not run very much if any. If it does run just trim off any ink that ran when you cut the chips out.

If you are going to be using the PNG with an electronic cutting machine paint the paper first and then let the paint dry at least 24 hours. That way you can be sure it is completely dry before it goes anywhere near the machine.

When you are ready to paint the first layer of paint a wash made up of mostly water with just a touch of white craft paint and a touch of a golden yellow craft paint. The amounts of paint to water will vary depending on the brand of paint you are using as well as the exact colors of paint. You aiming at just tinting the water.

 

 Work on top of a piece of wax paper or parchment paper so that your paper doesn’t stick to the work surface. I found a sponge brush was the best tool for this first layer. Paint one side of paper completely then allow to dry and paint the other side of the paper. Be aware that the coverage will not be even, it will be fairly blotchy because of how watered down the paint is. Allow to dry.

Once the base layer of color dries again tint some water with paint this time using just the white paint. Then using a chunk of kitchen sponge paint the surface with the watered down white. Use a dabbing motion and don’t cover every bit of the surface. Let dry then repeat on side 2 and allow to dry.

Now we need to add a sponged layer of the golden yellow paint that has bee watered down. Do this exactly like we did with the white layer but use less of this layer. If you get too much of the yellow on you can always correct it with another layer of white.

Let this dry before proceeding to the next step. No matter how you are cutting the chips the paper needs to dry all the way through before you cut into it.

 

Once completely dry if you cutting with a machine be sure to anchor the paper to the cutting mat really well. I used wash tape on all four sides of my paper. Between the paint on the surface and the fact the paper is no longer flat it needs to be really held down to the mat. I would not however use one of the mats that has extra grip because that might tear the painted surface off the paper. Just use a regular mat and lots of tape to help hold it.

 

Once cut we can start to work on the detail painting on the chips.

For the first step of the detail painting I used more of the watered down golden yellow paint (this time a bit more paint than before) and using either a cotton swab or small paint brush (or better yet both) add an outline to each chip as well as some random spots of the paint/water mixture. Again laying the chips on wax paper to dry.

 

For a final bit of detail I used a bit of brown paint with a bit of water and flat brush to paint just the outside rim of some of the chips. Not all the way around just a partial outline on some of them. Then also tear a few chips because there are always some broken chips in the bag. Allow this final paint to dry.

 

 

 

And here we have some of the finished chips, I hope your dolls enjoy them as much as I enjoyed coming up with the project.

 

 

 

 

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.

Doll Size Toaster Pastries pt 2

 

Watch the video here.

 

Last week we made some whole toaster pastries and this week I am taking you a step further and making some that have been broken in two (I don’t know about anyone else but I always break mine in two before I eat them) and some that have a bite out of them. If you haven’t seen the video from last week I do recommend watching that one first so here is the link to the video. And here is the link to the blog post where you will find more information.

We are using the same clay mixture for the dough that we used last week as well as the same pattern that told you how to make.

The big difference this week is the addition of the colored filling for the pastries. This is made with a mix of about 8 parts translucent polymer clay to 1 part of the color of you choice. Since I am making strawberry I used a fairly bright red for mine. You can use whatever color matches the filling of the pastry you are trying to replicate.

 

I do recommend baking off a sample of the mixed clay since it is hard to predict exactly what color it will bake out to be. The translucent clay is very white in its unbaked state but depending on the brand it goes to a translucent color. I have found with experience that it is best to bake a sample rather that guessing.

Once I was happy with my color mix it was time to get to work on the project.

To add a little bit of additional texture to our filling I added just a bit of white sand to mine. This will make the filling look more like the jam filling in the real pastries. It doesn’t take much and you could skip this if you wish.

Once the sand is worked into the clay it is time roll it out just like we did last week. Then using the pattern for the filling cut out as many pieces as you wish.

Then you will use the same dough color clay as we used last week and for each pastry cut 2 of the larger pieces.

Then the assembly is the same as last week just using the red filling in the center of each pastry. I used the same tools as I did last week and the same process.

Once I had all the pastries I am making today put together with the edges sealed and the tops have their little holes in them. I used the same chalks to color the pastries to make them look like they have been toasted.

Remember all of these steps were covered in last week’s tutorial so I am not going into great detail this week and why I recommended you watch that tutorial first.

Now we start to do things a little bit different. At this point put your pastries into the freezer for about 15 to 20 minutes. You want them to get really cold. This will make the clay a bit firmer and easier to work with in the texturing part of the process.

Once they are really cold you can proceed to make either the pastry that is broken into 2 parts or the one with the bite out of it. You could of course do both to the same pastry if you wish.

For the broken pastry- use your clay knife to cut across the pastry but don’t cut straight across, come from both sides and then make a shallow cut to connect the two cuts and break the rest of the way. When you break the real pastry it is not straight and we don’t want a straight cut here either. Then use a pointed tool (I use a dental pick but a sewing pin works well also) just barely tease or tickle the cut surface of the pastry. You want to bring up little tiny crumbs of clay to make it look like the pastry in real life. Then use the point of the same took to make a swirl of two in the filling that is exposed.

For the bitten pastry- use a round cutter that has a scalloped shape. I have a set of plastic cutters that have lots of shapes that I have moved to using with clay. I never liked the for real cookies but they work really well for clay. The only thing is since the plastic they need to be cleaned as soon as I am done with them because raw polymer clay will eat holes in some plastics if left in contact.

Use the scalloped cutter to cut off a corner of the pastry and then texture as before. You can use you knife to adjust the cut to make it just the way you want it.

Once you are happy with the way the pastries look go ahead and bake them for 10 minutes at the temperature recommended for your clay. And allow them to cool to room temperature before moving to the next step.

Once cooled we can add the frosting to our pastries. Since I am making “strawberry” toaster pastries I am just using the white Liquid Sculpey as is. If you want to make other flavors that have a colored frosting just follow the instructions from last week where we mixed a couple of colors. This time we need to be much more careful in our application of the frosting so that it stops at the cut/bitten edge and doesn’t run over the edge. Once you have the frosting in place add the sprinkles and bake for another 10 minutes at the temperature recommended for your clay. And once again allow them to cool to room temperature before you touch them.

And that is all there is to this project. I am so happy with the way they turned out and I hope you are enjoying them also. Remember to send me a picture of your dolls with some the foods you’ve made from my tutorials I would love to see what you are making. Also if you have something you would like to learn to make let me know and I will try to come up with a tutorial for you.

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.