Doll Size Orange from Polymer Clay Canes

Watch the video here.

I want to start by stating that if you follow my videos in both this scale and dollhouse miniature scale I really did just one video this week for the two channels. Some parts of the videos are the exact same tracks and I added portions to each video that was specific to that scale. I know both videos are rather long this week but there was so much to say about the topic. It is up to you if you want to watch both videos or not.

I did this for a couple of reasons. First off I felt that the information was important enough that I wanted to share it on both channels. Even if it did mean a lot more time in the editing process for me. And secondly, I am battling a head cold and I just didn't feel up to coming up with two topics for two separate tutorials this week. This one took a lot of time in both the prep and the filming. I don't do this often but from time to time I will.

Now on to our tutorial.

On my dollhouse miniatures channel we have been working with polymer clay canes to make some foods and this is project is part of that series. The orange cane was requested by several people on that channel so that was the topic this week. It is an easy matter to change this same cane to any citrus fruit by changing the color of clay you use. The main thing to remember is to use a lot of translucent clay for the interior parts of your cane. I know I have done a lemon cane on this channel in the past but this one is done a bit differently.

I also show you how to work out the color blending to get the right color. Since I wanted a nice clear orange color and the local Joann's was out of orange clay I mixed my own. I was careful in picking my red and my yellow to make sure they were both from the “warmer” side of their respective colors. That way they would blend to become a nice pretty orange. If my red for example had been a cool red (one with a bluish undertone) my orange would not have been as clear, it would have had a brownish tinge to it.

By understanding how the colors work together and their positions on the color wheel you will be much more successful in mixing colors. This is a topic I love to experiment in and we can cover more of this in future tutorials if there is enough interest.

Once I had my colors close to what I wanted I did bake off a test sample. This is important when working with canes since you are using a lot of clay. It is really sad to make a huge cane and then find out the colors shift when baked and the entire cane is the wrong color. I am especially careful when I use red clay to bake a test since red seems to shift color more than any other. Also you really need to bake the translucent mixture to see how it will look because the that clay is very white in the unbaked state but becomes translucent when baked.

When you are working with canes you need to be careful not to distort all the work you put into the cane. This is done by working carefully and paying attention to how the cane feels. If it starts to become wobbly at the ends stop and cut off the end, this means that the clay is starting to split up the cane. It can actually split all the way to the center if you don't take care of it right away.

The more intricate the cane the more important it is to let the can rest after you work it to the finished diameter. This is because the clay gets warm as you work and becomes soft. By allowing it to set and rest it will firm up again.

I always try to cut my round canes with a rolling motion as I tried to show in the video. This helps to keep them round. If the cane is still getting flat for you pop it in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes to help it firm up even more.

You don't have to cut the entire cane right away either, it can be stored in a zip locked sandwich type bag for quite some time, just warm it slightly before cutting especially if you need to roll it to a smaller size. I often out the bag of clay inside my clothing and allow it to warm up that way, just don't put it where it will get smashed.

Now about that other second project I was going to do this week.

I had planned to show how to make my very favorite cane, the red onion this week also. However I didn't have any luck with it. I am going to blame it on the fact that I haven't been feeling well (from the head cold I have been battling) and I must have forgotten a step I normally do. I actually made the onion cane twice and messed it up both times. In total I wasted two full blocks of clay and have nothing to show for it other than some additions to my scrap clay bag. So yes it happens to all of us. I have made that cane many times in the past and I have no idea what I am doing wrong this time. I will try to work it into a video later on because I really want to share it with you all. 

Doll Size Valentine's Day Cookies

Watch the video here.

This week I wanted to show you how to make some really simple but very cute cookies for the dolls for Valentine's Day. These are supposed to be decorated sugar type cookies and they are so easy and so fun to make.

I used a mix of two colors of Premo! brand clay- white and ecru mixed in equal parts. Either color alone is too stark for the cookies but together they are wonderful. I use a ¼ package of each color and you can see how many cookies I got from that. I had very little left since I just kept re-rolling and cutting until there just wasn't enough clay left to make another cookie from.

I rolled mine out using my pasta machine on the thickest setting and I think it is just about perfect for these.

One of the main things I wanted to show this week was to use the plastic wrap to make the cookies look more like real baked cookies. I love that trick and it is so easy to do. I really hope you try it.

For the icing I like to use Scribbles 3D fabric paints, they come in so many colors and aren't very expensive. The only color I have trouble with as far as the color shifting over time is the white. That is only in the bottle not on the finished items. The rest of the colors seem to hold up much better.

For sprinkles you have many choices and I showed you my favorites. Just have fun with the decorating process and use your imagination. (or hop online and find some inspiration) 

Doll Size Rubber Spatula

Watch the video here.

This week I thought I would add to the doll's kitchen inventory with a rubber spatula (or several).

This idea came to me while I was washing my dishes after making some cookies the other day. I have always loved the shape and design of a good rubber spatula and it occurred to me that it would be a fun polymer clay project to make for the dolls. The shapes are simple and although this project takes some time due to the repeated bakings it is still really simple.

We start with our handle and a skinny stick from the craft store is the perfect place to start. We just need to make it the correct length but cutting it to 3 ½” long. (go ahead and make a mark ¾” from one end now too) Just be really careful when ever you are cutting things like the skinny stick. Always use the correct tools and don't try to make due with a pair of scissors.

Now we can add some shape to our handle by sanding it with an emery board. The end that you marked needs to be rounded but the other end can be any shape you desire. Go check out the real spatulas online or in the store to get ideas.

I actually made several of these the other day to work out the best way to go about getting the correct shape. I didn't want to loose the cool shape that the real spatulas have. I found that by adding a thin layer of clay that will be covered up with more clay the dimensions were much better.

Just follow what I did in the video and you will be fine.

Remember to have fun with the project and make a variety of shapes of spatulas for your dolls.

Oh, and as far as color goes this is a good place to have fun too since the real ones come in a rainbow of colors you can make them just about any color you wish. 

Doll Size Broccoli

Watch the video here.

This week I am showing you how to make one of my favorites from polymer clay. While this is a bit more advanced than some of the food projects I've shown in the past it is certainly doable. It just takes a few more steps to complete but they are all simple steps. So just relax and enjoy the process.

The real secret is the wire mesh strainer, it allows us to get the texture for the top of the broccoli very easily.

By using the chalk we are able to add the darker top color to our clay that matches the stems in an easy step.

Doll Size Cat Hideaway

Watch the video here.

This week I decided it would be fun to show you how to make a cute little hideaway for your doll's pet kitty. I know in our house the real life hideaway for our cats is very popular with them so I thought the doll's pets might like one too.

At the end of the video I decided to show you how to make some pet food and treats from Ann's Paper Minis.

I know the video got to be kind of long but I didn't realize it was getting as long as it ended up until I got all done. I ended up filming over the course of several days with a couple of days off in the middle because I got sick.

The main focus of our project is the cat hideaway or cat tree or whatever you want to call it.

As I was sitting here at my desk the other day pondering what to do for the tutorial I noticed that a couple of people had posted photos on the various Facebook doll groups of the doll size kitties they had recently gotten. That reminded me that I had picked up this sweet little gray kitty for my doll family. So with that on my mind I decided to something for the pets in the doll family. Since our cats really love their various cat trees and hideaway spots this one came to mind. That and the fact that my son had recently emptied yet another oatmeal box and oatmeal was once again on my grocery list.

When I left for the store I only had a vague idea of what I was making this week and the only thing I knew for sure was I needed to get something to use as the carpet that normally covers these things. The first thing that came to mind was terry cloth and since I found a good piece of it that was the direction I went. Terry cloth is fairly easy to work with other than the fact it leaves bits of lint everywhere. It does glue well and it isn't too expensive. I think if you can't find the fabric a cheap towel would probably work too. Just be sure it is big enough.

I thought about cutting the oatmeal box down in height to keep it more in scale but since these cat things come in all sizes I decided not to so that the box would remain as strong as possible. We will need on complete box including the lid and part of another box.

The process that I used was what I was coming up with as I went along. I think if you follow the steps in the video you will be able to do this project really easily.

One note on the hot glue gun. They are HOT!!!! I can not over emphasize that fact and the importance of being careful. Even though I was being careful I ended up with a burn that blistered and was very painful. So please work carefully.

As for the cat food treats. You can make the 6 cans of food from Ann's free complimentary projects that you can access through her newsletter. Here is the link to her site so you can sign up if you haven't already. The rest of the things I made are from the disk that is the final installment of her year long subscription of Contemporary Collection. I love the items that you get all year long with the subscription and it is better than any magazine I have ever purchased.

Doll Size Mashed Potatoes

Watch the video here.

I am going to say right off the top here that this project did not go the way I had planned. I am still not sure why I was having so much trouble with the TLS (Translucent Liquid Sculpey) I use this product a lot and this was by far the most trouble I have ever had with it. I decided to leave that struggle in so you can see I sometimes run into problems too and I just work through them. I have already put a new bottle of TLS on my shopping list for this week. Hopefully it was just that the bottle I had was old and had thickened up over time.

I have been planning to do this project for about a month but I just didn't have the time before this. In a way that worked to my advantage because when I took my youngest son to do his Christmas shopping last week one of the stores he wanted to stop at the Cost Plus World Market. I was so happy to find the small casserole dish on the display. I picked up another style bowl that I will be using in a future tutorial too. It does pay to really look at items while you are out and about you never know where you find something that can be used for the dolls.

If you can't find the same casserole or just don't want to use a breakable container feel free to use what you can find. The only requirement, other than being in scale is that it be made of a material that can be baked. That will eliminate plastic containers.

Here is a photo of the casserole I used both the inside and the bottom (with the price tag) to help you find what you are looking for. I am also including this link to the set of the little dishes on the Cost Plus website if you want to order them from there.

Since the casserole is fairly deep and I really didn't want have to grate enough clay to fill it all the way I used some regular polymer clay to fill the dish most of the way up. This will never be seen so use any clay you have. If you are using a scrap clay I would top it with a thin layer of white clay just in case you can see the top past the edge of the mashed potatoes. Bake this filler clay in place and allow to cool.

You will also need a wad of white clay that is baked into a shape that is comfortable to hold. I used Original Sculpey but any white clay will work for this. This will also need to be cooled before the next step.

Once this prep work is done it is time to start grating the cooked wad of white clay. The perfect grater for this in my opinion is a nutmeg grater just like you might use in the kitchen. Just remember that once you use it for clay it can not be used for food again. I purchased an inexpensive one a few years ago just for clay and keep it with my other clay tools.

You are going to need a lot of grated clay, enough to more than fill the area you are trying to fill. Once it is mixed with the TLS it seems to shrink a bit. I thought I was going to have extra and I needed all I created.

Once you have your clay grated and ready to go you need to tint a portion on TLS. I use oil paints for this, you will need both a white paint and a yellow ochre one. Use mostly white with just a touch of the yellow ochre. You just want to “warm up” the white color and make it look creamy.

Now mix the TLS into the grated clay. This is where I ran into trouble if yours is thick like mine just keep working it and eventually you will get a workable mixture. Normally this is a relatively quick process for me. Like I said my TLS was extremely thick. I am not really sure what could be used to thin it but I might do some research on the possibilities in the future. You are looking for a mixture that ressembles real mashed potatoes. When you get the texture you want simply pile it on top of the filler in your casserole diss.

Now bake the entire casserole again and allow to cool.

You can also use some of the grated clay/TLS mixture to make mounds of mashed potatoes for the individual plates for your doll's dinner.

If you would like to make a casserole dish instead of buying one I would recommend using some cardboard from a cereal box to make something the correct size. I showed you how to make baking pans in a previous tutorial which you can find here.

Doll Size Glitter House Makeover

Watch the video here.

A week or two ago I was walking the aisles of Christmas stuff at the local Joann's. When I came to the display of glitter houses I was very happy to find some that were just the right size for our 18” dolls. The only problem (in my mind anyway) was that all they had in this size were plain white ones. I really wanted one of the pretty colored ones but they were only in the larger sizes. Since they were on sale for around $2 each I decided to take a chance on coloring one.

I thought about a couple of different ideas for getting color on the house. Acrylic paint would definitely add color but it would cover up all the pretty glitter. Then I remembered a technique I had seen on a card making video on how to color glitter paper with alcohol markers. I decided to give it a try and it works really well.

If you aren't familiar with alcohol markers they are markers that have an ink with an alcohol base. Good old Sharpies are probably familiar to all of us and some of you might be familiar with the ones from the Bic called Mark-Its. I also have a collection of Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers that I bought myself last year for card making. I love them and use them a lot.

You can use any of the alcohol markers including Sharpies (or Mark-Its) for this or if you have the fancier ones feel free to use those. I tried to use both types so you could see how they all work.

The first step was to remove the hanging loop, fairly easy with a pair of needle-nose pliers. I also removed the smoke from the chimney to keep it nice and clean.

Really all you have to do is take some time and color the house and trees with the markers. The broad tip on the Spectrum Noirs made it a lot faster but a Sharpie would do the job just as well.

The colors of markers I used were:

Spectrum Noirs in:

EB8, JG4, JG6,DR6

Bic Mark-It in Woody Brown

Sharpie in Green (not marked for color name)

When you are done all you have to do is glue the little tuft of “smoke” back in the top of the chimney and you are ready to display your new colorful Glitter House.