Lemons for 18” Dolls

Watch the video here.

This week we are going to create a simple cane that will allow you to make some very detailed lemons and lemon slices for your doll scenes. I love to make canes from polymer clay because they allow me to quickly make some very detailed patterns. In this case we start with a cylinder of the same translucent yellow/translucent clay we used to make the lemon bars. We add some of the white/translucent clay (left from our apples but in truth this is the most used clay combo in my workshop) and we quickly create something that will amaze you.

Once again I am going to send you to the produce department to get a real lemon. It really does make a difference! Really look at that lemon, hold it, touch it, really study it. Get some clues as to the color of the peel and the real beauty of a piece of fruit. They are really pretty and really just simple shapes.

Now by working from a simple cylinder and cutting it into wedges adding some white/translucent clay to act as the membrane in the fruit and adding a thin cover of yellow clay we already have something that loosely resembles a lemon. The magic is that when you reduce the size of that cane it compresses and gives even more of the impression it is the real thing.

For our 18” friends we want to reduce that cane to about 5/8” diameter but if you wan to give Barbie some lemons just keep going until you have a diameter of about 3/8” or so. (With my dollhouse miniatures I go down to about 3/16”)

Gently round the end of the cane easing that yellow coating to cover the end. Then slice off enough to give you a nice size lemon (about ½” will do for this scale) then close the other end and shape it into a lemon shape. The beauty of having a lemon right there with you is you can look at it to compare the shape.

Now add some texture by rolling your lemon shape on a piece of 60 grit sandpaper. A couple of taps with a toothbrush will just help it out a bit.

On a cane you will notice you have to go in a little bit to get a nice clear pattern, once I had my first whole lemon cut off the end I was down to the point where the design looked great and from there until I reach the far end I can make sliced lemons or just slices of lemon.

I like to keep some canes of polymer clay made up and on hand for when I need them. They seem to be easier to get a good result by starting rather large and then working down. Just keep the canes (un-baked) in a zipper type storage bag somewhere where they won't get smashed. It is a good idea to protect them from getting too hot too. Then when you need some more lemons or slices of lemon for something all you have to do is slice off what you need and bake them as needed. I like to keep my canes just a bit oversized for the scales I will want to use them for then by the time I have them rolled down to size the clay is usually conditioned and ready to slice.

On the bright side the canes are a lot easier to slice if they have set up at least a day from when you create them before slicing.

This time I did a little experiment. I took a ball of the yellow mixture just a bit smaller than I wanted the finished lemons to be. I then coated it with a very thin layer of the white mixture followed by an even thinner layer of the yellow I was using for peel. I was able to make wedges of lemon from this.

When the lemons are all baked off I like to coat the interior areas with a thin coat of Triple thick, this allows them to look wet. This step (and all the rest that follow are really optional)

Next I like to coat the outside of the peel with a thin coat of yellow craft paint. I do like the way the color looks when the paint is layered over the clay. It is more interesting than either by themselves.

I like to follow up with a coat of the same Future floor finish we used on the apples a couple of weeks ago. 

 

Just think of all the places you can use some lemons, cut lemons and lemon slices.

February Sewing

I know it is now March but I just didn't get to posting this until today LOL

The first sewing project this month was a pair of ice skates. I think I bought this pattern from Pixie Faire when if first came out. I had tried it a couple of times but was never happy with the results I was getting. After my doll sewing group spent January on shoes I had a lot more confidence with the the top half of the skates. But we all know that is still only half the pair of skates. I still had to deal with the blades. On my previous attempts at this pattern I was also very unhappy with the way the blades came out.

As an aside I should tell you that my daughter has spent most of her life as an ice skater and was a competitive figure skater for several years. I have seen a few pairs of ice skates and their blades. The blades on the pattern just weren't cutting it for me.

One major problem I had with them when I was able to get them to look almost okay was that the paperboard used in the pattern just wasn't sturdy enough to hold the weight of the doll. At least it wasn't on the pair I got to that stage.

The doll sewing group I belong to announced on the 1^st that the topic for February would be skating outfits. I knew that was going to be my incentive to get these skates figured out.

It so happened that the next day I needed to drive into town and while I was driving I had an idea of how to do the blade. I decided to combine the paperboard and some polymer clay. I (I had tried to make blades out of just polymer clay in the past and wasn't happy with those either) Lucky for me I had this brainstorm on the way to town and not on the way home like I normally do. I was able to stop at the store to pick up a couple of things I thought I might need.

I got home and started working on the blades first. I wanted to make sure this idea was going to work. I did use the blade pattern (most of it anyway) but I made it out of black polymer clay. I also cut 2 ovals and 2 half circles to act as the attachment plates where the blades on real skates are screwed onto the soles. I also cut the same part of the blade pattern from paperboard 4 times. By using some TLS I attached the blades to the other shapes and then glued the paperboard pieces to the outsides of the blades. At this point I painted the paperboard with black craft paint. When that was dry I painted the both blade assemblies with a metallic silver paint and then finished it with a coat of Triple Thick glaze.

The skate boots were made pretty much by the pattern and when everything else was finished I glued the blades to the bottom. I like how they turned out but I have several improvements I still want to make. The biggest one is to add toe picks so my daughter won't disown me. LOL I think I have that figured out too.

Then the Dress

The other major sewing project I did in the month of February was a dress to go with the skates. Since I had made a dress a while back and it was more or less what my daughter would have considered to be a practice dress (not enough bling for competition) I decided that I would make a competition dress.

I first got online and found some inspiration and started off in one direction. That dress quickly became two different dresses because of a harebrained idea I got in the middle of the night. Ever get those??? Anyway it seemed like a good idea but in the end both of those went in the trash.

Time to start over.

I got a new idea and this one seemed to be on track. I thought about the different competition dresses I had made my daughter over the years and the asymmetrical ones were always favorites. I knew I also wanted to do some cut out areas, after thinking about it I decided to limit the cut out to the sleeve.

I dug through my stash of appropriate fabrics and found some really pretty purple (since it is my favorite color I decided it was a sign)

I used the same pattern I used for the last dress (from Joan Hind's book- Sew Today's Fashions) I did some re-designing to remove the upper bodice seam on both the front and back. I also only used one sleeve. I then redrew the skirt to get the asymmetrical look I was after.

I added a touch of glitz with some fabric glitter and I love how it turned out.

I was hoping to get another pair of skates made but I ran out of month. Hopefully I will still get those done when things quiet down a bit.

Lemon Bars for 18” Dolls

Watch the video here.

Join this week to learn how to make some really easy Lemon Bars for your 18” dolls. I happen to love lemon bars in real life so I figured the dolls would too.

This is a really simple project that only requires 3 colors of polymer clay.

We start out with a thinnish layer of a crust color. Any tan/beige color. In the video I used some Fimo Sahara but Premo Ecru or Sculpey III Tan would also work just as well. Just use the one you have or can find.

For the lemon filling portion Fimo has made this step easier, they have a Translucent Yellow clay available (look for it with the “Effects” banner on the label) it is still not quite translucent enough so add an equal amount of Fimo Translucent to. This is the perfect color of clay for both this week's Lemon Bars and for the project I have planned for next week. (a little hint there)

Roll the yellow layer out thicker (I used the thickest setting on my pasta machine and then used 2 layers of this thickness.

Cut your lemon bars to the size you want, I like about ½ by ¾” approximately. Remember these cookies are usually cut pretty small in real life.

Now the fun begins. I like to start the texturing process with one of those scrubber pads that you find near the dishwashing stuff in the grocery store. I actually got some at the dollar store a while back. If you don't have this you can use a ball of aluminum foil, we just want to get some texture on the top of the filling that looks like the cracking that happens when the real ones coook.

Now transfer your first bar to an clean emery board (I buy these at the dollar store also) and use another emery board on the top of the bar to help hold it. This helps to prevent your finger prints from ruining the texture. Now use a pointy tool, I like a dental pick but what ever you are comfortable using. A pin or a toothpick would also work. We are now going to texture just the crust. I want you to barely touch the surface of the crust clay and make very tiny circle motions. This should just tease up little tiny crumbs to the surface. Work carefully around the base of each bar. I also like to gently drag the side of my tool down the sides of the bar to give it a more “cut” appearance.

Now bake your Lemon Bars according to the directions on the clay package.

Once they have cooled I want you to add just a touch of white craft paint with your finger tip to the top of each bar. To do this dip your fingertip into a bit of the paint then blot off most of the paint. We just want the smallest amount to be left on the fingertip. Now gently touch the top of each bar to add the “powdered sugar” dusting.

There now wasn't that easy?

Come back next week for another project using the same yellow clay mixture.

Apples for 18” Dolls

Watch the video here.

 

This week we are going to make some apples. In the video I show you how to make both a whole apple and one cut into wedges. This really isn't as difficult as you might think. I take you step by step through the process.

I really do encourage you to have an apple right on the table near where you are working so you can refer to it as you make your doll size apples. I will repeat this instruction with a lot of the foods that I have you make. I know we have all looked at a bunch of apples in our lives but I still like the have the real thing there to be my model every time I make them in clay. I think the fact that we are all very familiar with what apples look like it is even more important to do this. We all know what they look like or more importantly we all recognize when they look wrong. When was the last time you actually LOOKED at an apple?

Today I want you to hold that apple, turn it over in your hands. Observe the color or more likely the colors. Look at how those colors blend. What is the base color? My apple was really very yellow even though it is a red apple. Next look at the size and shape. Take out a ruler and measure it. You might even want to make a couple of quick sketches to reinforce the shape and size in your mind.

Now it is time to really clean your work surface. We are going to work with white and translucent polymer clay and they both tend to pick up every little bit of lint and dust that is in the air. I am pretty sure these colors have hidden magnets that draw dust from the next three or four rooms too.

Now get out your clay. Are you surprised that I am using white and translucent clay? If you are making the cut up version of the apple you will also want a golden yellow color (or a green color depending on your apple) to tone the whiteness of the clay down. If you are only going to make whole apples you won't need the extra color.

Follow the steps I used in the video to shape your apple and to color it. Depending on what your apple looks like yours might be a slightly different shape. Make as many as you want to. It is really fun.

The layer of chalk for color is really important but it is only the base of the colors. We want to layer our colors to get a more realistic looking apple. If you were to try to do the color in one coat of paint or use a colored clay you would end up with an apple that looks cartoonish rather than realistic.

The finish I used is Future floor wax for no-wax vinyl floors. My bottle is about 10 (maybe more) years old so the label is way different now. Here is a link to the manufacture's website so you will know what you are looking for. I love this for finishing some food items, especially fruits and veggies. It gives a very subtle glow that replicates the real thing. If you can't find this or don't want to look for it use any polymer clay compatible satin finish. You want a satin and not a gloss because that would not look real. Remember most food is not glossy. (one of my pet peeves about many doll foods)

If you want to make the cut version of the apples I do recommend putting your apple in the freezer for about 15 minutes, not much more than that though. This allows the clay to become firm enough that when you slice it you don't distort the shape nearly as much as you might with warm clay.

See that really was easy wasn't it?

Knife Experiment

 

Allison showing off the new knife set

the scene for the tutorial

Yesterday when I finished up the apples that will be the tutorial for this blog and the YouTube channel next week I felt I needed a couple of props to make the photos of the finished apples look their best. I decided that a knife and a cutting board would be just perfect. I looked through my collection of props that I have and found nothing so I decided to quickly make something out of polymer clay.

I liked the end result I did a bit more playing this morning with the idea. While at least one of the changes I made in the hopes of making them a bit easier I feel detracts from the finished knives I am overall happy with them.

the entire set

boning knife

chef's knife

bread knife

paring knife

So now for a question for all of you- should I continue to work on these and come up with a tutorial for them? How many of you would be interested in this project?

A quick hint- there is no real metal involved in these.

18” Doll Jam Tarts

Watch the video here.

Our project this week is really simple and requires just a few materials.

The first place I am going to send you though is the hardware or DIY store not the craft store. To form your tarts you will need some size 12 Finishing Washers. These are pretty inexpensive and you will be able to use them over and over again to make doll food items. Mine cost $1.18 per package of 6 washers at Home Depot last week.

The other things you will need are:

Polymer clay in a light dough color-( I used Premo's Ecru but you could also use Fimo Sahara or Sculpey III Tan.)

Clay knife/blade or craft knife

A variety of colors of soft pastel chalks. (here is a link to the ones I use but any brand is fine) important- you want soft pastels not oil pastels be sure to read the label.

A brush to apply the chalks- I prefer to use an eyeshadow brush (check the dollar store) but a paint brush will also work

Translucent Liquid Sculpey- (TLS for short) this is a liquid polymer clay and is used for many things. You could substitute Sculpey Bake and Bond or Fimo Deco
Gel if you need to.

A round tool to help press the clay into the washer (tart pans) I used the hand of a powder/ blush brush.

Toothpicks

Something to help you get the TLS out of the container- I use a double pointed knitting needle but you could use a toothpick or a wooden skewer. You might even have good luck just pouring it out but I like the control I get with using a tool to get out just what I want.

A piece of aluminum foil- to mix you TLS with chalks on.

Paper plate to bake your tarts on

Oven to bake your project in.

We are going to start by making the tart shells. Use your finger to press a ball of dough colored clay into each washer. With just a bit of trial and error you will quickly figure out what size ball of clay you need.

Then use a round tool to form the tart shell. Try to keep the edge even around the top.

Use a knife or clay blade to cut the excess clay off that comes through the hole in the bottom of the washer. If you skip this step you probably won't be able to remove your tarts from their pans.

Now use a toothpick or similar tool to make some marks around the rim of your tart shell just like the real ones have. You can make any design you want to, I kept mine really simple.

Now we need to make our tart shells look like they have been baked. To this we are going brush them with some of the chalks. First find golden yellow, medium reddish brown and a darker brown colors of chalk. Use your craft knife to scrape off a bit of the golden yellow and brush this over the edge of each tart shell. Follow up with the reddish medium brown and then the dark brown- in that order. I like to scrape each color off into what is left from the previous color to help blend them a bit easier.

Transfer your tarts to the paper plate you are going use to bake them on.

Now the fun part begins.

Decide how many colors/flavors of tarts you are going to make.

Make a small puddle of the TLS on a piece of foil (or other surface) for each color. Now scrape off some of the chalk pastel in the correct colors to the puddles of TLS and mix with a toothpick. Use the toothpicks to carefully drip the chalk-TLS mixtures into the tart shells.

Bake the tart shells are 275 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes.

If you want to make the tops shiny- totally optional step- use some clear Gallery Glass paint to carefully coat just the TLS portion of your tarts. I think I like them better without this step but I know some people like the shiny look better.

When everything is dry (if you did the optional step) and cooled simply pop your tarts out of their molds and use in a display.

Dinner Rolls for 18” Dolls

Watch the video here.

Today we are making some dinner rolls to go in those baking pans we made last week. (Here's that video in case you missed it.) I decided to use an air dry clay (Model Magic) for this because it works so well for this type of thing. This clay is usually sold in the “kid's craft” area near the crayons and such. I love that it stays somewhat soft forever so it is perfect for things like these rolls and it makes great marshmallows.

Before you cut open the bag of clay make sure you have a way to keep it airtight. I like to put my opened package into a ziplock type freeze bag. I prefer the quart size since it is close to the size of the clay package. Just be sure to not leave the opened clay unprotected for very long. I starts to dry out pretty quickly and we want to get to use every little bit of this clay we bought.

Really making dinner rolls is an easy project even for a beginner. Simply roll the clay into a ball the size you want your roll to be. Being an air dry clay this product does shrink but not by very much.

If you want to make un-baked rolls you are done except for waiting a day or two for the clay to dry.

If you want to make your rolls look like they have been baked you only have a couple more steps.

You will need either some soft chalk pastels, the ones I am using in the video are from Michael's and I believe they are the store brand. They are not very expensive and I was able to get mine on sale. Remember to watch for their coupons too. I like to use an eyeshadow brush (dollar store purchase) to apply the chalk to my clay but you can use any brush (or a cotton swab or even you fingertip if you don't have anything else handy)

The three colors I used (and are the most used colors in my chalks) were: a golden yellow, a medium warm brown, and a dark brown.

If you don't have chalks you can use similar colors of eyeshadow as long as it is a matte finish (no sparkles here)

One of the cool things about this clay is if you press your rolls together when the clay is fresh and allow them to dry you can carefully pull them apart and you get a texture very similar to the real thing where they were touching.

I hope you enjoyed the project and make lots of dinner rolls for your dolls to enjoy.