Clay & Play Dough

When I was working on the Paperclay Leaves last week, I was absent-mindedly rolling some of the cut-away clay in my hands. Before I knew it, the blob was shaped into a peg form. Well, it took me about 3 seconds to decide to make some gnomes. What a shocker, right?

Anyway... I ran a copy of Wee Folk Art's Waldorf Style Gnomes, both the adult and the child patterns, pulled a couple wooden pegs out for sizing, and before I knew it, I had me a gaggle of gnomes. Well, actually, I had 2 gnomes with plans to create a gaggle :)

So, here are the directions to make your own Paperclay Gnomes. Note: I would not consider these to be children's toys. Although all the materials are non-toxic and child safe, they will break if played with in an exuberant manner... and I ask you... what child DOES NOT play exuberantly? BTW: You can use other clays to make this project, too.

It took a couple ounces of paperclay for each gnome.

Materials:

• paperclay
• water colors
• sealer Liquitex Gloss Medium and Varnish from Dick Blick
• copies of Waldorf Style Adult Gnome and Child Gnome patterns

To Shape:

Make copies of the adult gnome and child gnome. Cut out the hat and cloak for each gnome. When cutting out the hat, cut the hat so you leave only a 1/4" beyond the overlap line. You will not need the body wrap.

If you have wooden pegs, you can use them as models. If not, you can use the illustrations on pattern pages for sizing. Roll out a body and a head.

Break a toothpick in half. Rub water on the top of the tube where the head will rest. Insert the half of a toothpick half way down into the center of the tube top.

Place the head on top, pushing gently and turning slightly back and forth to help the two surfaces of the clay to bind. Stand the gnome up, making sure the bottom is flat so the gnome is not leaning. Note: both of my gnomes lean a bit and that is fine! Just make sure it stands without falling.

Pat a piece of clay in your hand and roll like a pie crust. Lay the cloak pattern piece on the clay, and cut around the edge with a sharp knife.

Put the cloak on the gnome, overlapping the neck a bit. Put water on your finger and smooth the front making sure the cloak has stuck to itself and the gnome.

Cut the hat out of clay in the same manner. You will need to cut away a little bit of the 1/4" overlap near the top or you won't be able to fold the hat near the point.

Run a wet finger along the 1/4" overlap. Wrap the clay forming the hat. Smooth the seam inside and out. You can give a jaunty bend to hat if you'd like.

Run a wet finger in the inside rim of the hat and position on the gnome's head. Push gently along the rim to make sure it is secure.

Let the gnomes dry thoroughly. It took 3 days for mine. When dried, you can leave white and seal, or paint.

To Paint:

To begin with, I collected all the supplies I would be needing. Although you can use any paint on these, I wanted a translucent quality to the colors, so I used my Stockmar Watercolor Paints.

BTW... It is a good idea when working with the clay, to make a flat cookie that you can try paint colors on. Make sure you let it dry completely.

I began by painting the face.

Then I painted the hat and coat the same color, including the inside of the cloak. Like the leaves, I started with watered down color, and added more intense color for shading. I then painted the body and accented in the same manner.

Finally, I made a strong coffee... some for me and some for the gnomies :) I wanted to give the gnomes an aged looked so I brush coffee over the whole gnome.

When the gnome was dried, I seal it.

All done! You know you want to try this, right? Can't you imagine them tucked hither and yon in your house? Enjoy!

Last week I shared Paperclay Leaves - Part 1. Today, we are going to finish the project by painting and sealing the leaves. After that, you'll just have to decide where they should fall! I made 12 leaves, and put them on my Harvest Cupboard. They look so beautiful I want to make more for here and there around the house. Also, I want to make some with the wee ones. I can only imagine how beautiful theirs will be!

To begin with, I collected all the supplies I would be needing. Although you can use any paint on these, I wanted a translucent quality to the colors, so I used my Stockmar Watercolor Paints.

To replicate the coloring of the autumn leaves, head outdoors and collect a handful. Unfortunately, a number of our trees haven't turned yet, so I collect some photos online and printed them for a reference.

I began by using a very thinned yellow "whitewash". I covered the front and back.

Then, I started adding other colors, mimicking the photos of leaves, but mostly just putting colors together in a pleasing fashion. I started by adding watered down colors, working my way up to deeper tones. I tried to varying the colors on each leaf. Then, I let the leaves dried and finally used a "dry brush" method to add accents. To dry brush, use your watercolors full strengths, dabbing your brush on a cloth before starting, then brush very small amounts of paint on the leaf for shading. Finally, I turned my brush over and adding dots here and there on some leaves to show imperfections.

Finally, I used Liquitex Gloss Medium and Varnish from Dick Blick as a sealer, but you could also use a product like Mod Podge.

When the leaves are dried, add them to your seasonal decorations.

NOTE: Although all the materials I used are non-toxic, these aren't meant to be played with. The clay is thin and can break if over handled. Of course they are plenty sturdy to have the wee ones help you decorate with them.  

While looking for a clay project, I came upon this lesson plan for autumn leaves at Dick Blick. I was very excited and order 2 - 16 oz. packages of Creative Paperclay. The clay has a natural white color, air dries, can be painted, and is non-toxic and acid free. Something that the wee ones can use with supervision.

Before beginning, collect some leaves. You need to pick leaves that have well defined veins, so it will be visible on the clay. Also, you need leaves that are supple. Dried leaves, even along the edge, will crumble when you need to push them into the clay. I chose green leaves for impressions, and will collect colored leaves to study before painting.

Before using, I scored the paperclay into 16 pieces, since each leaf is suppose to use about 1 oz. of clay, depending on the size of the leaf. I then cut 1 piece all the way through and immediately placed the rest in a Ziplock.

I flatted the clay in my hands, then placed between 2 pieces of waxed paper and rolled like you would a pie crust.

Place a leaf, back side down, on your clay. Using your fingertips, press the leaf into the clay so the veins on the leaf leave marks in the clay.

Using a small paring knife, cut around the leaf, removing the extra clay.

Remove the leaf. The clay has been imprinted with the leaf and is ready to dry. It will take 1 - 3 days to dry depending on how thick you clay is and humidity.

If you would like to hang your leaves, either as pendants or perhaps as a garland, make a hole in the clay where you would like an opening to be. You must do this now, before the clay hardens.

Also, if you would like your leaf to have a more natural look, instead of being perfectly flat, set the leaf over another object to dry. I place mine on a small bowl, leafing the waxed paper under it. If you do this, be careful that you do not set the leaf on something that has ridges. While the clay is still wet, it could take on the impress of the ridges and dry that way.

NOTE: The tutorial on line suggests you lay the leaf on the table, face down, and press the clay on the back of the leaf, spreading the clay to recreate the natural edges. If doing this project with children, I suggest you use that method, then you will not need to cut away the extra clay. I tried it both ways, and found cutting the leaf out with a knife gave a more pleasing result, but it can be down either way.

We will be painting our leaves after they have dried.

For Paperclay Leaves - Part 2 click HERE.

When we were at the Renaissance Festival way back in September the kids got to see a wonderful puppet show. When we got back home they wanted to make their own puppets to have a puppet show. I loved the idea and we got started right away. We made paper-mache heads and then they got buried in our craft closet waiting for me to figure out a pattern for the body. Holiday prep started and well, they were totally forgotten.

A few days ago Pixie brought me one of the heads she found when digging through the craft cabinet. "Can we finish our puppets?" she implored. "Yes, sweetie... I just need to figure out the body part." So this weekend I dug through the scrap fabric and came up with a pattern for the body. I just finished mine... but I promised the kids that they can work on theirs this week now that I have a plan.

Here is part one of paper-mache puppets... Making the Head.

First I will direct you to our Dinosaur Eggs post if you need to go over the basics of paper mache. Once you got the general idea you can see that this project is just a variation of that one.

In this case we used smaller balloons... softball sized. Use good balloons. We had some cheap ones and they keep leaking air and collapsing our heads. I had to un-tie and re-blow up one of the balloons (that was covered in wet paper mache... fun, fun). I've never had that problem before when we've done the larger eggs.

After we got a couple layers on the balloon we balled up some paper to add the facial details like eyebrow ridges and noses.

Put another layer of paper over the facial details to smooth it all out. Let dry over night.

When dry pop the balloons and pull them out through the hole. Unlike the eggs, you want to leave the hole... in fact you might even need to cut away a bit to make it bigger... about the size of a quarter.

Now you can paint a face on your puppet.

Once that is done and dry, check in for Paper-Mache Puppets Part Two: Making the Body and Part Three: Adding the Hair.

We have had our gnome house for almost 2 years now, and just like my own house, I am always adding a little here and there, changing this and that, and allowing our environment to reflect the seasons. When preparing our gnome house for Valentines Day, I decided we needed plates and cups. There are many different ways I could have gone with this... including using natural clay to craft them, but I must admit I took the easy route this time and used some  Polymer Clay I had on hand. Certainly, the same idea can be used with natural clay, but I do like the pretty pinks and reds for Valentines Day and will make some natural ones for every day use later :)

If you are interested in crafting your own set of cups, dishes, and vases, the directions can be found HERE or with our FREE Patterns. The kids will love helping with this craft. Enjoy!

WARNING: These are definitely CHOKE HAZARDS and should not be used with small children that still put toys in their mouths.