Plates and platters from clay

I roll out clay thin enough to serve as plates or platters, and use a paper punch to cut out a circle.  Normally I use my own molds but I felt this Wilton silicone mold would work great for a decorated (the pattern is on the mold) that was easy for anyone who doesn't make molds.  I just pressed in the clay to get the pattern and then cooked the entire thing in the oven.  These food molds are found at many craft stores, etc. 

Elephant Table with Clay top

I thought an elephant table would be perfect for my castle, and I've had this old elephant for decades, so I just added a table top of clay! 

Mirror Frames

These poly clay mirror or picture frames were made using a Martha Stewart mold.  I baked the clay right in the mold.  I used Premo and Sculpey clays, and Craf-T metallic rub-ons.

Polymer Clay Leaves

I purchased a mini leaf paper punch at a thrift shop and used it to cut out leaves on some golden-brown Fimo. I textured the clay with crumpled foil and then I just used pastels to add some colors. These can be used for a variety of projects in mini but they'd be great for earrings as well.

Miniature Fimo Easter Bunny

I wanted to make some miniature chocolate Easter bunnies using polymer clay. First I designed the bunny shape I wanted, and I knew it should not be over an inch tall so I aimed at that. I cut out the shape thick and then rounded the edges and added details like the eye and ears. Then I made a mold of that, and used that mold to make another one more refined. The advantage of using a mold is that the textures, such as the fur, look more molded in if in a mold. So I ended up making 4 molds, each more refined, until I had what I wanted. Then I worked in the same way for the bow tie. I used Amazing Mold Putty for the molding material.

I figure I can use these for a dollhouse or for jewelry. It did take quite a long time but it was fun to do.

Fimo enameled bowls

I've been testing a variety of techniques for faux enameling and glazing, and I created various molds for bowls to do so. This is my favorite design, and my favorite technique so far. I used eye shadow for the base of the enameling and then added, after cooking the clay bowls, a coating of Craf-T metallic rub-on paste to the top after cooking. Then I outlined the edges with Krylon's 18 K. gold pen. The base for all was Fimo gold.

Perfect Pearls on Fimo

Here I did a test of the copper Perfect Pearls on brown clay and on white clay and you can see the difference that it made.

Testing Micas on Fimo

As you can tell, these are mini bowls made of copper-colored Fimo, and the middle picture shows what the plain clay looks like. I tried Pearl-Ex and Perfect Pearls and metallic eye shadow, and you can see all give similar effects. Because the clay is a dark copper, the effect of all is that of old copper. To get a lighter, newer, effect I'd need to use a lighter color of clay.

The eye shadow is from the dollar store and it and all of these are covered with Future so that the mica won't rub off.

Mica Powders

I decided to test two different brands, Pearl-Ex and Perfect Pearls, brushing them on a pink raw clay. On the right is PP, for Perfect Pearls, and PX on the left, for Pearl-Ex. After cooking I took this picture, and then used my finger for rubbing off the powder. The Perfect Pearls did rub off, but not as bad as the Pearl-Ex. I then washed the piece, and again, I felt more of the Perfect Pearls stayed on. All of the mica powder products, I've read, need some type of coating to protect them.

The coloring, as you can see, is quite similar. But I felt the coverage was better for these and the other tests I did of Perfect Pearls. But both products are great to use for special effects.

Platters for Mini Foods

Before I figured out how to make my own dishes and platters from clay I used to buy bolo tie clips from Hobby Lobby for that. They come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. As you can see from the one empty one in the picture, they have holes in the center but that's easily covered with clay and then the clay foods are baked right onto the clips.

Garage Sale Find

This is the top of a large glass jar and seems to be handmade. Look at all those useful minis! There are jars and cans of food, a tea pot, flowers, several different pots and pans, gravy boat, glass storage jars, a juicer, and a cookie jar and more glued on a bed of mini ferns. Everything will find a place in some mini kitchen I made.

Another Valentine's Miniature Tree

This time I decided to do a simple white tree with just pink roses, hearts and candy canes. The candy canes don't show up as well, though. I'll use this as the centerpiece for my dining room table. I've got a dome to fit over the whole tree, and a little tree skirt to add.

Valentine's Mini Tree

I have a RL Valentine's tree which you can see here and that inspired me to make a miniature one as well. I made mini Fimo hearts and roses, attaching them to the tree with wires, for the decorations.

Update on This Is No Mini

This is a picture of 2 of the 3 alligator trappers who are here to try to remove that big gator that hangs around the pool. They carry polls and bows and arrows and they are currently trying to call the gator.

Rooster Kitchen in Miniature

I am working on making a rooster kitchen and you'll see here a Michael's hutch that I've decorated with plates of roosters that I made, and a hand-made kitchen table that's got an egg being made for something. I also made the little tea pot from clay but purchased at a garage sale the various birds shown there.

Gingerbread Scene

This was fairly easy to make, and fun as well because I had to make some gingerbread and some ginger cookies to get the models. :) There is a little bowl with the gingerbread mixed in it on the table, so again, I wanted to know exactly what the real thing looked like. I made gingerbread men cookies by first cooking polymer clay after rolling it out thin and texturing it, and then after cooking I just used a paper punch to make the cookies. I found a book on Christmas cookies and used that as the background for the scene, for the walls, with a page open showing gingerbread cookies. I used a pen to scribe in boards on the luan plywood floors, and then stained that. I really like using that plywood to simulate wood floors.

This is no mini!

I was thrilled to find my dream house and have been busy moving in for the last few weeks, so I haven't had time for my crafting. However, although I thought this place was perfect, as you can see in the picture, what visits the dock often isn't so perfect. Well, hopefully I'll get back to my minis soon.

Miniature Boulangerie

I bought the ceramic baker at a dollar store and just looking at him makes me smile, so I decided to create a bakery for him. The breads and bowls are all of polymer clay. Some of the baskets were made by a friend and some are painted metal baskets from a thrift store.

Fimo Bowls

I've been testing some of the newer Fimo special effects clays and this mustard-colored clay had flecks in it that I thought might work for old ceramic "yellowware" mixing bowls. I've learned I prefer Fimo to Premo for bowls and plates because it is more flexible and less brittle for me. I need to add an elastic clay for Premo to prevent the breaking of such thin pieces.

Experimenting with bricks

I pressed terra-cotta colored clay onto a metal brick mold so see how it would look in clay. After baking this test piece, I wiped on a white acrylic paint, taking most off the raised areas. I'll try to make a fireplace with it next.