So I was hanging our ornaments and came across the cute polymer clay snowmen that I made last year – I was impressed with myself (did I actually make that cuteness?!). Then I came across a polymer clay Mary/Joseph/Baby Jesus that I made at a Super Saturday craft activity the year before. And so I got to thinking, I need to make a polymer clay ornament for 2010. I tried to think what was “the thing” this year in the craft world – fabric flowers, yes, but I’m aiming for clay – – so I thought, PENNANTS – perfect:
The two above-mentioned projects are the only other time I’ve done something with polymer clay, so I’m no expert at all – I just went for it. I got the clay out and it was super crummy – I wondered about microwaving it but then the package said in big bold letters DO NOT MIRCOWAVE so I decided against it (anyone know what happens if you do??).
Just keep kneading and working with the crumbs and soon it will turn clay-ish – trust me. Then you can roll it out like so:
I cut triangles – a couple of hints from a beginner (you probably know all of this):
–don’t use a butter knife – it has a bumpy edge so it’s not a clean cut
–do the red last – it turned my hands colors, so if I touched the white or green with red hands, they’d turn red
Next think of a holiday word – I considered “joy” “hope” “faith” “love” but settled on “believe” even though I thought it was a little long.
I hand-cut all of my letters – drew with a toothpick and then used the knife to cut into my tracings. The thought crossed my mind, “I wonder if the Silhouette will cut a sheet of polymer clay” – I didn’t want to ruin my machine with the experiment, but if anyone tries it, let me know!
I then set the green triangles on rolled-out red clay and cut slightly bigger triangles. I got these metal wire things (for jewelry – I don’t know what they are) and some had loops on the end – those I twisted a little for the end hooks.
The other ones I cut in half. I then shoved one end into a pennant and then shoved another pennant on the other end.
At this point you’ll want to etch out “2010” on the back – I am kicking myself because I forgot! Here’s a sample of how I did it last year:
Then bake according to the clay package. For you polymer-clay-pros, can you burn it?? I left mine in for 40 minutes or so – just wondering….
After baking I added some glitter for that extra fab – it looks more glittery in real life than in pics, but you can kind of see it here (the red and the white have glitter – I left the green plain):
Since I added glitter I sprayed it with a quick coat of clear spraypaint so the glitter wouldn’t flake off – I’m sure my husband appreciated that I sprayed it right on our garage step:
That’s it! It was really fun and surprisingly easy – I want to do more things with polymer clay!! (next up, these little flowers!)
Hang on your tree and enjoy your creativity!
Oh, and this is a really thrifty project – each pack of polymer clay at Michael’s was about $1.30 – I didn’t use even half of each pack – I think you could make 3-5 ornaments with only purchasing one white, one green, and one red clay block. (And obviously even more for a shorter word.)
Tamara says
What a cute ornament. You’ve inspired me to dig out my clay and make an ornament too!
Kimbo West @ a girl and a glue gun says
this is adorable…i stopped by to tell you GREAT Job on SYTYC..they turned out AWESOME! so cute…I can’t believed you whipped out 3 skirts! amazing!
Chris says
I love the bunting ornament idea! It turned out great. You’ve done so well with SYTYC. Best wishes. 🙂
Cindy Rippe says
What a great idea! Pennant banners are so popular this year and making a small one in clay is really cute.
Jana says
Looks great! And I love it!
Come link up at Giggles, Glitz & Glam!
https://gigglesglitzandglam.blogspot.com/2010/12/glam-party-5.html
Kim @ seven thirty three says
I love this! The poly clay is perfect for ornaments!
Kristen @ ladybug-blessings.com says
oh so precious!! love it!!
The Iowa Farmer's Wife says
This is SUPER cute! I love it. I’ve never worked with polymer clay. Now I might have to go get some! 🙂
Dacia says
That’s really cute. Great job!
Simply Domestic says
Very cute! I love the bunting and the snowmen. Great job!
Elizabeth says
SO cute Mandy! Would love for you to visit me at Sew Chatty and link up to Made with Love Monday! The party will be open until Friday if you want to link up multiple projects. Hope you have a great day! https://sewchatty.blogspot.com
Summer says
This is adorable!
Shelly says
Love this idea! Your banner turned out great.
Heidi says
Soo cute! Thanks for linking up! 🙂
Andy Porter says
Really cute and so unique! Love it!
Kathy says
very cute
Jennifer says
Cute cute cute! I’ve seen hardly any pennant stuff over the holiday season. I featured you today on my ornament round up 🙂
Tricia says
This is so sweet. Thanks for sharing!