Polymer clay is one of the most versatile manual media available, which is very easy even for beginners. Today I am happy to show you how to make this polymer clay Christmas gnome tutorial! This little guy is the perfect choice for your Christmas decoration and can be resized to your liking.
Supplies:
Red, gray, white and tan polymer clay.
Porcelain tiles (working and baking)
Baby wipes or wet wipes
Needle tool or toothpicks
First, make sure that the clay is conditioned. You can do this by kneading and rolling between your palms until it is soft and supple, and then rolling into a crack-free ball. Especially because we are using red and white clay, so when conditioning and sculpting, be sure to wipe your hands between each color. Red clay is notorious because it leaves traces of dye on your hands that can easily transfer to white. Don't worry, once the clay is baked, the dye will not transfer.
Let's start building our dwarf! Take a small piece of red clay, roll it into a ball, gently shape the ball into a round pear shape, so that its top will gradually become thinner, while the bottom can be firmly fixed on the tile. This will be your dwarf's body. Now, go ahead and make sure to remove all the red clay really, very cleanly.
Next, we will grab a bit of white soil and press it into a flat circular triangle that looks like a guitar pick. Check it on the dwarf, and if it is the right size, press it gently on the body. This point should almost touch the tile, and the top should be flush with the top of the body.
Now your dwarf has a beard! Use your fingertips to press an indentation into the central top of the beard so that the nose can be placed in the next step.
Take a small piece of tan clay and roll it into a ball. Gently press it into the dent on the beard, and the dwarf's nose rises! Next, let's make the dwarf hat. Therefore, we need a large piece of gray clay. Process it into a ball, and then process it into a high cone shape. Use the knuckles and press a notch toward the big end of the cone. Make the edges slightly thinner, if it's a bit skewed, it's even better.
Check to make sure the size is correct, then press your hat on the gnome! The hat should be folded down on the top and sides of the nose to cover where the beard attaches to the top of the body. Grab a small white clay ball and press it to the top of the cone. We need to make the ball look fluffy, so please pick up the acupuncture tool, poke lightly and use the tool to pull the clay to create a fluffy texture.
Isn't that cool? Now, let the dwarf's beard look more realistic. Take the needle tool and start at the top edge of the beard and pull the tool all the way to the bottom of the beard. Over and over again, until the beard starts to look like hair. I just like how this simple technology can make the most of it.
Put the gnome back on the tiles and smooth out all our fingerprints or rough areas. Make sure you are satisfied with your dwarf, now it's time to bake! Preheat the oven, and then bake the goblins according to the instructions on the clay packaging. I bake it at 275 F for 30 minutes. When finished, take the gnome out of the oven and let it cool on the tile for at least 30 minutes before picking it up again.
As you can see, the top of my dwarf hat has turned tan. This is normal when you bake clay with a certain thickness or different thicknesses. There are many ways to avoid this, but I actually like this effect because it reminds me of toasted marshmallows! If you don't like it, you can easily retouch it with some white acrylic craft paint. Yes, you can also apply baking clay.
This is your finished dwarf! I think these results are really lovely. I keep my gifts as part of the office holiday decorations, but these decorations can be placed anywhere in your home. In addition, you don't have to use red and gray! You can use any color that comes with the decoration.
I hope you all have fun in making these chubby dwarf games!
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