Illustrated Craft Tutorial - Making Clay Christmas Ornaments and Figures

The motif possibilities are endless!

Your clay should be very soft and pliable. If you are working with clay that is not too fresh anymore and seems to be a little dry, wet your fingers and work with it. That helps in many cases.

Wet your fingers to smoothen the outside edges of any of your fingers if the clay looks rough.

To dry any of these figures or ornaments, you can place them on a radiator if you have one. Place them face up first and let the bottom of them dry some. Then turn them over so the top can also dry. If you do the top first, you may risk that the radiator indents the image if it is still too moist.

Turning the pieces during drying also prevents that they start to curl in one direction.

If you do not have a radiator, place the ornaments on a cookie cooling rack in a warm room. They will take longer to dry. Also rotate the sides every so often.

Using Silicone Candy Molds
	1. To make the clay figures with candy molds, simply make a small ball about the size of the figure you wish to create.
	2. Press the ball into the mold and try that it fills all the details.
	3. Use a kitchen knife and cut away any excess clay that is over the edge of the figure. You can place the knife flat across the figure and scrape over the surface so that it is the same level as the mold.
	4. Use a drop of water on your finger to smoothen the backside of the figure. It is easier to do so while it is still in the mold.
	5. Then turn the mold over and pop the figure out. The great thing about the silicone molds is that they are very flexible.
	6. This snowman turned out perfectly and will look cute embellishing a gift. Wet your finger with water and gently glide it along the side of the image to soften the edge in case it is a little rough.
Using Embossed Cookie Cutters
	7. Use a rolling pin and flatten out a piece of clay to the height of the cookie cutter. It has to be high enough, so that the details of the cookie cutter will touch the surface of the clay.
	8. Then press the cookie cutter onto the clay.
	9. Remove the cookie cutter. Often the cutter cuts all the way through. If that is not the case, just use a knife and cut gently along the outside edges of the clay ornament to remove the excess clay.
	10. Wet your finger with water and gently glide it along the side of the image to soften the edge in case it is a little rough. Take a toothpick and create a hole through the top so the ornament can be hung.
	11. Here the bear is being created.
	12. When the cookie cutter was removed, the image was perfect. Smoothen the edges if necessary.
Making the Flat Houses
	13. Flat forms are easy to make. Place a piece of clay over the image you would like.
	14. Use the rolling pin and press the clay into the mold. Go back and forth a couple of times.
	15. That will usually result that the edges of the clay break away from the mold. Then you can cut along the side to remove the excess clay.
	16. Use a kitchen knife and scrape flat along the top of the mold to remove any remaining excess clay.
	17. Use your finger and a little bit of water and smoothen the backside of the clay figure. It is a lot easier doing this while the figure is in the mold, plus you don’t risk ruining the detailed side of the ornament.
	18. Use a toothpick or shish kabob stick and poke a hole through the top of the ornament. The hole should be large enough so that a piece of baker’s twine or other ribbon can be pulled through it.
	19. Now the ornaments need to dry thoroughly. This could take from 1 day up to several days, depending how warm and/ or humid the room is. The radiator is the most effective way, if you have one.

Clay Christmas Ornaments and Figures
These ornaments look so pretty and wintery in white and are so easy to make. Air drying modeling clay was used for them and it is an easy, fun and quick way to create your own Christmas decorations. The figures can be used, for example to embellish Christmas packages or for decorating and the ornaments can also be used as tags for Christmas gifts. You may paint them also, if you like.

More Christmas Craft Tutorials

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