Bring a little fun into your home this winter by making this precious penguin votive. It’s so easy to make that you will want to make one for all your friends and family. Use different colors of clay to make the hats and bow ties different for each one. Insert a candle or fill the vase with candy. It’s a winner either way!
Finished size: 4 3/4" x 4 3/4" x 6" Votive
Skill: 1 Time: 1 Cost: 1
You will need:
• 6" tall square glass votive/vase
• Polymer clay*: 2 blocks After Midnight (black)
pinch of Clementine (orange)
1 block Poppy (red)
1 block Raindrop (blue)
2 blocks Wasabi (green)
1 pkg. Whipped Cream (white)
• Acrylic roller*
• Needle tool*
• Super Slicer blade*
• Snowflake paper punches: small, medium
• Frosted glass finish*
• Pearlescent white pigment powder*
• Soft round craft brush
• Tacky glue*
Glass cleaner & soft cloth, parchment-lined baking sheet, plastic placemat for work surface, ruler, scissors, scrubby pad (for texture)
*The following products were used for this project: Aleene's Original Tacky Glue • Jacquard Pearl-Ex Powdered Pigment • Krylon Frosted Glass Finish • Polyform Studio by Sculpey clay, tools.
Note: For product information, see end of article.
• Print and cut out full-sized patterns here.
• Protect work surface with plastic placemat.
• Condition all clay until soft and pliable before starting.
• Use spray paints outside or in a well-ventilated area.
• Let paint and glue dry between steps.
• See photo for details and placement.
STEP 1: Prepare votive. Clean inside and outside of glass votive with glass cleaner and soft cloth. Spray outside of votive with two or three coats of frosted glass finish.
STEP 2: Make snowflakes. Roll out a paper-thin sheet of white clay onto work surface. Use blade to slice off ragged edges. Place clay sheet onto parchment covered baking tray. Use craft brush to apply pigment powder to entire surface of clay. Bake at 275 degrees for about three minutes. Let cool before removing.
Use snowflake paper punches to punch out at least eight small snowflakes from clay. Use medium snowflake punch to punch out at least four snowflakes. Set aside.
STEP 3: Make candy canes. Roll a string of white clay and lay on work surface. Roll thinner strings of green clay and red clay and lay beside white clay. Gently roll so they adhere together into a log shape. Note: Make log larger or smaller to form different sizes of candy canes if you like. To form swirls in candy cane, gently twist log while rolling. Use slicer blade to cut off 1" to 1 1/2" lengths. Curve one end to form candy cane. Place on baking sheet and set aside.
STEP 4: Make penguin body. Roll out white, blue, green, black, and orange clays separately to about 1/8" thickness. Place patterns for penguin head, body, and wings onto black clay. Use needle tool to cut around patterns. Place on baking tray. Cut tummy from white clay in same way. Press tummy onto body.
STEP 5: Make hat. Roll Place hat pattern onto green clay. Cut out in same way. Press hat to top of head. For hat stripes, cut a strip of blue clay 1/3" wide. Cut pieces from strip to fit on hat. Press stripes on hat and trim edges even. For brim, cut a 1/2" strip of white clay. For hat pom pom, roll and flatten a pea-sized ball of white clay. Press texture pad on both white pieces. Press pompom onto tip of hat. Press brim onto bottom of hat.
STEP 6: Make tie. Roll For bow tie, use slicer blade to cut out two slightly irregular 1" triangles from blue clay. Place on neck with points touching. For tie knot, roll and flatten a pea-sized ball of green clay. Press texture pad on knot. Press knot onto center of tie.
STEP 7: Add face. For beak, cut a small triangle from orange clay. Press onto face. Use needle tool to make two small indentations for nostrils. For eyes, roll two tiny balls of white clay. Press eyes onto face. For pupils, roll two tinier balls of blue clay. Press pupils onto eyes. Use needle tool to make a hole in each pupil.
Bake all at 275 degrees for about ten minutes. Let cool in oven before removing.
STEP 5: Finish. Lay votive on side. Glue penguin onto side of glass votive. Glue a candy cane onto one wing. Glue more candy canes and snowflakes around penguin. Let dry for at least two hours. Glue candy canes and snowflakes on each side of votive, letting dry at least an hour before completing each side. Place a candle inside of votive or fill with candy.
Sources:
Aleene's
(800) 438-6226
www.ilovetocreate.com
Jacquard Products
(800) 442-0455
www.jacquardproducts.com
KRYLON
800-4KRYLON
www.krylon.com
Polyform Products Co.
www.studiobysculpey.com
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