Mother and Baby Ornament Using Polymer Clay

I love my babies, and love babywearing!

With Christmas approaching I wanted to make a mother and baby babywearing themed ornament.

After doing a lot of research I decided to try using Polymer clay for the mother and baby figurines. I'm sure glad I tried it because I love how the ornament turned out! Polymer clay is easy to work with, great for beginners, you don't need special equipment to use it, and the clean up was easy. This has opened up so many possibilities of things I now want to make.

Step 1: Supplies

Needed Supplies:

-Polymer Clay- I used Sculpey III clay in 3 shades, Beige, White, and Chocolate. This clay can be found at craft stores. These 2 oz. packages were on sale for $1.50 each at Jo-Ann fabric and craft stores, and I'll be able to make 2 ornaments with what I have.

-Aluminum Foil- for making the basic shapes.

-Work Area- I used a laminated paper.

-Paper Clips- for making the ornament hangers.

-Needle Nose Pliers- for bending the paper clips.

-Toothpick- used to help shape and smooth the clay.

-Gloss Glaze- I used Sculpey Gloss Glaze.

-Paintbrush- for applying the glaze.

Step 2: Make the Basic Form

-Straighten a paper clip using the pliers.

-Bend a small loop in one end of the paper clip using the pliers. This will be from where you hang the ornament.

-Create the basic figurine shapes using aluminum foil. Wrap the foil around the paper clip with the loop above the head. Wrap and scrunch the foil to create a body, neck, head and arms for the mother, and the head and body of the baby.

My finished figurines ended up being a little over 3.5 inches from head to bottom of feet. You can make yours whatever size you would like.

Step 3: Form the Clay

-Work a small piece of clay between your hands flattening it, folding it in half then flattening it again until it becomes easy to work with.

-Flatten and wrap clay around the aluminum figures.

-Using beige clay, form the head and arms of the mother and the head of the baby.

-Using white clay, form the dress of the mother, and swaddle/body of the baby.

-Using chocolate clay, form the hair of the mother.

-Using some white clay, attach the baby to the mother's front.

-Form the clay and figurines to your liking. If you are making just a figurine of a mother holding a baby, you can wrap the mother's arms around the baby. If you are making a babywearing figurine, leave the mother's arms a bit out, not touching the baby so that after it has baked you will be able to put a little fabric wrap around the baby with the mother's arms on the outside.

Tips:

-After putting the clay around the foil form, roll the toothpick on the clay to smooth it out.

-Be careful touching the beige and white parts after you've touched the brown clay. Some of the brown on mine got on the white and beige parts because it was on my fingers.

-If brown does get on the other colors, use an extra piece of white clay similar to an eraser to get some of the brown off.

-Using antibacterial hand sanitizer on your hands helps to clean off the clay residue.

Step 4: Bake the Clay

When you have covered the foil form in clay, and have formed your figures to look how you want them to look, it is time to bake your clay figurines.

-Put your figures in a pan.

-Bake figures according to package directions. My packaging said to bake it at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. I cooked mine in a preheated toaster oven, and it worked great.

-After baking, take out of the oven and let cool completely.

Step 5: Finishing Up

-Apply the glaze to the figurines using a paintbrush. Let dry 30 minutes between coats. I hung mine by the ornament hook to make it easier to paint the glaze on. I did 2 coats of glaze and like how it turned out.

-To add a baby wrap, hem a strip of fabric to be 1 inch by 9.25 inches in size. I used a scrap of fabric I had handwoven. Depending on the thickness of your fabric, you can tie the fabric into whichever carry you would like.

-You're done! Enjoy!