sometimes daily musings on writing..

A lot of people are madly in love with polymer clay. I am one of those people. It calls to me, sometimes at work, sometimes in the middle of the night. Sometimes while I'm driving East on I-20 or while I'm making dinner. But I digress...

Like I was saying, some love it, but an unfortunate few have never heard of it. Others have tried it, but haven't had much luck turning it into anything but some lumpy beads or small piles of scraps. I am here to help you! (Insert theme to "Underdog", "Mighty Mouse", or "I Love Lucy")

A little history first, my students: Polymer clay was actually invented in the '30's by a clever German woman, so it's really been around a fairly long time. Just in the last decade or so, however, it has grown by leaps and bounds into the art world and is gaining more respect, year by year, as a seriously versatile and magnificent art medium. Kids love it, adults love it, and it's a BIG step up from Play-Doh. (But I still love you, Play-Doh, just in a different way. We're still friends, right?)

Below, I have outlined a tutorial on how to make a yummy, no-calorie (albeit inedible) cake for your favorite doll to serve at any of her posh parties, over and over, as this baby will never spoil.

I've used Fimo and Premo brands of polymer clay, but you can use any you choose. Sculpey III is a little soft for my warm hands while Kato Polyclay is very firm, but not super-available in my area unless I want to go force myself to go to Hobby Lobby, and that's another post...

I hope you enjoy this fantastic medium at least one TENTH as much as I do. Any and all questions are welcomed. Most of all, have fun!!


How to Make a Miniature (Dollhouse) Cake with Polymer Clay
By: R. J. Fink




Supplies needed:

White polymer clay, about one eighth of a block
Yellow polymer clay, less than ¼ block
Chocolate polymer clay, about ¼ block
Clear acrylic glaze

Tools needed:

Tissue blade
Pasta machine (dedicated to clay use) or rolling pin for clay
1" round cookie cutter, a paring knife, OR bottle cap for a cutter
Cheapie Paint brush with thin, pokey-like handle
Polymer clay oven, or your regular oven, set to around 260 degrees
Small piece of cardboard (to use as a chilling and baking tray)
A penny (U.S. or Canadian is fine)



Instructions:

Soften, then tint about an eighth of a block of white clay with a small bit of yellow and a small bit of brown. By small, I mean lentil-sized or even smaller. PLEASE, always start small; you can always add more, but you can never take away once it's mixed.

You’re going for the color of baked yellow cake. For a little more realism, you can add about a quarter teaspoon of yellow corn meal (or semolina flour) to your mixture once all of the colors are blended and you are happy with the final color. The cornmeal really gives the cake a nice texture.

Once you’re happy with the color (and texture, if desired) of your cake “mixture”, divide it in half, roll each half into a ball, then flatten each one slightly to make two “cakes” about the size of a penny and a little less than ¼” thick. If your cakes are too big, take away some clay, set it aside, and mix the remainder together again. Split it in half, roll into two balls again, then flatten. Repeat until you get the size required.

Here’s what they should look like, complete with penny on top of one for measuring:



These puppies are pretty warm from all of that forming, rolling, and squishing. Take a little break and cool off the newly formed layers by placing them on your cardboard baking tray (without the penny) then carefully into the refrigerator for a few minutes. If you let them harden slightly, they’ll be easier to cut.

Once they’ve chilled, turn them on their thin sides and split them in half if you’d like a four-layer cake:



Don’t want the hassle? That’s okay, too. Just leave them as they are for a two-layer cake. But chilling will help them retain their shape while you decorate. Oh, yeah, I said decorate. I told you this would be fun!

Now, let’s “frost” the layers with the chocolate-brown clay. Roll it out using the thinnest setting on the pasta machine, or about half the thickness of a penny. For the four-layer, fancy-schmancy cake, cut out three circles that will fit the layers. You can use a cookie cutter, a knife, or recycle the cap of a bottle. Just DO NOT re-use for the bottle. This does NOT have to be a perfect circle.

For the two-layer, you’ll just need one filling layer, and I would roll it out about as thick as a penny:



Place the icing between the layers, gently pressing out any air bubbles that try to form:




Now, it’s time to frost the constructed cake! Roll out some more chocolate brown, this time as thick as a penny. You'll want a piece that's not quite as big as the palm of your hand. It's just got to cover the whole cake like a tablecloth would cover a table and "drape" down the sides.

Once it's rolled out, place it on top of the cake, making sure not to trap any air, then wrap it down the sides. You’ll have some folds in the clay, but that’s okay. See; I have folds, and that's okay:





Just carefully trim them off with the blade. Don’t cut yourself. Kids: let the adults do this part, please!:




This doesn’t have to look perfect. We’re going to give it some texture in a second, which will cover up all of the weird parts. Just take your time to join and smooth all of the seams, covering the cake as completely as you can. You don’t frost the bottom of a real cake, right? So leave the bottom of this one unfrosted, too.

Now, it’s time for texture. You’ll need to do this right after smoothing the seams while the clay is still a little bit soft; this way, you won't "lift" your frosting off of the cake itself, and it'll look more realistic.

Using the handle end of a paintbrush, “whip” the icing little by little to form peaks on the top of the cake. Swish the brush handle in different directions on the clay, digging in just a little until you get the effect you want. It should start to look like this:



See; I’m using one of those cheapie-cheap paintbrushes with a plastic handle. If you use a painted wooden handle, just be careful that it’s not old and chipping. It could get paint in your cake, and no one likes paint chips in their cake.

Once the top is done, place the cake on your baking sheet of cardboard and start on the sides. Try not to distort the little cake as you go. Take your time; mistakes can always be fixed:



When you’re satisfied with the way the cake looks, carefully transfer it to the oven and bake at the manufacturer’s recommended temperature for about 12 minutes. Take the cake out and carefully cut a wedge from the WARM cake with the tissue blade:



Place the wedge and the cake back in the oven for another 15 minutes. When it’s done, take it out and let it all cool to room temperature.

Glaze the frosting only with the clear acrylic, using the other end of your cheapie paintbrush.

Let the glaze dry, then sign and date the bottom of your masterpiece with a permanent marker. You did it! Your cake is ready to serve, give as a really cool gift to some deserving collector or sell on eBay for like, six bucks.

How would you make a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting? A strawberry cake with vanilla? What about a wedding cake? The possibilities....oh, the possibilities.

Thanks for joining me, everyone. Wasn’t that fun?!