How to Make a Chili Pepper Christmas Ornament

The chili pepper is an essential part of any Southwestern Christmas decoration theme. You can make a red jalapeno chili pepper ornament from polymer clay such as Sculpey. Polymer clay is simple to work with, stays wet when left exposed to the open air, and can be fired in an ordinary oven. Acrylic paints and floor wax give the chili pepper a bright finish with a high shine. Be sure to make several of these ornaments for your Christmas tree.

Things You'll Need

• Polymer clay
• Board
• Rolling pin
• Parchment or wax paper
• Clay carving tools
• Craft blade
• Wire
• Pliers
• Paint brushes
• Acrylic paint
• Acrylic floor wax

Instructions

1. 

   Protect your work surface with newspaper. Place some parchment or wax paper on a clean board. Knead the polymer clay until it's soft and well blended.

2. 

   Put the clay on the paper and roll it to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Make sure the surface is smooth and that there are no lumps in the clay.

3. 

   Draw a jalapeno chili pepper in pencil on a piece of white paper. Make the top part of the pepper fairly fat and taper it as you move downward. Curve the very end of the chili pepper tip. Make sure that the end of the pepper is round rather than pointed. Draw a stem at the thick end of the chili pepper and create a cap at the top with a slightly jagged edge. Cut out the drawing and place it over the polymer clay.

4. 

   Cut around the chili pepper template with a flat clay carving tool. Remove the excess clay from the parchment paper.

5. 

   Trim the edge away from the top of the chili pepper ornament with a craft blade. Smooth the edge with your finger until it's slightly rounded.

6. 

   Carve a slight relief below the chili pepper cap with the craft blade. Work to retain the jagged edge of the cap, but keep the surface of the main pepper body smooth and even. Bend a short wire and insert it into the stem of the chili pepper with a pair of pliers.

7. Remove the chili pepper ornament from the paper and transfer it to a small baking sheet. Bake the ornament in your kitchen oven at 275 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool to room temperature.

8. 

   Place a piece of cellophane wrap over a clean lid from a large plastic tub of margarine, cottage cheese or yogurt. Place some bright red and dark green acrylic paint on the plastic wrap. Thin the paint with a very small amount of acrylic floor wax. Gently mix the paint using a palette knife with a rounded end or with your paint brush. Paint the main body of the chili pepper red. Paint the cap and stem green. Allow the paint to dry completely. Place an ornament hook through the wire loop and display the chili pepper on your Christmas tree.

Tips & Warnings

• For added shine, varnish the chili pepper ornament with an extra coating of acrylic floor wax after the paint has dried.

• Don't attempt to mass produce polymer clay ornaments in a kitchen oven.