How to Make Porcelain Flowers
Many people think cold porcelain is more complicated to make and mold than it actually is. Cold porcelain is a modeling clay that dries with exposure to air, and it can simply be made at home with everyday ingredients. You can easily make flowers out of cold porcelain that can be worn as pendants, hair accessories or decorative pins. Cold porcelain flowers make great gifts, favors or accessories for your home and wardrobe.
Things You'll Need
- 3/4 cup of white glue
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 teaspoon of cosmetic cold cream
- 1 teaspoon of glycerin
- 1 cup and 1/2 cup of cornstarch separated
- Old saucepan
- Old wooden spoon
- Old dishtowel
- Clear flower candy mold
- Acrylic or oil paint
Instructions
-
Make Flowers Out of Cold Porcelain
-
1
Add the glue, water, cold cream and glycerin to a saucepan. Stir over medium heat, mashing the cold cream to help it blend, until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in 1 cup of cornstarch, which will make the mixture suddenly very stiff. When the mixture is still slightly lumpy and has pulled away from the sides of the pan, it is done.
-
2
Wet a dishtowel with cold water and spread it out on a counter top. Place the lump of hot cornstarch in the center of the towel and wrap it. Use this towel to knead the clay, as it will be too hot to touch with your bare hands. Every few minutes, open the towel, detach the wet clay from the towel and continue to knead. When the clay has cooled, cover your hands in the additional cornstarch, and continue kneading the clay with your hands. Do this for about five minutes, until the clay is smooth, stretchy, and not as sticky.
-
-
3
Squeeze a few drops of acrylic or oil paint into the ball of clay and knead it until it is well mixed. Repeat this process until you have the color you want, adding 1 to 2 drops at a time to get a deeper color.
-
4
Rub a small amount of cold cream into each flower in the candy mold. This will act like grease to keep the porcelain from sticking. Press a small amount of clay into the flower at a time, taking special care to get the clay into every area in the mold to cover all of the details of the flower. Carefully examine the underside of the mold to make sure every cavity is filled and that there are no air bubbles in the bottom.. Fill the mold to the top.
-
5
Allow the flowers to dry overnight. They will decrease in size slightly. If you are making a pendant, slide a pin with an eye hook into the top of the flower so that as it dries, the porcelain will tighten around the pin and hold it in place.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Premade cold porcelain can be purchased online at places like Etsy.com, if you need to make cold porcelain flowers quickly.
Decorate the porcelain flowers with markers, paint or even rubber stamps. Use decoupage to seal the porcelain if you add embellishments.
The clay will stick to your dishes and utensils if you don't wash them quickly. When you remove the clay from the pan, set it aside to cool and fill your pans and cooking utensils with water so they can soak. Then, after you have kneaded the clay, store it in an airtight container while you wash the dishes.
