How to Make Polymer Clay Mushrooms
Polymer clay works well for making many different types of sculpture and jewelry. Making polymer clay mushrooms that go with a sculpture or making mushroom beads is simple. Create several small mushroom beads and use them to make earrings, a bracelet or necklace. Sculpt a mushroom and add a small fairy on top for a cute room decoration. Sculpting mushrooms takes no special skills.
Things You'll Need
- Parchment paper
- Cookie sheet
- Assorted colors of polymer clay
- Knitting needle or clay modeling tool
- Aluminum foil
- Oven or toaster oven
Instructions
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Put a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and put the cookie sheet on a flat surface. The cookie sheet doubles as your work area and cooking pan.
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2
Choose the color of polymer clay you want for the top. Condition the clay by squishing and squeezing it until the clay is soft and pliable. Once it's soft, pinch off a piece of clay the size you want the top of mushroom to be.
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3
Roll the piece of clay into a ball, and press it down onto the parchment paper. This flattens one side of the ball, making the bottom of the mushroom.
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4
Pinch a 2-inch square of clay off the remaining clay, or use a different color. Roll the 2-inch square of clay into a short, fat cylinder. Press one of the flat ends of the cylinder onto the parchment paper. Squish it down a little bit, so the bottom is fatter than the top. You want it to be about 1 inch tall. The wide bottom helps hold the mushroom up. If you are making a small mushroom for jewelry, make the stem smaller, so it fits your mushroom.
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5
Tear off a 12-inch piece of aluminum foil, and roll it into a 1-inch ball. Make two more balls in the same way. This makes a prop for holding up the top of the mushroom. Skip this step if you are making mushroom beads.
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6
Pick up the mushroom top and turn it, so the flat bottom is facing up. Press dents into the clay all the way around the flattened edge on the flat side. This creates the area that contains the spores.
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Turn the mushroom top, so it's facing down. Press the center of the flat end of the mushroom top onto the top of the cylinder. Once it sticks in place, slide the aluminum foil balls under the edges of the mushroom top. This keeps the mushroom from tipping over as it cooks in the oven. If you are making mushroom beads for jewelry, press a shish kabob skewer through the top of the mushroom, and lay the mushroom on its side in the pan. for beads, you don't have to use foil balls.
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Roll small balls of a different colored clay, and press the balls around the top of the mushroom if you want polka dots on the mushroom. You can make them large or small -- either looks good.
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Place the parchment-lined cookie sheet with the mushroom on it in the oven, and set the oven to the temperature listed in the clay manufacturer's instructions. Cook according to the instructions.
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Turn off the oven once the mushroom finishes cooking, but do not remove it. Let it cool completely before removing it from the oven. If the clay cools too quickly, it sometimes develops cracks and lines.
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References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
