TIE-DYE SNOWMAN HOODIE

Instructions:

Step 1 - With clean hands and on a clean work surface, start by kneading a small amount of each colour of clay in your hands to make it soft and easy to work with. This is called "conditioning" and is an important part of any polymer clay project.

Step 2 - Using your Sculpey Acrylic Roller, roll out each colour of clay into sheets of approximately 3mm thickness.

Step 3 - Using the knife tool in your Sculpey Essential Tool Kit, cut out five rectangles in different colours. These don't have to be perfect!

Step 4 - Lay your rectangles down in any colour order you'd like. The rectangles in this project start small and get progressively larger to create a tree shape - use your knife tool to cut the short side of each rectangle on a diagonal, making each piece slightly larger than the one before it, to help create the overall tree shape to your ornament. Finish off your "tree" by cutting out a triangle shape to go at the top end of your tree, and also a "trunk" for the bottom part of your tree.

Step 5 - Decorate each section of your tree as you'd like. This is a great way to use up your leftover clay scraps!

Step 6 - Use your needle tool to poke a hole at the top and bottom at the half way point of each rectangular section. This is where you will attach a jump ring to join each section together. Note that your trunk section will only need one hole at the top. Poke a larger hole through the very top section of your ornament - this will be used to thread some ribbon or twine through, so that it can eventually be hung on your Christmas Tree.

Step 7 - Gently lay your creation onto an oven tray lined with baking paper, and place into a preheated oven (around 130 degrees Celsius). Baking times will vary from oven to oven, but a good rule of thumb is to follow the baking instructions on your clay packet.

Tip - Polymer clay is still quite flexible when it comes out of the oven. A good way to test if your creation has baked fully is to gently poke it with your fingernail. If it doesn't leave an imprint, your ornament is ready! If it leaves a mark, pop it in to bake a little longer.

Step 8 - Once your pieces have cooled, join your sections together using jump rings. Carefully open your jump ring diagonally using a pair of pliers, and thread it through the holes you created earlier. One jump ring will join two sections together. Finish your ornament by threading some ribbon or twine through the large hole you created at the top. Hang it on your Christmas tree with pride and enjoy your beautiful ornament for years to come!

Gingerbread Person:

What you'll need:

• 48g Block of Sculpey Souffle Polymer Clay (Pumpkin, Cowboy and Jade)
• 48g block of Sculpey III Polymer Clay (White and Red)
• Sculpey Clay Tool Starter Set
• Sculpey Acrylic Clay Roller
• Some twine or ribbon
• Your kitchen oven

Instructions:

Step 1 - With clean hands and on a clean work surface, start by kneading a small amount of each colour of clay in your hands to make it soft and easy to work with. This is called "conditioning" and is an important part of any polymer clay project.

Step 2 - To get the perfect gingerbread colour, mix one part of the "Cowboy" coloured clay, with four parts of the "Pumpkin" coloured clay, until the colour is uniform with no streaks.

Step 3 - Divide your gingerbread clay into three parts - one large part for the body, one smaller part for the head, and another small section which will be used to create the arms.

Step 4 - To create the body, roll your clay into a tear drop shape. Gently flatten out this tear drop to around 1cm thick using your Sculpey Acrylic Roller. You should have something that roughly resembles a triangle. Using the knife tool in your Sculpey Clay Tool Starter Set, cut a small wedge out at the halfway point of the bottom part of your triangle. This will create the legs of your gingerbread man. Use your tools and fingers to smooth in-between the legs.

Step 5 - To create the arms, roll one of the smaller sections of your gingerbread clay into a sausage shape and cut this this into two equal pieces using the knife tool in your Sculpey Clay Tool Starter Set. Attach each piece to the top part of the body. Gently squeeze each arm to the top of the body section to ensure the clay sticks to itself. Use your fingers to smooth each area and shape the arms.

Step 6 - To create your gingerbread person's head, roll your last portion of clay into a smooth ball. Gently flatten your ball into a disc shape using your roller. It should be the same thickness as the body. Place the head on the top of the body, and gently push down to help the head stick to the body.

Tip - Get creative with objects around the home to create texture on your polymer clay and make it look like real gingerbread! An old toothbrush, or even sandpaper, can be gently pressed onto your gingerbread person to create the look and feel of real baked gingerbread.

Step 7 - Once your gingerbread person has been created, it's time to decorate them! Use different coloured polymer clay to sculpt eyes, a mouth, buttons, bow ties, a scarf, or anything you'd like. Once you have finished decorating your gingerbread person, use your needle tool in your Sculpey Tool Starter Set to gently poke a hole at the top of your gingerbread man. The hole should be large enough to thread some ribbon or twine through so that it can be hung on your Christmas tree.

Step 8 - Gently lay your creation onto an oven tray lined with baking paper, and place into a preheated oven (around 130 degrees Celsius). Baking times will vary from oven to oven, but a good rule of thumb is to follow the baking instructions on your clay packet.

Tip - Polymer clay is still quite flexible when it comes out of the oven. A good way to test if your creation has baked fully is to gently poke it with your fingernail. If it doesn't leave an imprint, your ornament is ready! If it leaves a mark, pop it in to bake a little longer.

Step 9 - Let your ornament cool, then thread some ribbon or twine through the hole you created at the top. Hang it on your Christmas tree with pride and enjoy your beautiful ornament for years to come!