Supplies:
- Ceramic pumpkin from Dollar Tree.
- Air dry clay
- Water
- Clay tool/tools. I used one I picked up from Dollar Tree
- Mold. The mold I used was actually in the backing section of JoAnn Fabrics. It is meant to be used for chocolate molds.
- Paint or spray paint
Steps:
- Press clay into mold
- Carefully remove clay from mold
- Place mold on ceramic pumpkin with tacky glue and use tool to blend edges of clay piece into ceramic pumpkin
- Dip finger into water and smooth out edges
- Repeat step 1-4 till pumpkin is finished. Then set aside for clay to air dry.
- Paint or spray paint pumpkin. Add embellishments if desired
I used a ceramic pumpkin I found at Dollar Tree. I liked that my pumpkin was a white/cream color so it would be easy to paint over. Darker colors usually require multiple layers of paint to cover. A ceramic or hard plastic pumpkin would work best. You need something that the clay can hold onto. The clay will not stick well to a fabric surface.
I had a chocolate mold I purchased from JoAnn Fabrics that I decided to use. It worked very well with my air-dry clay. If you place clay in a mold, then do not use that mold for food items. I first grab some of my clay and worked it in my hands a little to soften it up a bit. The clay was pretty soft already, so it did not need to be worked much.
I then pressed my clay into my mold. You can add or remove any extra clay. You also do not need to fill the mold completely if you do not want to use the entire mold. For example, if you want to make a smaller flower than the mold you have. If your clay does not release from your mold, then try spraying a little water into your mold first before pressing your clay into it.
Once you pop your clay out of the molds and decide where you would like to place them on your pumpkin, place some tacky glue to the back of your clay mold and place it on your pumpkin. You can make all your molds at once and them place them on your pumpkin, or make your molds as you work around your pumpkin. I thought about just putting flowers together on the front of my pumpkin, but ended up spacing them out all around my pumpkin.
Once your mold is on your pumpkin use a tool to press the edges of your mold into your pumpkin to help blend the edges. This will help hold/secure your mold as well as make it look like it was always there. Press the edges down all the way around the mold. Then dip your finger or a tool into some water and smooth out the rough edges.
Once all of your clay molds are on your pumpkin and the edges have been blended into your pumpkin, allow your air-dry clay to dry and harden. I left mine over night to insure it was dry. Once everything is dry you can paint, or spray paint your pumpkin. I first painted my entire pumpkin a tan color. I attempted to water down some blue paint and paint a flower mold on my pumpkin, but I did not like how it looked. I even tried applying some gold paint over the blue, but I still did not like it. Since it was just paint, I painted over the blue with my tan (it needed a few coats) and tried again, but this time with gold paint. I painted my flowers gold, then used a paper towel to wipe some of the extra gold paint off. This allows some of the tan paint to show through. I got a little extra gold paint on the side of my pumpkin and decided I liked this splatter of gold paint look. To achieve this look, I first painted a flower gold, then used a paper towel to dab off extra gold paint, then immediately dabbed that wet gold paint paper towel around my pumpkin.
This was a fun technique to try. I like how you can use a mold to get different shapes out of clay, and then add them to pieces to make them completely different. I may do this more in the future. Have you worked with clay much? Clay is not just a toy for kids to play with. You can create many beautiful pieces with clay or help change the look of a piece. It is just important you blend the edges of your clay mold to the piece you are adding it too, so it looks like it was always suppose to be there.
