Harry Potter Ornaments

Harry Potter Ornaments

Today my project was to make Harry Potter themed ornaments.  As you can see I went all out.  (Not pictured is a Golden Snitch ornament, which is currently in the process of wing attachment via craft glue.  It's taking it's sweet time to dry.) 

The Gryffindor Crest has a raised lion on a crimson backdrop, surrounded by a fuzzy golden glow.

The Sorting Hat turned out awesome, though it's hard to tell in the photograph.  It looks like it's laughing!  And the patches add a sweet sort of charm to it.

The Lightning Bolt is simple, but I like it.  That is a lightning bolt with attitude.

Hedwig is my favorite.  I've made owls in this style in the past (remember my wedding cake toppers?), and I think it works really well here.

These were all made with polymer clay (Sculpey III), stuffed with aluminum foil when necessary, and the metal loops are made from parts of paper clips.

I'm going to sell these as a set on Etsy.  When I figure out how it works, and how to post things for sale, and what the heck I should charge, I'll put a link up.

WIP: Rapunzel's Tower

WIP: Rapunzel's Tower

My husband is gone for the weekend, and when he's not around I get really bored and start crazy complicated art projects.  Like so.

I haven't seen Tangled yet, but ever since this picture of Rapunzel's tower was released I've loved every inch of it.  Yesterday, I was bored and sick of watching tv, so I decided that I'd make myself a small scale version of the tower to grace my pretty bookshelves.  I spent several hours making the base of the tower and I made a start on the top portion.  I did some more today, but I had to stop, because I bruised my palms.  I didn't even know this could happen!  But I guess rolling out clay over and over will do that.  So I'll have to wait until it doesn't hurt my hands to finish the rest. 

The tower is made of polymer clay (Sculpey III) and bamboo skewers made the skeleton.  I used crumpled aluminum foil to give the bricks texture, and the bamboo skewers were also used to give the 'plaster' texture.  I'm also planning uses for acrylic paint, toothpicks, clumps of aluminum foil, and paper clips.   And possibly beads and glue for the windows... I'm not sure if the idea I have is going to work yet...

Santa Ornament

Instead of exchanging gifts, my friends and I do an ornament exchange.

I couldn't find anything I liked at the stores (or if I did, I didn't want them to think I was being cheap with my Target/Meijer bought ornament), so I made one.

He's a little expressionless for Santa - or maybe this Santa has just seen the face of his death, a disgruntled reindeer bent on goring him with his antlers - but I still kinda like him.

I stuffed this one with aluminum foil, which I will do much more carefully next time. I made three separate balls of foil to make the base, and when I was shoving clay around the whole thing shifted on me. Not cool. Another problem with this polymer clay stuff is the red clay is so stain-y. All the white you see is actually tinged a bit pink. Le sigh.

Polymer Clay Owls

I made these owls from polymer clay (Sculpey III) to act as wedding cake toppers (we were going to go with a barn wedding, and I was really running with that idea - barn owls, you see? - but now we're just going to elope, cause all the planning makes me want to cry).

The girl owl is meant to be leaning into the boy owl, but it just looks like I screwed up and made her lopsided. Sad.

Nevertheless, they are adorable.

I took the photo with my Diana lens, and don't you just love how the whites get blown out and fuzzy around the edges? I adore it.