Decorating polymer clay gingerbread people for fun.
I baked [polymer clay] gingerbread cookies! My Dad and I were planning to bake REAL gingerbread cookies, but my kitchen renovation wasn't going to be complete in time for this post. Instead, I decided to make polymer clay gingerbread people to decorate with acrylic, puffy, and 3D paints.
Preparing the Clay
I used Original Sculpey polymer clay for this simple, yet fun craft project. I believe this would be a fun craft to do with air-dry clay and non-hardening clay like Play-Doh. After all, many child-safe clay kits come with plastic cookie-type cutters.
I kneaded the clay with my hand and ran it several times through my clay conditioning machine, or pasta maker if you prefer to call it that. I used the machine to create a flat sheet of clay. I set my machine to the thickest setting.
Using Cookie Cutters
I used a couple gingerbread person cookie cutter of different sizes. I bought these years ago specifically for crafting purposes. I wouldn't use these cookie cutters on anything I'd consume because polymer clay, while supposedly safe to bake within your own oven, isn't certified for use with food.
I pressed the cookie cutters into the flat sheet of clay firmly for a clean cut. I'd pull away excess clay, run it through my clay conditioning machine again, and continued making gingerbread person cookie cuts until I ran out of clay to work with.
The cuts were mostly clean, but there were some areas around the edges I smoothed with my fingers or shaping tool.
Baking the Polymer Clay Cookies
I placed the clay gingerbread person pieces onto a baking tray that fits the size of my convection oven. I baked the pieces in a convection oven that resides in my well-ventilated garage. Polymer clay while baking releases a fume that may be mild to some people, but always triggers my migraine headaches. Because of that, I choose not to bake polymer clay in my oven indoors.
Painting the Gingerbread Cookies
Painting, like always, was the best part of this craft project! I painted the clay gingerbread person pieces with a nutmeg brown acrylic paint color. It took several coats to achieve full coverage and fewer brush strokes.
When the nutmeg brown paint dried after a few hours, I proceeded to decorate the clay gingerbread person pieces with paint markers, puffy glass paint, and 3D paint. I started painting thinking I'd use my Posca paint markers on most of the clay gingerbread person pieces, but I ended up liking the look and appearance of the puffy and 3D paints instead.
I made several mistakes, but I still had fun decorating the pieces. I was able to work with most of the mistakes. There was one piece where I used a white Sharpie paint marker that I didn't realize was too thin to use. I ended up covering that mistake with a few more coats of the nutmeg brown acrylic paint and decorating it again another time.
When I finished decorating the clay gingerbread person pieces, I let it sit overnight to allow the puffy and 3D paints to dry completely. However, the larger clay gingerbread person with the red Santa suit is still wet over 24 hours later.
My Thoughts
These polymer clay gingerbread cookies, like the Polymer Clay Christmas Charms, were yet another fun craft project that kept me preoccupied for hours. Some of the clay gingerbread persons I decorated are scary looking, but others were decent. Either way, I had fun making them.
What's Next?
Today, I'll be celebrating Toy Day in my Animal Crossing New Horizons game. Tomorrow, I'll be celebrating my first Christmas in my house of 7 years with my dogs and Dad. We're not exchanging gifts, but we'll likely play plenty of video games which I think will be more fun. It'll be a simple but happy holiday in my house this year.
I wish you much peace, joy, and happiness this holiday season and well into the New Year!
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Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
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