Hi dear friends, I hope you are having a wonderful week. For the most part, our week has been spent getting things ready for school and trying to get our summer ‘to do’ list all checked off. We still need to make rootbeer floats, go to a drive-in theatre and enjoy some horse riding. I think we can get it done by Monday.
In our spare time, Bella and I enjoy ‘claying’. She is going to be an amazing sculptor one day, I just know it. She molds the clay and shapes it with such ease. We made this cute little brooch for her new teacher.
Have you ever wondered where the apple and teacher link came from? There is really not a lot of information out there but one of the theories is that teachers were poorly paid, so families would help support teachers by giving them apples, which was a fairly common crop.
As time progressed and teachers earned more, baskets of apples were narrowed down to just one apple. Huh!
Here is a little tutorial I put together for this apple brooch. We used cold porcelain, which I will talk about at a later post, but you can use polymer clay, self drying clay or even Crayola Model Magic clay, which I’ve talked about here.
1. Make a basic round ball shape
2. Flatten down and slightly pinch the bottom to make it thinner than the top
3. With a toothpick, make an indentation at the bottom
4. With a pencil or pen, make a larger indentation on the top
5. Your apple should start to take shape
6. Pinch a little bit of clay off the side of the apple
7. Fill the hole back with white clay (this will be the flesh)
8. With a straw, pierce little ‘teeth marks’
9. It should look like a bite has been taken
10. Make a little green leaf
11. Wrap some craft wire around a toothpick leaving a straight bit at the bottom and a little one on top
12. Stick the straight part of the wire into the apple and then attach the leaf to it as well (I recommend adding some glue once it is dry for extra support)
If you want a little critter friend, continue at step 13; if not, jump to step 15
13. With a toothpick, pierce a little hole as shown
14. Make a little noodle shape worm and stick it in the hole
15. Allow apple to dry over night or if using polymer clay bake as per instructions
16. Use crazy glue or strong adherent to attach pin. I like to use an overlay of clay on top for extra support
Draw a little face if you wish on the little critter
And that’s that!
And that’s that!
While the clay was out I also made…
A cute little pencil topper.
Bella’s favourite animal is a penguin
and this little gal is ready for school.
Over the summer, we made these
little gnomes for the garden…
The kids made these little guys.
Isn’t the guy mowing the lawn just perfect?
Sad ending: The kids gave these as presents to their Nan for her garden and as we had used a self drying clay that did not endure the outdoors, these poor little guys melted after the first rainfall….They now rest in peace in gnome heaven.
I attached this little guy to a piece of chalk board paper and used a white pencil to write the words.
Well friends, just another little peak into our days of creating. I hope you enjoyed it.
As usual, thank you so much for stopping by. Hubby is off today so I’m off to enjoy his company.
I hope you have a wonderful day!
much love,
Lucy
Oh my these are so cute! Love the little apples 🙂
Today is the last day of my earring Giveaway, make sure you come see 🙂
TOO CUTE! love it!
oh my gosh I have so much to learn about clay-ing :o) I am serious I wish you could just teach me everything you know!!!!
Such talent! How funny, I have gnomes all over my post today – great minds, my friend, great minds:-)
What a great project and fun way to use clay! I adore those little mushrooms too! I also had a good laugh with clay-ing! Love action words like that!
I also wanted to let you know I nominated you for an award today. Details on my post here: http://describehappy.blogspot.com/2011/09/ten-day.html
You need an Etsy shop, I would be your best customer 🙂 !!
aww…thanks T…working on it..:)
Greetings! Within the domain of scientific inquiry, chaos theory and bifurcations and dynamical systems https://arctbds.com/ stand as foundational concepts crucial for comprehending complex phenomena. These interlinked concepts offer a structured approach for scientists and researchers to analyze the intricate dynamics present in both natural and artificial systems. Truly fascinating, isn’t it?