Dollhouse Miniature Broccoli

Watch the video here

This week I decided to show you how to make some broccoli. I made this decision for a couple of reasons but mainly because I wanted to show you another use for that metal wire strainer I used to make the corn last week. This time I use it differently and get a really different look using the same strainer. Also we eat lots of broccoli here so it seemed natural to get it in the produce stand.

One of the first challenges anytime we are making something out of polymer clay is to pick the correct color of clay. I went through a few steps to determine which color clay I was using for this project and felt I should probably share those steps with you so you can use them too.

First it was obvious that I would need green clay of some kind. I also knew I would need a fairly soft clay since I was going to be using the strainer. I pulled all the packages of green clay I could find in my stash (I also determined I am missing a box of clay but I am sure I will find it someday) Next I got out a clean paper plate. I took a small ball of each of the colors of clay, dipped them in TLS and then stuck them to the clean paper plate. Since I was testing several colors I labeled each one as I went. Next I baked the test batch of clay for about 5 minutes. I found that none of my colors were a great match but that two were close I then mixed each of those colors with white clay added them to the plate and re-baked the plate.

Through this test I found that the package of Sculpey 3 in Moss mixed with an equal amount of Fimo Soft white was a workable color.

Through experience I have learned that clay colors (some more than others) will shift somewhat in the baking process. That is why I did the baking test of the clay. 

 

I am thinking that when I have time I am going to take this procedure a step further and bake off index cards with samples of all the colors of clay I have on hand and keep those in a file box for reference when I am choosing colors for a project. That will definitely have to wait until I have some time to dedicate to the project though.

Back to the broccoli that we are making today. This would be an easy project to make in Barbie size, what I made as stalks of broccoli would be the perfect size for Barbie to snack on too.

I hope you can see in the video how I got the clay to push up through the mesh of the strainer and how to brush just the top with the darker green chalk. I like this method so much better than the method I see a lot of people do where they start with a ball of clay and try to add the texture to the solid ball.

I think the only bit of advice on this project I can give is to first be patient with yourself this does take some practice. Once you get the hang of it though it is really easy. Also keep wet wipes on hand because between the soft clay and the chalk you are going to be messy and to avoid getting that mess all over everything wipe up as you go.

I don't think there is much new I can say about the pictures this week other than to apologize for not getting a better picture of the broccoli by itself. It really doesn't show up very well in the basket in the picture and I didn't have time to go back and take another one yet.