Retro Christmas Ornaments AMNW Demo by
Shirley Rufener, CPD, airing on Mon., Dec. 18th

Here's an interesting idea this Christmas. Why not decorate a small
tabletop tree for your office desk, the kitchen, bedroom or
even the powder room. It's so much fun and satisfying to
stamp and create your own unique ornaments in the colors and
styles you like! Using Premo! Sculpey polymer clay and
Glaze Pens make it so easy....and quick too!

Materials

~White Premo! Sculpey polymer clay-1 cube makes 7 2" ornaments
(*by Polyform Products)
~"Glaze" 3D ink pens (**Sakura)
~Unmounted clear rubber stamp sets and clear mounting
blocks (www.TechniqueTuesday.com)
~Acrylic roller tool (*Polyform Products)or pasta machine
dedicated to clay use only)
~Mini straw such as coffee stir
~1/8" silver eyelets (scrapbook isle of stores)
~Silver (or gold) leafing pen (www.Krylon.com)
~Smooth ceramic tile or uncoated metal cookie sheet
~Water filled fine mist spray bottle (or brush & cup of water)
~Circle & square metal cookie cutters (sizes listed with projects)
~X-Acto blade type craft knife
~Super glue (any cyanoacrylate type should work)
~Kitchen type clear plastic wrap
~Rubbing alcohol
~Old SOFT toothbrush
~Emery board nail file or extra fine grit sand paper
~Vinyl coated 22 or 24 gauge silver color wire

*Polyform Product information, inspiration and project ideas
can be found online through their website:

Polyform

*Sakura pens, projects and video clips can be viewed online
through their website at:

Sakura

Ornament Instructions

Small tree samples use 2" circle and square cutters.

TIP: Before working with white clay, wash and dry hands
well to remove any dust or oil on skin.

1. Condition 1/4 cube of clay by kneading it as your would bread
dough, or running it through a hand crank pasta machine
several times until smooth.
2. Roll and flatten clay to approximately 3/16" (or pasta
setting #1-the thickest) sheet, and place on tile or
BACK of a cookie sheet.
3. Carefully peel a stamp and place on clear block that is
just large enough for stamp.

NOTE: Before using brand new clear stamps, secure design on
a clear block, then gently clean stamp SURFACE once (NOT the
back side of stamp!) with a little rubbing alcohol with an
old SOFT toothbrush to remove any
stickiness on stamp design.

TIP: In the NEXT step (4.), press stamp firmly but not too hard, and
remove stamp right away to prevent sticking.

4. Mist the stamp well with water and press onto clay, leaving
enough clay around the edges to fill the circle cutter
you will use.
5. Pull a section of the plastic wrap taught and secure it
to the clay surface. Smooth out any wrinkles.
6. Center your cookie cutter over design and firmly cut out
circle shape. Remove cutter and plastic, and smooth out
any imperfections in the clay.
7. Pierce a hanging hole with mini straw near top center edge
of the ornament.
8. Bake several ornaments at a time at 275o (for Premo! Sculpey
brand) for 20 minutes. When the clay is just a little warm
still, remove from baking surface and let cool.
9. Sand any rough side edges with nail file that has been misted
with water, and wipe away clay dust.
10. Working on a plastic covered work surface, color in the BACK side
of the ornaments with a leafing pen. Let dry for
10 minutes, then color the FRONT (design) surface, trying hard
not to get ink in the indentation designs (pools).
11. Let ornaments dry completely, for 20 minutes, then glue
an eyelet into clay hole with a tiny dot of super glue.
12. Remove the tiny clear plastic tip from the Glaze pen writing tip.
Dot pen tip onto scratch paper to get ink flowing.
13. Fill in the indented areas with color. I used two colors for
most of the projects, gloss "Rose" and gloss "Green", or
gloss "Blue" and gloss "Purple". If you'd rather have a matte,
pastel palette, try Soufflé pens also by Sakura
for a whole different look.



Tree Toppers

NOTE: Mist stamp each time you stamp!

1. Follow steps 1-3 above of "Ornament Instructions" although
using 3/4 of a cube of white clay.

2. I chose a single swirl design clear stamp to create
a snowflake pattern, lining up and overlapping the small
round end each stamping and evenly spacing them in a circle pattern.
3. Using X-Acto blade knife, cut around design leaving
a 1/8 border.
4. Place a small ball of clay over the center and press in
place. Stamp a small design onto pad of clay (I used a tiny
clear snowflake to keep with my theme.) My design left a plain
area so I gently pressed a stylus tool to make dots over
each section as shown.
5. Bake at 275o (for Premo! Sculpey brand) for 20 minutes. When
the clay is just a little warm still, remove from baking
surface and let cool.
6. Place piece (BACK SIDE UP) on a piece of parchment paper or on
a large index card or piece of cardstock.
7. Cut a 4" piece of wire, fold it in half and twist it together
to make it stronger. Wrap it around your leafing pen barrel to form a ring.
8. Form a 1/2" ball of clay and secure ring (standing up on an end)
to back of tree topper by pressing ball against ring ends
onto surface.
9. I pressed a medium size clear stamp onto pad of clay
to look a little more finished.
10. Bake at 275o (for Premo! Sculpey brand) for 20 minutes. When
the clay is just a little warm still, remove from baking
surface and let cool.
11. Finish by following steps 9-12 of "Ornament Instructions".
It is easier to paint ornament while sitting on a cookie
cutter to compensate for the ring on the back.

Letter Tiles

1. Roll out a 1/8" thick sheet of clay and secure to ceramic tile.

2. Choose 3 borderline designs and place them parallel on a long clear block.

Tip: Use a sheet of lined notebook paper under block to
keep stamps straight.

3. Mist stamp with water then press GENTLY onto the clay. You
want this to be a shallow impression so your second layer
design (in this case letters) will show up.
4. Place letter on small block, mist with water and stamp a little
firmer but not too much, these are wonderfully deep stamps!


5. Follow steps 5 thru 12 of "Ornament Instructions" above to
cover with plastic, cut shape, pierce a hole, bake, cool, paint
and color tint your tiles.
6. To add to stocking, simply sew on clay tiles with embroidery floss
(or thread), or use silicone glue (such as Aleene's 7800
adhesive) to secure tiles to stocking.

Gift Tags & More!

These clay pieces can be used in many different ways. How about
making gift tags? Just form an ornament as above saving
room for the name or year, and tie onto package with ribbon.

These tiles look nice hanging form a ledge or window pane with
ribbon or metallic cording. Use your imagination and see where it takes you!