Sun and moon wall art collection

August 8, 2018/0 Comments/in Crafts, Home accents, Painting, Sculpture /by [email protected]

Introducing my new collection of sun and moon wall art. These celestial pieces are great for those who like whimsical decor, inspirational art, spiritual art, new age art, nursery rhymes art, baby nursery decor, beach house art and mixed media assemblage, just to name a few.

All are hand painted with my original designs on 5 inch round wooden plaques with a sawtooth hanger on the back. And, of course, they’re all blinged out because I’m all about the bling. Each one has its own personality, so let’s take a look at them.

Moon wall art (sculptures, wall hangings, plaques)

Dream Moon

Dream Moon wall art by Lynda Makara

A classic full moon painted mostly white with silver metallic accents and the word “dream” written on her face. There are three little stars on one cheek with a crystal inside of each.

The sides are adorned with AB crystals.

Blue Moon

Blue Moon wall art by Lynda Makara

Blue moons are usually rare but you can enjoy this one every day. Painted blue with a glowing white center, she has a sweet expression as she looks up at the heavens. She also has three silver stars on her face with crystals inside.

The sides are painted blue with matching blue glitter and crystals on top.

Sun wall art (sculptures, assemblage, wall hangings, plaques)

Sun Ray

Sun Ray wall art by Lynda Makara

My Sun Ray plaque is painted orange blending into yellow with blue accents. The intricately painted face is adorned with crystals in the eyes and on the triangles.

The sun’s rays are represented by nails going around the outside.

Spiky Sun

Spiky Sun wall art by Lynda Makara

This Spiky Sun is bright yellow with a lighter yellow and white center. The eyes are outlined with crystals.

The sun’s rays are made with metal spikes and screws all around the outside.

The celestial sun and moon wall art collection

These pieces are fantastic individually or in groupings as you can see in the pictures below.

Available in my etsy shop.

Making the Morning Star sun sculpture with paperclay and recycled materials

July 9, 2018/0 Comments/in Crafts, Home accents, Sculpture /by [email protected]

You may have noticed by now my interest in stars, moons and suns. After doing a few moon sculptures, I decided it was time to make a sun wall sculpture.

So I dug through my stash of odds and ends and pulled out a few pieces that inspired me. This silver tray came from a thrift store and I thought it would look good to frame the sun sculpture.

Tray front

Tray back

And I thought these plastic stakes would make interesting sun rays, along with free paint sticks from the hardware store.

Recycled plastic stakes

Recycled paint sticks cut into 4 pieces

Making a sculpture starts with a sketch

Having decided on that, I began to sketch a face. This time I wanted to use my grandfather as inspiration.

He was my paternal grandfather who died when I was a child. He was an Armenian immigrant.

I remember going to visit my grandparents and he was usually sitting in his chair, wearing a vest and smoking his pipe. I loved the smell of his cherry tobacco. He seemed like a very gentle soul to me.

Somehow I only ended up with a couple of his pictures, but I did the best I could with the sketch.

My Armenian grandfather after coming to America

Grandpa as I remember him. My aunt’s photo wall.

And here’s the sketch.

Sketch done on white paper

Then I transferred it onto wax paper. I use this as an overlay for accuracy while I’m sculpting.

Sketch done on wax paper

Building the base of the sculpture

I always use layers of cardboard glued together with hot glue and Aleene’s tacky glue for the base. This saves on paperclay.

Cardboard used as base for sculpture

Cardboard base inside metal tray

After that I carved out sections for the features. I have to admit, this looks a little creepy.

Features carved out on cardboard base

Sculpting the sun face with paperclay

Now it’s time for me to play. I just add bits of paperclay here and there. At times I need to allow the clay to dry somewhat before continuing.

Here are some photos showing the progression.

Painting and embellishing the pieces

I always like to put a dark wash on the clay to emphasize the texture.

Sun sculpture with black wash

Then I dab on layers of white paint. I highlight and define the features with acrylic paint in black, light blue, metallic gold and metallic silver. The face was accented with a variety of glitters and then varnished.

Sun sculpture with paint and glitter

The plastic rays were painted metallic gold and covered with a glitter coating.

The paint sticks, after being cut and shaped, were painted light blue and metallic silver. The blue ones were accented with blue glitter and the silver ones with a strip of silver sequins.

Paint stick sunrays before painting

Here’s a picture of the rays after painting.

Sun rays with paint and glitter

The silver metallic starbursts shown in the photo above were made from vitamin packets. I love to save bits of mylar packaging.

Mylar vitamin packets turned into sunrays

Assembling the sun sculpture

I cut out a piece of cardboard for the backing and painted it black. Then I glued and wired everything together to make it very secure.

Unassembled pieces before painting was finished

The final Morning Star sun wall sculpture from recycled materials

And here he is…my beautiful Morning Star sun sculpture, now in my Etsy shop.

The Morning Star sun sculpture

Morning Star sun sculpture in my bedroom

Radiant sun wall art, assemblage, recycled art

January 22, 2017/0 Comments/in Crafts, Sculpture /by [email protected]

It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to create new fun whimsical art after being sidelined by my broken ankle. But lately I’ve been getting back into the swing of things and was inspired to try something new—my Radiant Sun assemblage wall art.

Gathering recycled items for a sun wall art assemblage

I like to collect odds and ends from thrift stores and this old wall clock caught my attention. Better yet, it was only $1!

Taking apart wall clock for sun sculpture

I decided to combine it with interesting bits of hardware found while rummaging in my father’s workshop. I also dug around in my own collection of craft items for gems, sequins, crystals and glitter. Because even though this is recycled art, I have to put my blingy spin on it.

Combining and arranging the pieces

Playing around with hardware to make sun face

Using an astrological map as the background, I played around until I came up with a face I liked. For the eyes I used a plastic bottle cap, random hardware piece, BBs, gems and crystals. An allen wrench serves as the nose. And the mouth is made from washers, a bell and more BBs.

On top of the glass more weird hardware pieces are glued on to accent one eye, along with sequins and crystals.

I painted the outside of the clock in the colors of the sun (red, orange and yellow).

: Painting sun wall sculpture

: Painting sun sculpture red, orange, yellow

And I used two different types of rusty nails for the sun’s rays.

Rusty nail sun rays, back of sculpture

Adding sparkle to the radiant sun

The best part for me is going to town with the embellishments because when it comes to sparkle, more is definitely better. And you can see I’ve used lots of different types of glitter, crystals, gems and fabulous sequins that sparkle endlessly.

Radiant Sun wall sculpture close up

And the result is a fun, cheerful, smiling sun that shines no matter what the weather is like outside. You can find it for sale in my Etsy shop.

: Radiant Sun wall art assemblage recycled art by Lynda Makara

: Radiant Sun wall art by Lynda Makara

Here’s a look at some of my past sculptures. And remember, I’m also available to create a custom piece of art just for you!

: Sleepy Moon wall sculpture by Lynda Makara

: Lady “Muse in the Moon” hanging sculpture by Lynda Makara

: A tribute to my Samoyed Nookie, my little angel puppy, who loved the sunflower garden

: Augustus Sunflower, from my personal collection

Sleepy Moon wall art paper clay tutorial

April 28, 2015/0 Comments/in Crafts, Home accents, Sculpture /by [email protected]

I’m obsessed with the full moon and intrigued by the different faces you can see in it.

This time I saw a dreamy woman’s face with a quirky little mouth. She was the inspiration for my website’s header and also my Sleepy Moon wall art, a paperclay sculpture surrounded by shimmering moonbeams.

Follow along with me as I show you step by step how this sculpture was made.

Preparing to sculpt

I used a 10¼” paper maché plate for the foundation of the sculpture. Then I cut out a piece of cardboard slightly smaller than the plate to be used as a backing.

Paper mache plate and cardboard backing

I made a full size drawing of the moon face.

Sleepy Moon by Lynda Makara

Then I traced the drawing onto a piece of wax paper. This was used to overlay my sculpture to check for accuracy in the placement of the features.

drawing on wax paper of sleepy moon wall art

Wax paper drawing of Sleepy Moon by Lynda Makara

Working on the sculpture

The easy part was covering the plate with a layer of clay. I always use Creative Paperclay.

first layer of paperclay for moon wall art sculpture

Paperclay over paper mache plate

I laid the wax paper over the clay. With my X-acto knife I punched little holes through the paper along the black lines.

using wax paper drawing to mark paperclay sculpture

Wax paper over paperclay base to make markings

This shows the markings left behind after removing the wax paper. The clay was divided into four sections with the nose outlined.

Marks made through wax paper drawing

To make the nose I just started with a nice nose-shaped blob of clay.

adding a nose to the paperclay moon sculpture

Adding a nose to the moon

I added a smaller ball for the nostrils.

Adding to the nose

With the nose done, I starting working on the eyes. I cut out a layer of clay in the shape of the eye using the pattern as a guide.

Nose added to moon sculpture, working on right eye

Nose added, working on right eye

The eyes had slits for the eyelashes to be glued into later. The eyebrows were marked at this point.

Both eyes done on moon sculpture, marks for eyebrows

Both eyes added and marks made for eyebrows

One eyebrow done.

Right eyebrow finished

After the eyes and eyebrows were finished, I let the paperclay dry overnight. The next day I pulled off a piece of clay and formed it into the approximate shape of the mouth.

moon sculpture with eyebrows, piece added for mouth

Both eyebrows done, piece added for mouth

I used a small dampened paintbrush to smooth out areas too small for my fingers. My X-acto knife helped with carving and shaping.

Working on the mouth

Here it is after the facial features were done and left to dry for a few hours.

Facial features done

Then I came back in with thin layers of clay to make craters. I also filled in all the cracks that appear after drying and the remaining guide marks.

Some tools I used to make the craters: the end of my knife, wooden dowels, my knuckle.

Adding craters to moon

After the sculpture dried overnight, I shaped and refined the features using the knife. I also added a bit more clay to the nose.

This is what it looked like when I was done sculpting. Very close to the original drawing.

Comparing the finished moon sculpture to the drawing

Comparing the finished sculpture to the drawing

Another view of the sculpture ready to be painted.

Paperclay moon before painting

Painting the moon sculpture

I always like to define the features first by using a black wash. The clay is porous and using watery paint helps cover everything.

Adding black wash to moon sculpture

With this sculpture I worked from dark to light. Black wash in the crevices, gray wash over everything else.

Then I went back in dry brushing with white paint. Many layers were added.

I do drybrushing instead of regular painting because it blends in better with the background colors, almost like airbrushing.

: Black and gray wash applied to moon sculpture

: Adding white paint over gray wash using dry brush technique

: Half of moon face with white paint

: Adding another layer of white paint

At the end I drybrushed metallic silver paint as a highlight.

Highlighting moon sculpture with metallic silver paint

Highlighting with metallic silver paint

Working on the embellishments

I cut out a pair of eyelashes from a piece of thin cardboard. They got painted black on both sides.

Cardboard eyelashes for moon

Not being able to find ready made trim, I made my own tinsel from a mylar ham wrapper. This was the outer wrapper not against the ham.

I cut strips of mylar layered over a piece of tulle, sewed them together with a gathering stitch, cut them apart and fringed the edges.

This detail represents a moon ring and also serves to soften the transition between the moon and the backing.

: Mylar ham wrapper used to make tinsel

: Strips of mylar and tulle to make tinsel

: Layers of mylar and tulle stitched together

: Mylar strips cut and fringed

Working on the backing

I took the cardboard backing and divided it into 16 equal parts. This was easily accomplished marking from a paper circle folded into 16 sections.

Each line marks the spot for a dowel to be glued.

Dividing cardboard backing into 16 equal parts

Lines were drawn with a ruler.

Drawing lines on cardboard backing

Dowels were glued in place with hot glue.

Gluing dowels to cardboard

Bamboo skewers were glued in between the dowels. I just eyeballed the placement of these.

Gluing skewers to cardboard

Then I made a wire hanger from 22 gauge wire, folded in half and twisted.

Making wire hanger for sculpture

The twisted wire was inserted near the edge over a dowel. The ends were twisted together and glued in place on both sides.

Wire hanger going through cardboard backing

I painted the sticks with metallic silver.

Painting the sticks metallic silver

The back was painted black.

cardboard backing painted black for moon sculpture

Backside painted black with hanger in center

Mirrors were glued on with hot glue. Afterwards I put more glue on the back of them and covered with silver paper.

Gluing mirrors to sticks

Layers of cardboard were glued in the center of the base to reach the depth of the paper maché plate.

Cardboard added to center of moon backing

Cardboard added to the center

Gluing everything together

Cardboard eyelashes were glued into the slit. This almost looks like gluing regular eyelashes!

Gluing eyelashes to moon sculpture

Tinsel was gathered and glued around the edge of the moon on the underside.

Tinsel glued to moon sculpture

Finally the moon sculpture was glued to the backing using tacky glue. I held it in place with pressure on it for about 20 minutes. I didn’t want to crush the eyelashes by placing something heavy on top!

Gluing the mirrored backing to moon sculpture

Finishing touches

I decided to lighten up the eyebrows then I went over everything with satin varnish. After that dried I applied two different kinds of iridescent glitter in strategic places: inside craters, on the eyes, eyelashes and mouth.

This step I like to think of as painting with glitter.

Sleepy Moon with glitter embellishments

Introducing the Sleepy Moon!

Here she is in all her glittering glory!

Sleepy Moon wall art

For more photos, check her out here.

Related projects

Muse in the Moon sculpture
Starburst mirror

Making a moon art sculpture with paper clay

March 26, 2014/4 Comments/in Crafts, Sculpture /by [email protected]

This tutorial shows how I made a heavenly crescent moon art sculpture for a client using paper clay, simple craft supplies and common household items. The techniques I share can be used to create sculptures in different shapes and sizes.

You’ll see step by step how the project progressed from the initial sketch to creating a foundation, building the moon sculpture in layers and then painting it.

Supplies for the moon sculpture

Supplies for moon art sculpture

These are the things I used for this project:

Creative Paperclay
Corrugated cardboard and heavy paper
Wire: tie wire, 22 and 24 gauge dark annealed wire
Glue: hot glue and Aleene’s Tacky Glue
Wire cutters and needlenose pliers
Scissors
X-acto knife
Fine grit sandpaper
Paint and brushes
Satin varnish

The moon sculpture starts with a sketch

Sketch of Muse in the Moon by Lynda Makara

Whenever I’m making a sculpture, I often start with a sketch. Because this was a commissioned piece, my client had to approve the sketch.

She wanted a woman in the moon with a knowing look, dainty features and real eyelashes. And she wanted to be able to hang it from the ceiling.

The dimensions for the sculpture are 9″ in diameter and 2″ in width. I actually took a 9″ paper plate to trace the outline for this full size drawing.

Paper patterns made from the sketch

Paper pattern for moon sculpture

I wanted to keep the original sketch intact so I traced it onto heavy paper, cut it out, then made another smaller piece to use as a template for cutting cardboard in the next step.

Making the foundation out of cardboard cutouts of the moon

Cardboard foundation for moon sculpture

Every sculpture needs a foundation to make it sturdy and to use less clay. For a piece of this size I like to use corrugated cardboard from old shipping boxes. You most likely have a few lying around if you happen to do any online shopping.

The thickness of the cardboard makes the shape bulk up faster. I cut out six pairs of moon shapes but only ended up using five. Each layer was a little smaller than the last. The layers get glued together.

Using wire to create a hanger and add support: tie wire and 22 gauge wire

Embedding wire hanger inside sculpture

I use tie wire a lot in my artwork because it’s strong but not too hard to bend.

Here it’s being used to make a hanger that the moon will be suspended from. I wanted to embed it into the center to make sure it would stay in there forever and not get pulled out. I also wanted to reinforce the crescent tip.

Then I cut a piece of 22 gauge wire to bind the tie wire at a certain point, shown in the next step.

Wrapping the wire hanger with 22 gauge wire

Securing the wire hanger

I used this 22 gauge wire to bind the tie wire together at the point where it would project out.

The tie wire started at the crescent tip, went down toward the middle, then came back up near the top.

Gluing the layers together using hot glue and tacky glue

: The wire was glued down well with hot glue, then more was applied around the edges along with tacky glue. I feel this combination makes a better bond.

: First two layers sandwiched together

: I filled in all the spaces with more hot glue to make the center very secure

: Gluing on the second layer

: A closer look at the two types of glue being used together

: Layer three attached on both sides

: Layer four attached

: The final layer five attached

Wire used to reinforce the ends: 24 gauge wire

Wire for reinforcing cardboard frame

Dark annealed 24 gauge wire is strong but bends easily around shapes.

Wrapping the ends with 24 gauge wire

I wanted to reinforce the ends with wire because they were going to be so thin. I wrapped in one direction, from left to right, then back the other way.

Finishing the wire wrapping

To finish wrapping, the ends of the wire were twisted under in little loops then secured with hot glue.

Both ends wrapped with wire

Both ends wire wrapped

Comparing the wire wrapped cardboard form with the paper pattern. So far so good.

Wrapping the cardboard moon with strips of paper

Wrapping cardboard form with paper

Strips of wet paper were wrapped around the cardboard and secured with a little tacky glue. I wanted to cover the crevices to be able to use less clay.

Cardboard moon wrapped with paper

After wrapping with paper, I let this dry for a little bit before covering with clay.

Tip #1: Keep it fresh

When working with clay, pull out a small piece at a time and leave the rest in an airtight container or plastic bag

Covering the cardboard form with clay

Here I’m using sheets of clay that were pressed out with my fingers to achieve a somewhat lumpy texture for the moon.

Tip #2: Keep water on hand

Use water to blend pieces together

Carving the fresh clay

carving wet clay

Paper clay can be carved wet or dry. Here I’m using my knife to thin this section.

Cardboard form covered with first layer of clay

First layer of clay applied to cardboard moon form

I let this harden overnight.

Tip #3: Bake it

If you’re in a hurry, you can speed up the drying process by placing the piece in a 200 degree oven for a couple of hours.

Second layer of clay with more texture added

Second layer of clay with more texture

The second layer has a lot of bumps and craters scattered about.

Adding craters to the moon sculpture

Adding craters to the moon

I used different sized dowels to make the craters while the clay was fresh. The one in this photo is a 1/4″ dowel.

Nose added to moon face

I added a rectangular blob for the nose and blended it onto the dried clay. You can see the wet part is darker than the rest of the moon.

I shaped it with my fingers until it matched the shape of the nose on the paper pattern. Then I used a small rounded dowel to define the sides of the nose and make nostril impressions. The end of a small paintbrush would also work.

I did one feature at a time and let it dry to avoid messing up what I had just finished.

Adding the mouth

To make the mouth I rolled out a small clay snake the length of the mouth. I used my knife to shape and blend it in. Then I used the knife to separate the shape into two lips.

Front view of moon face with nose and mouth

In this photo you can see more of the details in the nose and mouth.

Moon face with cheeks added

To make the cheeks I rolled a small ball of clay, flattened it out a little and blended it in. It took a bit of time to make sure both sides were even.

Moon sculpture with eyes added

Moon face with eyes added

Just before I did the eyes, my client decided she wanted them closed.

I used a small ball of clay for the eyes. I added a snake above them for the eyebrows. I blended everything in and made the eyelid crease by pressing in with my fingers. Then I cut a groove into the lid for the eyelashes to be added afterwards.

Template for the closed eye

Closed eye template

I drew this template on wax paper and used it as a guide to make sure the eyes were the same on both sides.

Front view of moon face before sanding

Front view of moon face

Here is the moon with all the major sculpting completed.

After this picture was taken, I used my X-acto knife to refine the features and fine sandpaper to smooth the surface. The texture goes from smooth in the center to increasingly craggy the further it gets from the face.

Tip #4: Save your clay

Clay can be reused even after it’s dried. Put discarded chunks back in the container/bag along with a little water. It will soften up again.

Sanded face ready to paint

: Right side of face

: Left side of face

: Front view of face

Painting and finishing touches for the moon sculpture. Colors used: true blue, cobalt blue and white.

: I used a thin wash of Cobalt blue paint to emphasize all the lines and indentations

: The sculpture covered in alternating washes of cobalt and true blue, getting deeper as it goes outward

: I painted the face with a wash of white and a touch of true blue

: Front view shows how the paint goes from very pale in the center to gradually darker at the points

: More thin layers of paint applied in random splotches

: Dry brushing with silver metallic paint emphasizes the texture and gives the moon a glowing appearance

: Multicolored glitter gel was applied to craters and then randomly dry brushed for a subtle sparkle

: The cheeks were dry brushed with pink paint. Human hair eyelashes (Ardell 122) were applied with tacky glue, then lined with the same glitter gel.

: Three coats of watered down satin varnish were used to seal the paint and enrich the color. Notice the moonly glow from the silver paint.

Project completed. Meet the Muse in the Moon!

Lady moon sculpture by Lynda Makara

My client was delighted!

Want me to make something special for you? You can get in touch with me through the Contact button at the top of the page.

The Muse in the Moon from different angles

: A better look at the side back with shading, shine and sparkle

: Right side front of moon

: Left side front of moon

More of my paper clay creations to inspire you

: Augustus Sunflower, from my personal collection

: A tribute to my Samoyed Nookie, my little angel puppy, who loved the sunflower garden

: Creepy crawly bats, cats and spiders tree made with tie wire, yarn and paper clay ornaments. Sold to a collector.

: Star santa boxes with sculpting and faces pressed into molds. Sold to a collector.

Related project

Sleepy Moon paper clay tutorial

Zombie Halloween ornaments made from clay

August 21, 2012/0 Comments/in Crafts, Sculpture /by [email protected]

Remember all the fun you had with Play-Doh when you were a kid? Well, your inner child can still have fun making things from clay. And with zombies being so popular, why not make your own ornaments.

Zombies are a good beginner project because perfection is not necessary. In fact, the more cracks and irregularities the better. Add some scary eyes, a deathly pallor and a little bit of gore, and your zombie ornaments will come to life, so to speak.

I’ll show you step by step how to make a zombie cat, skull with exposed brains, mummy and zombie girl.

These ornaments are just right for a small Halloween tree, but they can also be made into earrings or pendants.

Supplies for making Halloween zombie ornaments

Creative Paperclay

Creative Paperclay is an air dry clay that’s soft and pliable right out of the package. It’s easy to join pieces together by smoothing out the seams with a little water.

After the clay is dried, either by air drying or baking in a low oven, it can be carved, sanded and painted.

Paperclay needs to be stored in a ziplock bag to keep it fresh. I also add a few drops of water inside.

Sculpting tools

Awl, X-acto knife, old Papermate pen

Very few tools are needed for sculpting. Your hands are the main tools.

The other necessary tools are an awl or ice pick for making holes, an X-acto knife to cut the clay and carve features, and an old ballpoint Papermate pen for stamping eyes and making small holes.

Wire and tools

wire and pliers for clay zombie ornaments

Wire, needlenose pliers, wire cutter, hot glue bun

These tools are needed to make the wire hangers for the ornaments: 24 gauge wire, wire cutters, one or two needlenose pliers and a hot glue gun.

(When it comes to wire, the larger the gauge, the smaller the wire.)

Other supplies

You’ll also need assorted acrylic paints, brushes and glitter gel (optional) for embellishing.

Instructional videos for sculpting with paperclay

Before continuing with this tutorial, I thought it would be helpful to see how easy it is to work with Creative Paperclay. Even if you don’t watch the full 14 minutes, you’ll pick up enough tips and inspiration to begin making things with clay. But I highly recommend watching the videos all the way through.

The first video shows how to sculpt a dragon. It’s simply amazing! The only thing I want to mention that isn’t made clear in the video is that she moistens her fingers with water when building up the clay.

The second video shows how to paint the dragon. I think you’ll enjoy them.

How to sculpt Halloween zombie ornaments

Each one of these cute ornaments begins with a small round ball of clay.

Zombie cat

: Make a small round ball of clay. Make the cat ears by inserting the pen tip and pushing the clay out.

: Squeeze the clay to form ears

: Use end of pen to mark the eyes. Make two small round balls of clay and flatten them slightly.

: Carve the nose in a V shape with X-acto knife

: Carve the mouth with X-acto knife

: Carve whiskers using X-acto knife

: With the awl, make hole on top for ornament hanger

Skull

: The skull starts with a small round ball of paperclay

: Squeeze bottom half of ball and roll it in your fingers to create the skull shape

: The bottom of a Papermate pen is good for making eyes

: Make a nose with the point of the pen

: Make the mouth with an X-acto knife

: Put a hole in the top for the ornament hanger with an awl

: Carve out a piece of the skull where the brains will be showing

: Remove the piece of clay

Skull “brains”

: Garlic press used just for paperclay. Put a small amount of clay inside.

: Squeeze garlic press until you get a few strings. Cut them off with a knife and apply to sheep’s body, leaving the face smooth.

: Remove strings with X-acto knife and form lightly into a ball

: Insert brains into skull’s head. They could be worms too. Either way, it’s a little gross.

Mummy

: Mummy starts with smaller ball of clay, about half the size of the others

: Make a long skinny snake

: Wrap the snake around the ball

: Add two small eyes from flattened balls of clay

: Make another snake and wrap around the ball

: Make hole in the top for the wire hanger

Zombie girl

: Start with round ball. Make one eye from the end of X-acto knife, then press the pen bottom inside. The other eye is made with just the pen.

: Using X-acto knife, carve nose in a V shape, then carve a curved mouth

: Make X stitches along the line of the mouth

: Make ears by carving a curved shape and pushing the clay out

: Put hole in top of head for the wire hanger

Bake or air dry the zombie ornaments

After sculpting, the ornaments will air dry in a couple of days or just a few hours in a low temp oven. I put mine in the toaster oven set to about 100 degrees. Turn them over from time to time so the underside dries.

When the ornaments have dried, it’s time to make and add wire eyelets.

How to make wire eyelets for the zombie ornaments

For this step you’ll need to gather up the 24 gauge wire, wire cutters, one or two needlenose pliers and a hot glue gun.

Shaping and gluing the wire hangers

: Cut wire into pieces about 1½” long. Bend each piece in half around the needlenose pliers.

: Twist wire to form the loop

: Twist wire all the way down. Check the fit with the ornament and if too long, cut off excess.

: Put hot glue gun up to the ornament covering the hole and squeeze trigger until glue appears at the surface

: Immediately insert wire into glue before it hardens

How to paint, embellish and finish the zombie ornaments

Paint the ornaments

I used regular acrylic paint (such as Folk Art) to finish the ornaments. First I used a black wash (watery black paint) to emphasize the cracks, indentations and features.

After that dried, I painted the ornaments using just a dab of paint on the brush to keep the paint from running into the cracks that I wanted to keep black.

Refer to the pictures below to see the colors used for each ornament. Let the paint dry.

Seal the ornaments

For this step you can use either a satin varnish or watered down white glue. I chose to seal the ornaments with watered down Elmer’s glue for a matte finish. The consistency was like skim milk.

I held the ornaments by the metal eyelet with needlenose pliers while applying the watered glue, then I strung them on a length of wire to dry.

Embellish the ornaments with glitter

This step is optional but I highly recommend using liquid glitter to highlight the eyes, nose, mouth, brains, etc. After the glitter is dry, you can make hooks for the ornaments.

Make ornament hooks

To make the hooks, cut off about 1″ of 24 gauge wire and bend into an S shape around needlenose pliers. Then put one end into the ornament’s wire loop, squeeze closed with the pliers.

: Use black wash to emphasize cracks and indentations. When the black wash is dry, paint the ornaments using a small amount of paint, almost a dry brush.

: Skull is painted white with red eyes and a black dot in the middle. Brains are painted with a pink wash.

: Cat is painted light green. Eyes are white with a black dot, red veins and a lavender ring around the outside. Mouth is red. Whiskers and inner ears are black. This cat was turned into a tree topper with a crescent moon coming out from the top.

: Zombie girl is painted lavender with yellow eyes, a black dot in the center, and a green ring around the eye. Mouth is red and the stitches and nose are black.

: Frayed out black yarn is glued to top of girl’s head

: This picture shows sealer being applied. Mummy is painted white with yellow eyes and a black dot in the center. All ornaments are coated with watered down white glue as a sealer.

: This picture shows how to add a wire hanger to the wire loop

: The finished zombies and mummy ornaments

These are all the zombie and monster ornaments I made from clay

assorted clay zombie and monster ornaments

Assortment of zombie and monster ornaments made from clay

These ornaments were made for a small tabletop tree. You can see I made Dracula and Frankenstein ornaments in addition to the zombies.

My Halloween tabletop tree decorated with zombie and monster ornaments

zombies and monsters tabletop tree by Lynda Makara

Halloween tabletop tree with zombies and monsters by Lynda Makara

Check out these websites for more ideas and info on making things with Creative Paperclay

Creative Paperclay blog
This is a blog by the same talented person who made the dragon in the YouTube videos above
Official website for Creative Paperclay
This link will take you to the projects section on Creative Paperclay’s website for some fun and easy craft ideas with Paperclay
Cutest monsters made with polymer clay from Spanish website
You’ve GOT to see these pictures of the cutest sculpted monsters! Lots of large pictures to inspire you! These are made with polymer clay, but you can do similar monsters with Paperclay.

Here’s the zombie skull made into a necklace

Paperclay zombie skull necklace by Lynda Makara

All I did to make this zombie skull ornament into a necklace was to add a large jump ring that will accommodate most necklaces. It’s shown here with a length of black lace.

I hope you have lots of fun making these zombie ornaments. Please let me know what you think in the comments below.

Folk art sheep sculpture made from clay

March 10, 2012/0 Comments/in Crafts, Sculpture /by [email protected]

Meet Sheena the sheep, an adorable 3″ tall folk art sheep sculpture made from paperclay.

I’ve always loved sheep. They have the most delightful faces and magnificent shaggy wool!

Over the years I’ve made many sheep cloth dolls. But I wanted a little sculpture to go with my miniature spring and Valentine trees, so Sheena the sheep was born.

Just imagine how cute it would be to make a whole flock of these little sheep! I’m going to share some of the techniques involved so you can make some for yourself.

Supplies used to make a mini sheep sculpture

Creative Paperclay
Some junk mail
Foil
Tie wire from the hardware store
Needlenose pliers and an awl
Old garlic press to make “wool”
Hot glue
Acrylic paint (white, black, brown) and small brushes
Satin varnish or white glue
Sparkle glaze

How to sculpt the sheep

To start off with, make a round ball for the body from a wad of junk mail. Wrap the ball in a piece of foil. You could use a styrofoam ball, if you prefer, instead of junk mail.

Next, cover the foil with a thin layer of paperclay. Make smaller balls of clay for the head and tail, blending the seams into the body with your fingers and a little water.

How to add the sheep’s legs and wool

Punch holes in the bottom of the body for the wire legs using an awl. Let the sheep sculpture air dry for a day or so, or put it in a warm toaster oven for a few hours.

When the sculpture is dry, cut pieces of tie wire about 3 to 4 inches long for the legs. Curl one end of the wire for the feet using needlenose pliers. Hot glue the other end inside the sheep’s body.

To get the texture of the wool, put small bits of paper clay through an old garlic press (see below), squeeze some out, cut it off and apply it to the body, head and tail, leaving the face smooth. Dampen the dried sculpture with a little water first to make the wool stick.

Be sure not to press too hard when sticking wool onto the body. (This is a technique I’ve also used for making santa beards.)

Let the sheep dry again.

: Garlic press used just for paperclay. Put a small amount of clay inside.

: Squeeze garlic press until you get a few strings. Cut them off with a knife and apply to sheep’s body, leaving the face smooth.

How to paint the sheep sculpture

Paint the face black and paint the body using several shades of white paint.

I actually start with a brown wash to emphasize the details, then go back over the wool with white paint. I used a very tiny brush to paint the details on the face.

When the paint is dry, apply a coat of sealer or watered down white glue for protection. Let dry.

Apply a thick coat of sparkle glaze all over the wool, with touches on the ears, nose and mouth.

Closeup of Sheena the sheep

The finished sheep sculpture

Sheena the sheep

And here she is! At just 3″ x 3″, just the right size to display with small tabletop trees like these:

Sheena the sheep with my tabletop Valentine and spring trees