sculpt peruvian peasant and llama ornaments

Mexican folk art created by hand-shaped salt clay are shown
above. These brilliant colors were made with gel food
coloring.

Description: I discovered these charming little Mexican, folk ornaments in a flee market. These salt clay ornaments are hand-shaped. Unlike the molded variety, it is important to use the recipe that requires vegetable oil when crafting them.

Supply List:

• table salt
• flour (white unsifted)
• gel food coloring (many colors)
• vegetable oil
• water
• plastic wrap
• glass mixing bowl
• clean, even counter top
• rolling pin
• acrylic varnish
• small tools to shape clay with
• Lama and peasant templates
• scissors
• garlic press

Ingredients for a Stiffer Salt Clay:

• 4 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 cups table salt
• 3/4 - 1 cup water 
• 1 tablespoon glycerine or plain vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Mix together the dry ingredients thoroughly by hand in a glass mixing bowl.
2. Add in the water and oil and stir till the dough is stiff.
3. Knead the dough on top of a flowered surface vigorously for approximately ten to fifteen minutes.
4. Let the dough sit covered with a towel in the glass bowl for 30 to 40 minutes.
5. You may wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it over night at this point or continue to shape and work with it.
6. You may also tint parts of the dough with gel food coloring. Remember the color will dry darker.
7. The Mexican examples of clay dough ornaments shown above are tinted with gel food coloring but, you may choose to paint your ornaments instead. 
8. Download and print out the templates for the lama and peasant examples above.
9. Roll out some of the natural colored clay and place the templates on top. Cut along the outside edges with a small knife in order to duplicate the llama and peasant pictured above.
10. Roll, cut and prick similar decorative additions as shown above.
11. Always moisten the clay joints with a small amount of water as you work to form a "bond."
12. Use the garlic press to squeeze out the thinnest, decorative, clay trims.
13. Prick the thicker parts of your ornaments for better drying results. Do this on the back side of the ornaments!
14. You may either "air dry" your ornaments for several days, this varies according to the humidity in the air, or bake them at 250 degrees for about three hours.
15. Varnish the ornaments in order to preserve them for many years to come.

Additional Suggestions: Always store this type of finished salt clay ornament in air tight containers, preferably tin containers. Mice will destroy these if given the opportunity. 

Use a garlic press to create the 
delicate clay filigree shown above.

Peruvian peasant and llama template.

This template may be downloaded and sized in a
word document. Read the Terms of Use before
using it folks.  

The Nutty Crafter shows you how to make salt dough.

craft a walnut strawberry

This walnut strawberry will hang on somebody's
Christmas tree this year.

Brief Description: The first time I ever saw these walnut strawberries was in a magazine article about Victorian Christmas ornaments. Then, years later I found them again in a craft book about Mexican ornament making. So, I have no idea who thought of them first.

Supply List:

• cleaned walnuts (preferably from the store)
• red acrylic or red poster paint
•  two colors of green scrap felt for the leafs
• green string to match the felt
• a black permanent ink, felt tip pen
• a soft camel hair paint brush
• a shallow dish of water or a clean jar of water for cleaning the brush
• tacky white glue 
• scissors
• a large embroidery needle

Directions:

1. Paint the entire surface of the walnut a pleasing red and set the nut aside to dry.
2. After the walnut is completely dry, draw dots or short slashes with the permanent ink marker to mimic strawberry seeds.
3. Download and print out our template for strawberry leaves. Size these in a Word document before printing.
4. Place the pattern on top of the darker green felt scrap and cut out the bottom leaf, following the black outlined pattern.
5. Place the pattern again on top of the lighter green felt scarp and cut out the top leaf, following the white outlined pattern.
6. String both felt leaves together and tie also a large hoop for hanging. 
7. Now glue the entire felt top to the top of the walnut using a tacky white glue.
8. Apply a little pressure to the top while the glue is drying.

Additional Suggestions: The walnut "strawberry" may be painted a bit more elaborately by mixing a bit of white or orange to the the red paint as you apply it towards the top of the nut.

A strawberry leaf template.
This template may be downloaded and sized in a
word document. Read the Terms of Use before
using it folks.

All instructions, template and photographs copyrighted by Grimm 2011

craft project: mosaic angel

The mosaic angel my children gave
their grandmother for Christmas.

Brief Description: My children made this mosaic angel for their grandmother one Christmas long ago. It still hangs in her garden room watching over her African violet collection.

Supply List:

• Selection of mosaic tiles, glass marbles, tiny mirrors, seashells
• Cement grout
• Elmer’s wood glue
• Plastic-like gloves
• Old damp rags, paper towels, sponge
• Sturdy prefabricated paper mache angel form
• Bucket of clean water

Directions:

1. First you will glue your tiles directly to the surface of the prefabricated angel with Elmer's wood glue.
2. Let the applied tiles dry over night to ensure that the glue has hardened. Do not check to see if the glued tiles have stuck to the surface permanently. Some of them will, some of them may only seem temporarily attached. The application of this step is necessary to help the tiles to stay in place before grouting them only.
3. Mix the grout solution according to the directions on the label.
4. Wear gloves if the label says that it is necessary.
5. Gingerly apply the grout directly onto the surface of the tile work. Make sure that the grout does get pushed into as many of the cracks as possible. This is a bit messy.
6. Wash your gloves thoroughly and you may put them back on or choose to remove them all together at this point. Be cautious about this removal however, some people do have mild skin allergies to grout and will develop a rash when coming in direct contact with it when its wet.
7. Now your going to delicately wipe down the surface of your tiles with a damp rag or paper towel. You will be throwing these towels away. If you wish to rinse and squeeze out a sponge or towels as you work, keep an old bucket full of water for this procedure. Do not wash this contaminated water down a sink! Grout will collect in pipes and harden. You will need to pour this old water down a sewer pipe outside or simply find an area of your yard where you may dispose of it. Grout won't hurt an old leaf pile or the ground where plants are not growing.
8. You want your project to look clean on the surface of the tiles when you are finished. The cracks between the tiles should also be completely filled with grout.
9. Leave your mosaic project out over night to harden properly.
10. If you see remaining grout on the surface of your tiles after it has hardened, you may go over the surface of these tiles with a light weight sand paper and damp sponge again.

Additional Suggestions: The color of grout you choose to use with this project will also make a big difference in it's appearance so think about it awhile before beginning.

All instructions and photographs, templates are copyrighted by Grimm 2017