polymer clay blade

Can I include the paper/wood elements of a polymer clay project in the oven when baking? I'm in the process of making a prop pocketknife with a blade made out of foam board (a sheet of foam sandwiched between sheets of paper) that pivots on a small wooden post contained in the handle. The handle is made out of polymer clay. The easiest away to build the knife would be to bake it with the "blade" already in place. If I bake the clay at 275 degrees F and away from any metal bits (I use the polyfill in a pan method), what are the chances of my blade and the little post on the inside catching fire? Nothing you mentioned will "catch fire" at that low a temp (do keep everything away from the coils or sides of an oven though since that will create a much higher temp than the air-temp). You can bake any material you want inside polymer clay or touching it without problems that won't *itself* distort, melt, etc., at the low temp needed for curing polymer clay... in other words, wood, metal, glass, ceramic, terracotta, natural materials like twigs and cotton, etc are all fine (and in fact, paper and wood don't burn till the famous temperature of 451 F). About the only material you have to be concerned about when doing that is plastic, and some types of plastic will distort or even melt at temps between 200 and 300 F... so I'm not sure what would happen to the foam part of the foam core board. You'd probably better try it to see. If you want to read more about baking polymer clay and which materials it can be baked with, you can check out these two pages at my site for lots of info: http://glassattic.com/polymer/baking.htm http://glassattic.com/polymer/covering.htm (You could also make the blade itself from polymer clay, and just do one of the things to it that makes it look like metal... check this page for more on that: http://glassattic.com/polymer/Faux--many.htm ....click on the METAL category there Or I guess you could just wrap something-or-other with aluminum foil, etc.) HTH, Diane B.

COMPLETE POLYMER CLAY KIT with Pasta MachineCreative Canes Book ClayBlades 10 Nail Art Fimo Polymer Clay Canes Rods Blade Cutter

Make Miniature Food

People just love miniatures. Not only are they cute but they are also very detailed and intriguing as well. Young or old, it does not matter. Miniature collecting and creating is fun for everyone and very rewarding. Building your own miniatures is something many collectors enjoy doing. The creation of your very own accessories is really neat and makes everything you have very original. Many people may not assume that you can even make your very own miniature food but you can. It is a great way to save money and build up your collection. Making miniatures is just as popular as collecting them.

Using something like polymer clay is probably your best bet for designing and shaping miniature foods. Try starting with things like fruit since a watermelon tends to be rather simple. Shape the clay until it is the right shape and you are satisfied with it. Use your fingers to smooth it out until it is just perfect. Allow the clay to dry for a while until it is hard before you attempt to paint it. You can either paint on the watermelon lines with color or you can cut the lines in with a small blade before the clay dries completely.

Cereal boxes are another relatively easy item that is simple to make. Use cardboard or thin wood to cut and shape the boxes. It may be a challenge to design and color the name and logo on the box, especially if you plan to recreate actual cereal boxes. Of course, you can always make up your very own type of cereal as well. You may need very small tools found at the craft store in order to carve in the details of your cereal box. Most craft stores in your neighborhood should have what you need. If not, it can easily be ordered online.

You will need to make sure you have all of your scales measured correctly in order to avoid making your food items much too big. It can be easy to make this mistake. Scales need to be properly measured so that the food is the right size in accordance to the dolls and other miniatures within a miniature dollhouse. Scales are measured as one foot in real life being equal to one inch in miniature form. Do the math on your dolls in order to determine how much smaller your miniature food needs to be in comparison to your dolls and other accessories like furniture.

You can also use your computer and printer to print out tiny pictures of cakes and other food items. Then you can cut out cardboard in the right shape to match the photo and glue it on. There are sites that offer printable miniature food items so check out some craft sites online for this type of option. Making miniature food is much cheaper than buying actual miniature items. It is a great alternative and also allows you to create specific items that you may not be able to find elsewhere. Get creative and have fun with it.

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