Tamila Darling
Make this beautifully detailed Ginger Bread house to decorate your home for the holidays.
Getting Started
Preheat oven to 275 °F. Test temperature with oven thermometer for perfectly cured clay. Condition all clay by kneading until it’s soft and smooth or running it through the Clay Conditioning Machine for several passes on the widest setting. Fold the clay in half after each pass and insert the fold side into the rollers first.
Step 1
NOTE: A lot of White clay is used in this project. It is important to keep your work space clean and to frequently clean your hands after using other colors.
Step 1 Starlight Mints with a Skinner Blend Twist
Use one block each of White and Cadmium Red Hue. Make a Skinner blend Sheet the width of the opening of your Clay Conditioning Machine.
Step 2 Starlight Mints with a Skinner Blend Twist
Bring the bottom of the two triangles up and fold in half. Insert the fold into the Clay Conditioning Machine and roll through. Fold again in the SAME direction and roll through with the fold inserted FIRST. Repeat 20 times until the colors are gradated as shown.
Step 3 Starlight Mints with a Skinner Blend Twist
Fold your Skinner Blend in 1/2 again and run through Clay Conditioning Machine with the full White edge first on a #1 setting. This will elongate the piece. Run the blend through a final time on a #5 setting with the full White edge first. You will have a long ribbon. Be careful to support as it comes out of rollers to avoid tearing.
Step 4 Starlight Mints with a Skinner Blend Twist
With the Sculpey Super Slicer, cut the blended sheet in 1/2 lengthwise so you have two narrower complete Skinner Blends.
Step 5 Starlight Mints with a Skinner Blend Twist
Roll one strip into a rod with the Cadmium Red Hue in the center, the other with the White in the center.
Step 6 Starlight Mints with a Skinner Blend Twist
Reduce the rod with the Cadmium Red Hue on the outside into a long thin snake. Cut eight lengths of the reduced rod the same length as your center rod which is the other Skinner blend roll. Roll a long thin snake of White the same diameter as your reduced rod of red. Cut eight lengths of the White snake. Alternate the Cadmium Red Hue Skinner Blend rods with the plain White rods.
Step 7 Starlight Mints with a Skinner Blend Twist
After alternating the reduced Cadmium Red Hue and White rods, place these around your Skinner blend center rod that has its White on the outside.
Step 8 Starlight Mints with a Skinner Blend Twist
Follow the Skinner blend directions using White and Sea Green clay to make another Starlight Mint cane.
Step 9 Starlight Mints with a Skinner Blend Twist
Reduce your new Starlight Mint canes to approximately 3/4" diameter. Cut off four slices of each of your red and green mint canes. Cut wire to desired lengths. Put a touch of Translucent Liquid Sculpey on the end of the wire and insert about 1/2 way into your slices to create a lollipop/sucker.
Peppermint Candies
Next, reduce both the red and green mint canes to approximately 1/4" to 3/8" in diameter. Notice the sizeable difference in the photograph. Using your Super Slicer, cut both of your canes into pieces that are 1/8" thick to make candies. If your clay is too soft, set the cane to the side to “rest” for a while, this allows the cane to firm-up making it easier to slice Place the candies on the baking sheet with the suckers and bake for 15 minutes at to 275 °F for 15 minutes in a calibrated oven.
Step 1 Candy Canes
You will need about 3 oz. of clay for the candy sticks, candy canes, and ribbon candy. You can either utilize scraps equaling this amount from your canes. Use clay straight from the package, or a combination of both as we have done.
Step 2 Candy Canes
Using any scraps from your canes, or by just putting pieces of different colors of clay in a pile, we will make our candy canes.
Step 3 Candy Canes
Compact all of your scraps together and marble, just a little to get lines of clay going the length of your scrap ball.
Step 4 Candy Canes
Roll and stretch the clay into a snake and cut apart into sections for further reducing later. Notice how the lines are still going the length of the scrap clay. Set aside half of one of these lengths for ribbon candy that we will make and use later.
Step 5 Candy Canes
Take each remaining portion and reduce down. Reduce one six-inch length to 1/4" thick in diameter. Reduce the remaining lengths to a 1/8" thick in diameter.
Step 6 Candy Canes
Using your hands, rotate the snake by rolling one end of the clay away from you while rolling the other end of the clay towards you. This will make the clay twist and give you a candy cane effect.
Step 7 Candy Canes
You will need to bake about 30" of candy canes (1/8" thick diameter) in straight sticks. These will be used to decorate the roof and corners of the house later.
Step 8 Candy Canes
Cut your 1/4" diameter candy stick in half (about 3" long) and curl the top to form a candy cane.
Step 9 Candy Canes
Of your 1/8" diameter sticks, cut 10 lengths 1.5" long. Curl the tops to form the candy cane. NOTE: We will be sticking these into the snow and you will lose about 3/8" in height, so plan for that excess when forming your candy canes.
Step 10 Candy Canes
Place all sticks and candy canes onto your baking surface.
Step 1 Hearts
Using a Clay Conditioning Machine, make a flat sheet of clay on a #3 setting of Cadmium Red Hue. Using Kemper 3/8" heart cutter, cut out 10 hearts. Using Kemper 1/8" heart cutter, cut out 15 hearts.
Step 2 Hearts
Place the hearts on the baking surface with your candy pieces and candy canes. Bake all of these pieces at to 275 °F for 15 minutes in a calibrated oven.
Step 1 Covering the House
Make a template of the paper mache house that you have chosen to cover. You will need a template for the front/back and sidewalls. We also have made a template of the entire roof including the under hang portion. The use of these templates will make it easier for you to accurately cover the house without excess.
Step 2 Covering the House
Make a mark in the center of the template where the hole is in the birdhouse. Using Needle Tool, gently poke a hole into it so you can mark this area on your clay later to cut the window. Draw a doorway opening onto the bottom of the house's front.
Step 3 Covering the House
Turn the paper mache house over, and with the Clay Blade, carefully cut out the bottom of the house plus an opening in the front large enough for the door. This does not have to be exact as the clay will cover any over cutting you may do.
Step 4 Covering the House
Condition and roll out a sheet of Raw Sienna clay. You will want the sheet to be large enough to cut all of the wall pieces of your house, depending on the size of your house.
Step 5 Covering the House
Place the sheet of plastic canvas on top of the sheet of Raw Sienna clay. Use the Acrylic Clay Roller to make impressions into the clay and then carefully remove. You will now have a sugar wafer cookie texture in your clay.
Step 6 Covering the House
Position your pattern templates onto the sheet of clay and cut your pieces for your house using the Super Slicer. For this house we will need two pieces of each pattern piece to cover the four walls.
Step 7 Covering the House
Use the Needle Tool and poke through your paper template. This will mark the spot on your front wall to place your window.
Step 8 Covering the House
Using a 1/2" Kemper heart cutter, cut out your front window over the spot you earlier marked into the clay.
Step 9 Covering the House
Using a 5/8" Kemper teardrop cutter, cut out the doorway opening. Save the piece you cut out of the wall, as this will be used as the door!
Step 10 Covering the House
Decorate the walls with your pre-baked mints and hearts. These smaller pieces can be gently pushed into your house and will adhere during baking. On larger pieces, such as ribbon candy or candy canes, apply a thin coat of Translucent Liquid Sculpey for extra strength.
Step 11 Covering the House
Lightly coat the paper mache birdhouse with Tacky glue and allow to dry. You may use a hair dryer or heat gun (don't place too closely) to speed the drying. After glue is dry, apply a thin coating of Translucent Liquid Sculpey to only the walls of the house. Place each wall onto the house.
Step 12 Covering the House
Using the Clay Extruder and White clay, make some frosting using the small round extruding die. Apply to the front of the house as shown below.
Step 13 Covering the House
Use the Super Slicer to carefully cut the pre-baked candy sticks to the same length as the corners of the house.
Step 14 Covering the House
Apply a thin bead of Translucent Liquid Sculpey to the corners and gently press the candy sticks onto each corner.
Step 15 Covering the House
Add a pre-baked heart to the front door and wrap the outside edge with some frosting.
Step 16 Covering the House
Bake the house and door at to 275 °F for 20 minutes. Baking now will make it easier for the house to be handled when working on the roof and yard.
Step 17 Covering the House
Condition one block of White clay and roll out a sheet on the #1 setting on the Clay Conditioning Machine. You will want the sheet to be large enough to cut the roof piece using your roof template.
Step 18 Covering the House
Apply a thin coating of Translucent Liquid Sculpey to the roof of the house. Apply also to the under hang of the roof.
Step 19 Covering the House
Put White clay over the roof starting at the bottom side of one under hang, over the top of the roof, to the other under hang.
Step 20 Covering the House
Stretch and gently manipulate the clay to pull over the edges of the front and back of your roof. Decorate the roof with the pre-baked candies by gently pushing them into the roof.
Step 21 Covering the House
Zigzag your set-aside striped rod of clay to form ribbon candy. Cut to width of roof top. Bake at to 275 °F for 20 minutes.
Step 22 Covering the House
When ribbon candy is cool, apply a thin coating of Translucent Liquid Sculpey to the bottom of the ribbon and apply to roof center line as shown. Additional ribbon candy may be applied to the sides and back of the house. Make more candy cane twist if needed.
Step 23 Covering the House
Using Super Slicer, carefully cut the pre-baked candy sticks to the length of your roof edges. Attach candy canes to roof sides with a thin bead of Translucent Liquid Sculpey and by gently pushing them into the roof.
Step 1 Yard
Use 3 blocks of White clay. Mix together well and smoothly condition. Run through the Clay Conditioning Machine on a #1 setting. Cut into four equal pieces and stack. Gently press all of the layers together. Use the Super Slicer to cut an area large enough for the yard.
Step 2 yard
Make certain that the yard is big enough so that you can place your house in the center and still have an area large enough to decorate.
Step 3 Yard
Using your finger, bevel and smooth the edges of the yard.
Step 4 Yard
Position your baked house onto the yard where you want it, and press just enough to leave an indentation of the house bottom into the clay.
Step 5 Yard
Using Translucent Liquid Sculpey, run a bead around the bottom edges of the house and reposition in the yard where the indentation was left.
Step 6 Yard
Apply Translucent Liquid Sculpey to the bottom of the door and place in front yard as if the door is being opened.
Step 7 Yard
Using the pre-baked candies, decorate the yard by making paths of candies. Insert the suckers and candy canes, using a thin coat of Translucent Liquid Sculpey on the portion you are inserting into the yard for extra stability.
Step 8 Yard
Using your fingers or a pair of tweezers, position candies and hearts throughout the yard.
Step 9 Yard
Bake the entire piece at to 275 °F for 30 minutes.
Scissors
Paper
Pen or pencil
Tweezers
Sheet of plastic needlepoint canvas
18 gauge wire (Artistic Wire, or WireArt) in White
Tacky brand craft glue
