Thecandyman
11-21-2007, 12:33 PM
Clay Pot 'Nut Cracker' Tutorial
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r178/chaosnfx/3nutcrackers.jpg
All Materials From 'Michaels'.
Clay pots (5) All Same size - Unless you doing a group of different heights.
Paint Primer (opp.)
Couple small brushs
Black permanent marker
Paints (acyrlics will work)Flesh, White, Black and two paint colors for clothes
Small ribbon (Gold round) seems to go good
(Flat ribbons if you want some extra flare.)
Pom Poms (Sold in multi color pks.) Bag of larg. med. (Or sm. if you want to have a tiny nutcracker)
Tassals - (Buy sm. med. lg.) if you plan to do different hieghts
Glues: Aleenes tacky glue, Epoxy glue, Hot Glue gun w/ sticks
2 Felt colors for the arms & hands- You're color choice
Scissors
Can of 'Clear Acyrlic spray sealer' (or something else to seal the guy with')
******Getting Started***********
1. Start by (test) stacking the pots on top of 1 another before you glue. You want to be sure all are even and will stack evenly together. You can sand off any hard clay bits w/ sandpaper.
2. Mix your epoxy glue well. Just enough glue that you think might cover all five pot's.
Start with 1 pot upside down and lay some glue around the bottom base, Just a thin layer of glue is all that you will need. It will hold, I swear. Adding to much will run down. Then put 1 pot right side up and go from there untill all 5 pots are stacked nice and even. You're last pot will be upside down and be the hat of the nutcracker. Adjust till it's all centered together. Let dry many hours or overnight. Tip- Having a small lazy susan to work on works well.
3. Time for painting. You can give it a coat of primer if you want, but I don't do it.
I start with the black paint. I paint his hat, belt and boots and let dry. I then use flesh paint for the face and then paint his shirt and pants the color I want. Let dry.
Painting facial features is easy when you have a stencil.
For something simple, I take a piece of paper and cut two holes for eye's, a triangle for nose,
and then simply cut a rounded slight oval cut at the bottom of the paper for a smiley mouth.
It's like doing a stencil for a pumpkin. Just cut it to fit the contours of the pot, tape or hold it down with your fingers and trace inside the face stencil with a black marker and finish tracing the botton oval cut shape for his mouth. Also, a circle of warm red will go onto his cheeks. And some white for the eye's and also a bit of black for the pupil too.
Heres all the places that will be painted in black.
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r178/chaosnfx/paintednutcracker-1.jpg
4.Glue Time- I have my hot glue gun ready at this point.
Get your ribbon ready too. Starting at the bottom were the boots connect to the pants.
I put one tiny drop of hot glue between the connecting pots and stick the ribbon down with a pencil to let dry.
Next use your Aleenes glue and follow around the gap all the way around.
Just a thin layer of this is good. Begin to wrap the ribbon all the way around and stop when you reach the end that was glued with the hot glue.
Cut the ribbon with scissors and drop a little hot glue were the ribbon is now connected.
Press a pencil head on that spot to seal the deal.
Just using Aleens glue alone will not hold at this point and will fall off without the hot glue.
So do have hot glue handy. 'Crazy glue is not good for this. It will discolor your paint.'
Do the same with the hat and the belt areas. There will be a total of (4) areas wrapped with ribbon.
Spray entire nutcracker with sealent.
4. Embellishments
Cut 3 pieces of ribbon in different lengths and glue them spaced apart on his shirt.
Gluing the smaller piece under his face area first and then the bigger sizes placed on down from there.
Glue 2 pompom balls at the end of each ribbon. You will need 6 balls for the chest.
Glue a ball to the front of the belt and one at the front of the hat.
Glue the tassal down on top of the head.
Finish with 1 lg. ball right square on top.
5.The Arms
Buy 2 colors of felt material. They come in 1 foot pieces for only 25cent a piece.
Cut two pieces the same size for the arms (like long rectangles) and use the other color for the hands. White is a good color here. Cut 2 small square's and just snip out some fingers with the scissors.
Glue hands to arms.
Next you can add some pieces of ribbon to the cuff end and a couple pieces near the top of the arm.
I put a large drop of Aleens glue at the side botton of the face and then a drop of hot glue right next to that. I just do it for extra security. That will make sure it will not fall off.
Press the arm down and do the other arm the same.
Tip- You can also use stuff lying around the house for embellishments too.
Like old earrings in weird shapes and size's for the belt buckle or as a pentent for the hat etc. (see pic.)
If your making more than 1 - Display in rows of 3 or as 2 the same size for entrance ways, looks nice.
~By: Thecandyman[/b]
****************************END******************* ********************
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r178/chaosnfx/3nutcrackers.jpg
All Materials From 'Michaels'.
Clay pots (5) All Same size - Unless you doing a group of different heights.
Paint Primer (opp.)
Couple small brushs
Black permanent marker
Paints (acyrlics will work)Flesh, White, Black and two paint colors for clothes
Small ribbon (Gold round) seems to go good
(Flat ribbons if you want some extra flare.)
Pom Poms (Sold in multi color pks.) Bag of larg. med. (Or sm. if you want to have a tiny nutcracker)
Tassals - (Buy sm. med. lg.) if you plan to do different hieghts
Glues: Aleenes tacky glue, Epoxy glue, Hot Glue gun w/ sticks
2 Felt colors for the arms & hands- You're color choice
Scissors
Can of 'Clear Acyrlic spray sealer' (or something else to seal the guy with')
******Getting Started***********
1. Start by (test) stacking the pots on top of 1 another before you glue. You want to be sure all are even and will stack evenly together. You can sand off any hard clay bits w/ sandpaper.
2. Mix your epoxy glue well. Just enough glue that you think might cover all five pot's.
Start with 1 pot upside down and lay some glue around the bottom base, Just a thin layer of glue is all that you will need. It will hold, I swear. Adding to much will run down. Then put 1 pot right side up and go from there untill all 5 pots are stacked nice and even. You're last pot will be upside down and be the hat of the nutcracker. Adjust till it's all centered together. Let dry many hours or overnight. Tip- Having a small lazy susan to work on works well.
3. Time for painting. You can give it a coat of primer if you want, but I don't do it.
I start with the black paint. I paint his hat, belt and boots and let dry. I then use flesh paint for the face and then paint his shirt and pants the color I want. Let dry.
Painting facial features is easy when you have a stencil.
For something simple, I take a piece of paper and cut two holes for eye's, a triangle for nose,
and then simply cut a rounded slight oval cut at the bottom of the paper for a smiley mouth.
It's like doing a stencil for a pumpkin. Just cut it to fit the contours of the pot, tape or hold it down with your fingers and trace inside the face stencil with a black marker and finish tracing the botton oval cut shape for his mouth. Also, a circle of warm red will go onto his cheeks. And some white for the eye's and also a bit of black for the pupil too.
Heres all the places that will be painted in black.
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r178/chaosnfx/paintednutcracker-1.jpg
4.Glue Time- I have my hot glue gun ready at this point.
Get your ribbon ready too. Starting at the bottom were the boots connect to the pants.
I put one tiny drop of hot glue between the connecting pots and stick the ribbon down with a pencil to let dry.
Next use your Aleenes glue and follow around the gap all the way around.
Just a thin layer of this is good. Begin to wrap the ribbon all the way around and stop when you reach the end that was glued with the hot glue.
Cut the ribbon with scissors and drop a little hot glue were the ribbon is now connected.
Press a pencil head on that spot to seal the deal.
Just using Aleens glue alone will not hold at this point and will fall off without the hot glue.
So do have hot glue handy. 'Crazy glue is not good for this. It will discolor your paint.'
Do the same with the hat and the belt areas. There will be a total of (4) areas wrapped with ribbon.
Spray entire nutcracker with sealent.
4. Embellishments
Cut 3 pieces of ribbon in different lengths and glue them spaced apart on his shirt.
Gluing the smaller piece under his face area first and then the bigger sizes placed on down from there.
Glue 2 pompom balls at the end of each ribbon. You will need 6 balls for the chest.
Glue a ball to the front of the belt and one at the front of the hat.
Glue the tassal down on top of the head.
Finish with 1 lg. ball right square on top.
5.The Arms
Buy 2 colors of felt material. They come in 1 foot pieces for only 25cent a piece.
Cut two pieces the same size for the arms (like long rectangles) and use the other color for the hands. White is a good color here. Cut 2 small square's and just snip out some fingers with the scissors.
Glue hands to arms.
Next you can add some pieces of ribbon to the cuff end and a couple pieces near the top of the arm.
I put a large drop of Aleens glue at the side botton of the face and then a drop of hot glue right next to that. I just do it for extra security. That will make sure it will not fall off.
Press the arm down and do the other arm the same.
Tip- You can also use stuff lying around the house for embellishments too.
Like old earrings in weird shapes and size's for the belt buckle or as a pentent for the hat etc. (see pic.)
If your making more than 1 - Display in rows of 3 or as 2 the same size for entrance ways, looks nice.
~By: Thecandyman[/b]
****************************END******************* ********************