Friday, 26 September 2014

Homemade Clay Pumpkin Garland

I find it so hard to buy autumn decorations as they are usually orange in colour! Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with this but for me, and for the house, I like to try and keep the decoration more neutral and soft in colour. This makes it harder to buy and also as we draw closer to October and Halloween, makes finding conservative pieces harder. So, as I seem to do, I have started making things instead.

I went down to Ruddocks of Lincoln which is a shop for all kinds of things from greetings cards to art supply's, office equipment and toys. It has lots of variety and has been in the main part of town for years and years. I picked up some white air dry Das Clay. This is sold in most craft stores or there will be a similar brand for the same product. I wanted white clay as I knew I was going to paint it white.

I dug out of the cupboard a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter which I have had for years which came out of a set that I got from a supermarket. They always come out at this time of year so look out for them!

Then it is pretty much roll out, cut and dry. Once they are completely dry (mine took 2 days) then paint them white. I then used some Gold Leaf to decorate to give it a bit of an autumn glitz . You can get Gold leaf at craft stores and off the internet. You will also need the Gold Leaf Paste as just PVA doesn't work. Follow the instructions on the packet, but don't fully paste the whole area. If you want the rough look, messily put the paste on so that there are gaps. Then you apply the leaf after about 15 minutes with a soft dry paintbrush smoothing out and getting rid of scraps as you go.

I then threaded them onto a ribbon and hung. You could make these as individual hangers and put on a branch tree as well.