Spooky Skull Bottle

Today I share with you how I make my creepy bottles. 

Materials:

Makin's Clay® - Black, Red 

Makin's® 

• Texture Sheet Set C 
• Clay Tools

Glass bottle

White glue 

Skulls push mold 

Embossing powders 

Cheese cloth

Chain

Scissors 

Paintbrush 

Heat tool 

Instructions:

I used a real glass bottle from my stash and applied first a layer of white glue roughly to the areas I

wanted to add the embellishments. I dried it with a heat gun, but you could allow it to air dry.

Place a ball of black clay approximately 2" onto desired texture sheet. Roll to a little less than 1/4".  Remove clay from texture sheet. When you lift it up you get that cool pattern on the sheet.

I placed the sheet onto the bottle  and formed it a bit around the neck.

For the skulls used a mold. I simply filled the mould with Makin's Clay®, sometimes I filled it up to the rim, sometimes not, I was not looking for perfectly formed skulls. I applied the skulls to the bottle randomly, layering in some areas. 

I also made a heart with some red clay and a tiny bit of black.  I mixed it up until it was a more or less 

uniform color and then I formed a triangular shape. I cut it to form it into a heart shape.

Next I added it to the black sheet, by simply adding with the fingers a little bit water to the backside of the Heart.

I had some cheesecloth in my stash in the perfect colors so I pressed them in the still wet clay. (If you need  to make a break, just spray some water onto the clay and cover it with some plastic)

Later I have also added some chain also by simply pressing it into the clay.

So next I wanted to add some embossing powders. The clay was already a little bit dry, so I sprayed some water. This will help the embossing powder to stick to the clay. If you have sprayed a little bit to much, just let it dry again a bit.

On the next picture you can see how I have sprinkled different embossing powders. For the skulls I have used some beige ones and for the hearts some red and copper. I didn't cover everything only in certain spots and then I heat embossed it with a heat gun. Make sure that you don't get to close or the clay will bubble up, just be patient and move around.

The last step was highlighting with some greenish wax. The clay wasn't completely dry yet, but had a sort of a skin also from heating the embossing powder. It did try out perfectly well the next few days.

Now have fun and create your own spooky bottles...

Going Batty!

Design Team Member Patricia Krauchune upcycles a broken light into this fun Halloween luminary using Makin's Clay®!  Pat used black clay and the Makin's Professional® Ultimate Clay Machine® to create her spooky bat accents!

Halloween Wine Glass Charms

Halloween Wine Glass Charms by Patricia Roberts-Thompson

Planning a Halloween Party? Why not whip up some spooky fun Wine Charms with Makin’s Clay®

Materials:             

Makin’s Clay® in assorted colors, white, black, yellow, red and green

Makin's Professional® Ultimate Clay Machine® 

Makin’s® Clay Roller

Craft blade

Toothpick

Acrylic paint, metallic paints and pastes ( optional )

18 gauge wire 1.0 mm copper , hammer, DuraClear varnish or sealer

Form to bend wire. I used a 14mm socket ( ¾” dia ) you could use a large lipstick lid

or I found the 3^rd largest circle on the Makin’s Clay® Mixing Ruler worked well.

Directions:

Cut six (3 ½”) pieces of 18 gauge copper wire. Find the center of the wire and start bending it around your form. I used a 14mm socket that had a diameter of ¾”. Use round nose pliers to make a curl at the end of the wire, curling to the outside. Place the wire on a solid surface ( I used a steel bench block ) and use a hammer to flatten the wire. I squeezed the curled ends together, almost touching, and held it in place while hammering. You don’t need to hammer too hard, lots of lighter strokes works fine. Don’t cross the wires, as that weakens them when hammering. When the ends are done, move on to the round front. If you do the front first, the ends will distort, so it works better to do the curl first. Hammering strengthens the wire. Roll the clay on the thickest setting of the Ultimate Clay Machine®. For each charm, you will cut 2 pieces of clay, one for the front, and one for the back.

Each one will have the wire sandwiched between the two layers of clay. Insert the wire approx, ¼” into the top of the wine charm. If the clay is not fresh, moisten the two layers first for better adherence. A wet towel can be used to clean any dirt from the clay. Seal the charms with varnish when complete.

Fig 1: The Bat – Cut 2 pieces of black clay, rolled at 2mm thickness. Moisten the back piece with water, and place the hammered wire approximately ¼” from the top. Apply the top piece, and smooth all of the edges. Use a toothpick to make lines on the wings and body. Set aside to dry for 24 hours. When dry, paint lines with white paint, and use black metallic paint if desired on the body

Fig 2: The Ghost. Cut 2 pieces of white clay, assemble as in Fig 1. I used a small cutter to cut the mouth, and poked two holes for eyes. The handle of a paint brush can help shape the mouth. When dry, I painted the inside of the mouth and eyes with black acrylic paint, and white metallic paint for the body.

Fig 3: The Skull. I cut the front from white clay, the back from black clay. I used a small cutter for the eyes, then used a toothpick to refine the shape.  Do the same for the nose. Use a toothpick to draw the mouth and teeth. Assemble as usual, taking care that the wire doesn’t show in the eye holes. Let dry, then add black paint to the mouth and inside the eyes and nose. Wipe off excess paint with a baby wipe. I painted the skull with metallic white paint.

Fig 4: The Gravestone. Mix a little black into some white clay to make a light gray. Cut 2 pieces and assemble with the wire. Use a toothpick to write RIP across the front, and some lines on the bottom. Let dry and antique with black paint. Use metallic black paint sparingly, if desired.

Fig 5: The Spider Web. Cut 2 pieces of white clay. On one of them, draw the 5 spokes of the web, and the connecting strands. Assemble the wire and back piece.  I made the spider freehand from black clay, but then found it got lost when I antiqued the web, so I painted him green. You may choose to do him in another color. Place the spider on the web. When the clay is dry, antique the web with black paint, and remove excess with a baby wipe. Paint the spider if desired. I used a bit of metallic white on the web, and metallic green for the spider.

Fig 6: The Pumpkin. Mix a small amount of red clay, into yellow clay to make orange, and cut 2 pieces. Assemble the wire and backing, then use a toothpick to scribe the lines and features of the pumpkin. I indented the eyes, nose and mouth for a more 3 dimensional look. Take a small amount of green clay and make a stem and leaf for the top of the pumpkin. Let dry for 24 hours, then antique with black paint, and highlight with orange metallic paint.

Seal all of the charms with DuraClear varnish when dry, or your favorite sealer.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!