Creating Whimsical Polymer Clay Veggies: A Step-by-Step Guide

When it comes to polymer clay projects, one of the most fun and creative ways to express yourself is by making whimsical veggies. With just a few simple steps and some basic tools, you can create adorable broccoli, carrots, and other vegetables that are perfect for decorating your home or giving as gifts.

The first step in creating these whimsical veggies is to start with the basics: rolling out logs and balls of polymer clay. To do this, you'll need to roll out a small amount of clay and shape it into logs and balls using your hands or a tool such as a toothpick or skewer. You can also use a rolling pin to help flatten out the logs and create a more uniform shape.

Once you have your logs and balls, you can start working on the actual veggie shapes. To make broccoli, for example, you'll need to wrap the clay around a small object such as a wire stem or a toothpick. Apply the clay in a spiral motion, overlapping the layers as you go, until you've covered the entire length of the stem. Then, use a tool such as a fork or a texture mat to create the characteristic florets of broccoli.

To make carrots, you'll need to wrap the clay around a small object such as a toothpick or a skewer, but this time you'll leave an extension at one end. Roll up the clay into a diagonal shape and then use a tool such as a seam roller or your thumbs to flatten out the surface of the carrot. Add some texture and details using tools such as a fork or a texture mat.

One of the most fun parts of creating whimsical veggies is adding facial features and personality. For broccoli, you can add a little face with eyes made from small balls of clay and a nose made from a small log or teardrop shape. You can also add some texture to create a more realistic look.

Carrots, on the other hand, are perfect for making simple faces with just a few basic details such as eyes and a nose. To make a carrot topper, you can start by shaping a ball of clay into a teardrop shape. Then, use five teardrops or four teardrops with an extra one to create a more dramatic effect.

Finally, once your veggies are complete, you'll need to bake them in the oven for about 30 minutes at 265 degrees Fahrenheit. This will help set the polymer clay and give it a realistic texture.

Tips and Variations:

* To add some extra detail to your veggies, you can use different colors of clay or mix and match different textures.

* Experiment with different shapes and sizes to create unique and personalized veggies.

* Consider adding some personality to your veggies by giving them names or creating little accessories such as hats or purses.

Conclusion:

Creating whimsical polymer clay veggies is a fun and creative way to express yourself and add some personality to your home. With just a few simple steps and some basic tools, you can create adorable broccoli, carrots, and other vegetables that are perfect for decorating or giving as gifts. Don't be afraid to experiment and try new things – with practice and patience, you'll become a master of whimsical veggies in no time!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello everyone and welcome back to HGTV handmade throwback Thursdays today we're traveling back in time to 2005 to go to the Caryl Duvall show where Linda Welsh Peterson shows us how to make whimsical broccoli pens check it out welcome to the show well we're always told to eat our veggies but you can't eat the veggies in our veggie pass but you can write with them sound intriguing well why don't I let the gardener explain for herself from Amoco is Linda Welch Peterson and welcome Linda thank you I've never been introduced as a gardener well I was wondering about that could you tell me that's that's not my thing not your long suit oh well you're putting on a good act because these veggies are very very cute and even if we can't as they say eat them we said we could write with them that's right you can write with them they're ink pens with the base very clever there's something fun to put in your kitchen I would say so so take it away in choice how are we going to make that girl but make your bra that's right we're gonna make the broccoli first and then what we need to do is we're starting off with a condition clay and we're going to wrap an ink pen I've already taken the ink cartridge out of the ink pen you can see that I've trimmed and and I'm just going to wrap this and roll it all the way around just like so until it meets the other end and smooth in my my seam there and then you'll get a pin that looks like this with the one end already smooth on and then this is the end for your ink pen so you sort of pull it down and cover there they pull it down and cover it over just like so because it clays stretches then to create kind of the stalk of the broccoli what we want to do is we're going to take these quarter inch strips we're going to apply them just like so all the way around three of them okay so kind of in a triangle pattern and then you'll get this one here where you can see that it's all the way around and to make this nice and smooth then we're going to wrap it just like we did earlier okay just wrap it around smoothen your seam and then you you can feel that this is a stalk of broccoli you can see how it's triangle on the end yes it is sort of like a little lumpy of the waist with broccoli is now you want to make sure that you put your little trees on the right on the top in not on the bottom on the top so make sure you have the right in and I just rolled logs that I'm just going to press into the sides of the broccoli I've got four logs now to make the little florets I've made them kind of large because I think they're very whimsical the easiest way to make these little peas as you want to call them it's to roll out logs and then chop them oh it oh yeah that's what those and that way you save a lot of time and then roll your little individual pieces nothing better than whimsical broccoli that's right that's right so from this then we'll take and we just kind of apply your little circles your your little balls to the broccoli just like that all the way around okay until you finish that and then you'll get this oh my god I see nice stalk of broccoli hit the data right well we want to make it fun and whimsical so let me turn this around let's add some eyes a real fun face once again balls if you can roll balls and logs you I'll tell you you can do any polymer project that's for sure so I've taken a ball I've rolled it and I've pressed it flat and shaped it into a teardrop and I put both of those together same thing with these you can see these little black specks for pupils I don't know if this is going to come off my finger here or not we're in try but you get the idea you're going to put one on each ball to create the eyes and then the eyes press to the front of the broccoli just like this little nose and a little smile looks like I'm getting an awesome Center a little bit and a little log there's no happy face just like that okay now set that to the side let's go on with the carrot okay there it's kind of the same way we're gonna have to we'll be wrapping a pin so you can see that I've wrapped but this time instead of trimming I've left an extension here about two inches and you can see it's a diagonal so I'll roll that up and this is what gives you that thick thin in carrot shape yes okay okay now you have this seam here which I'll take my brayer and I'll just smooth in just like that okay with my thumb work that out takes a takes a minute or so and then you'll pinch it up to the top here to close it over close it over and then you'll have your your little stalk of carrot just like this so what I'd like to do from here is I take my needle tool and I add all the little carrot marks kind of fun soon as you see those you know it's carrot that's right exactly okay let's make the carrot topper carrot topper starts as a ball and goes into a teardrop and then I place five teardrops together this one's only four but this one is five and you press it to the top of the carrot just like that it doesn't matter if your carrots lumpy because carrots are lumpy oh I know yeah okay and one same same idea there with the face the little logs shaped into teardrops and the little nose and a little smile just like that okay now we've gotten both sets of veggies done and you'll put this in the oven remember to take it your your ink cartridge out in the oven for about 30 minutes at 265 degrees okay we're going to have baked carrots and big broccoli you debate I quote if you know how to roll balls and logs you can pretty much make any polymer clay project ever that is awesome shoutout to our polymer clay audience you guys are amazing which veggie would you make into a pen I can actually think of a whole bunch of really cool things that I would make it depends and give us gifts I mean it's functional and cute and whimsical thank you guys so much for joining us be sure to like and subscribe and we'll see you later byehello everyone and welcome back to HGTV handmade throwback Thursdays today we're traveling back in time to 2005 to go to the Caryl Duvall show where Linda Welsh Peterson shows us how to make whimsical broccoli pens check it out welcome to the show well we're always told to eat our veggies but you can't eat the veggies in our veggie pass but you can write with them sound intriguing well why don't I let the gardener explain for herself from Amoco is Linda Welch Peterson and welcome Linda thank you I've never been introduced as a gardener well I was wondering about that could you tell me that's that's not my thing not your long suit oh well you're putting on a good act because these veggies are very very cute and even if we can't as they say eat them we said we could write with them that's right you can write with them they're ink pens with the base very clever there's something fun to put in your kitchen I would say so so take it away in choice how are we going to make that girl but make your bra that's right we're gonna make the broccoli first and then what we need to do is we're starting off with a condition clay and we're going to wrap an ink pen I've already taken the ink cartridge out of the ink pen you can see that I've trimmed and and I'm just going to wrap this and roll it all the way around just like so until it meets the other end and smooth in my my seam there and then you'll get a pin that looks like this with the one end already smooth on and then this is the end for your ink pen so you sort of pull it down and cover there they pull it down and cover it over just like so because it clays stretches then to create kind of the stalk of the broccoli what we want to do is we're going to take these quarter inch strips we're going to apply them just like so all the way around three of them okay so kind of in a triangle pattern and then you'll get this one here where you can see that it's all the way around and to make this nice and smooth then we're going to wrap it just like we did earlier okay just wrap it around smoothen your seam and then you you can feel that this is a stalk of broccoli you can see how it's triangle on the end yes it is sort of like a little lumpy of the waist with broccoli is now you want to make sure that you put your little trees on the right on the top in not on the bottom on the top so make sure you have the right in and I just rolled logs that I'm just going to press into the sides of the broccoli I've got four logs now to make the little florets I've made them kind of large because I think they're very whimsical the easiest way to make these little peas as you want to call them it's to roll out logs and then chop them oh it oh yeah that's what those and that way you save a lot of time and then roll your little individual pieces nothing better than whimsical broccoli that's right that's right so from this then we'll take and we just kind of apply your little circles your your little balls to the broccoli just like that all the way around okay until you finish that and then you'll get this oh my god I see nice stalk of broccoli hit the data right well we want to make it fun and whimsical so let me turn this around let's add some eyes a real fun face once again balls if you can roll balls and logs you I'll tell you you can do any polymer project that's for sure so I've taken a ball I've rolled it and I've pressed it flat and shaped it into a teardrop and I put both of those together same thing with these you can see these little black specks for pupils I don't know if this is going to come off my finger here or not we're in try but you get the idea you're going to put one on each ball to create the eyes and then the eyes press to the front of the broccoli just like this little nose and a little smile looks like I'm getting an awesome Center a little bit and a little log there's no happy face just like that okay now set that to the side let's go on with the carrot okay there it's kind of the same way we're gonna have to we'll be wrapping a pin so you can see that I've wrapped but this time instead of trimming I've left an extension here about two inches and you can see it's a diagonal so I'll roll that up and this is what gives you that thick thin in carrot shape yes okay okay now you have this seam here which I'll take my brayer and I'll just smooth in just like that okay with my thumb work that out takes a takes a minute or so and then you'll pinch it up to the top here to close it over close it over and then you'll have your your little stalk of carrot just like this so what I'd like to do from here is I take my needle tool and I add all the little carrot marks kind of fun soon as you see those you know it's carrot that's right exactly okay let's make the carrot topper carrot topper starts as a ball and goes into a teardrop and then I place five teardrops together this one's only four but this one is five and you press it to the top of the carrot just like that it doesn't matter if your carrots lumpy because carrots are lumpy oh I know yeah okay and one same same idea there with the face the little logs shaped into teardrops and the little nose and a little smile just like that okay now we've gotten both sets of veggies done and you'll put this in the oven remember to take it your your ink cartridge out in the oven for about 30 minutes at 265 degrees okay we're going to have baked carrots and big broccoli you debate I quote if you know how to roll balls and logs you can pretty much make any polymer clay project ever that is awesome shoutout to our polymer clay audience you guys are amazing which veggie would you make into a pen I can actually think of a whole bunch of really cool things that I would make it depends and give us gifts I mean it's functional and cute and whimsical thank you guys so much for joining us be sure to like and subscribe and we'll see you later bye\n"