Dollhouse Halloween cake

I have been wanting to make a fun Halloween cake for some time and finally was able to do it. I have slowly been collecting the materials from the craft store with my 50% off coupons! On my last trip I found a pack of clay cutters in squares and circles. After thinking about my Frankenstein cake and looking though my tools I thought he would be more fun with a square head! I am a beginner with polymer and am still learning each time I make something so if you are a beginner too I encourage you to have fun with this!

First line up two pieces of wood the thickness that you want each cake piece to be and the width of your cutter.

Then roll out some brown polymer clay inside of them and cut out your cakes. I cut three of them.

I mixed in some yellow with my green clay to get it a little brighter.

Next, roll out the green clay to a log with your hand and then with a roller to about 1/16” thick and cut two of those with the same cutter you cut the brown with. Be sure to clean any brown clay off of it first!

Stack them all up making sure they are even and straight.

Now roll out the green clay to a longer log again with your hand and then with a roller to about 1/16” thick. Lay your cake on it and cut the height from top to bottom.

Lay your cake above it and roll it to determine how long of a piece you will need to wrap the cake. Trim the piece of green clay. 

Start wrapping in on one side and then all the way around. I pressed it from two sides at a time with flat pieces of hard plastic to get it firm.

Cut a slice out of it with your craft knife.

Make some texture with a needle tool and an old toothbrush. I made the mistake of not zooming in on my photo to check my texture before baking it. So do that or use a magnifier to be sure it is textured enough.

Give the middle icing some texture as well.

I save my yoga cups for just this sort of thing. Roll some black polymer very thin and break off pieces and put it in the cup. Then squeeze some liquid polymer on it.

Work it with a small spatula. I used a manicure tool.

I added some black pastel shavings to make sure it was very black.

When it gets to the consistency of icing put it on the top and down the sides like his hair would be. Don’t forget to add some to your cake slice too.

Back both the cake and slice according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Let it cool. 

Find something to cut out the white clay for the eyes. I used a mini glass of orange juice. I their pen caps but they were a tad too big. If the clay gets stuck in the glass use your blade tip to get it out. Don’t worry about denting in a small section.

Now cut the tops off the circles, a little less than half the circle. If you did leave a dent in them cut of that section.

Roll up a tiny piece of black and press it flat into a circle for the pupil. Cut the tips off of those as well.

Use a toothpick to put a tiny spot of bake and bond where the eyes will go and press them down gently. do the same with the pupils.

Roll out some black for his eyebrow. Trim it to the correct length put a tiny bit of bake and bond down and press it on over his eyes.

Roll out a very thin piece of black and shape it for his mouth. For this I just held it and used y toothpick to dab on some bake and bond then pressed it on the head.

Put a spot of bake and bond on his cheek and place tiny rolled pieces there for the stitches.

Roll a green ball, press down with your finger, and cut in half with your knife.

Put a spot of bake and bond on both sides of his head where is ears will go and put them on.

For the bolts I mixed black with a tiny amount of white, made a small ball and put a spot of bake and bond where i wanted the bolt and placed the ball there on both sides. 

Then I cut two tiny squares and put a spot of bake and bond on the grey balls and adhere the square to them.

Bake again according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Let cool.

I painted the icing with satin varnish but it was too shiny so I painted the entire outside with matt varnish. Don’t paint the actual cake inside. Let dry.

 Isn’t he handsome? Perfect for a Halloween party!

You can make a knife from card stock. Cut the blade out then glue two small pieces of black together. Cut each of those to be the handles and glue them on either side of the back of the blade. Color the edges black with a marker and add two silver dots on the handle.

Serve up some Halloween fun!

Dollhouse fall garland

I wanted to add some autumn garland to my Kinfeld mantle and here is how I did it. As always, I try to use what I have on hand. You may want to substitute some of the materials for your own project.

Gather these supplies:

Mantle

Plastic wrap

Wire in two thicknesses (your choice)

Wire cutters

Brown floral tape

Tacky Glue

Leaf punches

Colored papers

Oil pastels

Brown paint/tiny paint brush

Orange and brown polymer clay

Small soft brush

Tweezers

Micro beads

First I covered my mantle with plastic wrap to protect it while creating.

I calculated the length of wire I would need and cut two pieces. Then I covered them with brown floral tape by wrapping one end–stretching the tape and spinning the wire while holding it tightly and twisting the tape around with my finger tips. I am using the tape to help hold the thinner wire I will be wrapping around it later.

Twist the two strands as shown and lay along your mantle so some of it hangs over the ends and trim to the desired length.

Cut lots of 2-3” pieces of thinner wire. Bend in half and feed through one strand of the wrapped wire, preferably near a twist. Twist tight 2xs then wrap around from both sides to the other side and twist 2xs again. Keep going until you have the desired amount. Trim so they are about 1/4” or longer then fold over slightly.

Now cut more 2-3” long thin wires pieces. Dip the tips in Tacky Glue and then dip into a few colors of micro beads. Let dry.

For the leaves I am using the punches I already have, but if you have any grape leaf punches they would be nice! I colored some paper with inexpensive oil pastels and punched out a selection of leaves. You could also use water colors as I have in this past tutorial CLICK HERE

(If you have regular colored papers verses card stock I think it may look more realistic.)

Use a stylus tool to make the veins and roll the tips slightly. Bend in half and then pull open to arch them. This will give them a little more shape. I sort of drew in some veins for the pale yellow leaves.

 I used foam board to help with the curling.

Start glueing them onto the bent wires and also on the base wire. Finish just the first layer and let everything dry. 

Paint all the stems brown. I went in and changed my yellow with paint. 

Next, to create more depth for the second layer I rolled up some brown floral tape into tiny balls and glued on the base wire here and there. Then applied more leaves over them.

I used polymer clay to make some pods and tiny pumpkins. After they cooled from baking I painted them a little and then glued them in.

Tiny pumpkins: Roll a little ball and very gently hold in place on a tile with your stylus tool then use a knitting needle to make the indentations. Remove the stylus and blend the indentations into the center top. Clean/smooth the clay with a small soft brush.

Mix brown and light brown to make the stems. Just blend slightly so there is still marbeling when you roll them.

Add any additional leaves as you see fit.

Trim the micro bead wires and glue them in. Let dry!

Carefully lift the garland from the plastic wrap with tweezers, remove the wrap and place on the mantle.

I haven’t finished collecting treasures for my mantle display, but will in time. For now I just placed a few items behind the garland. When I started I wasn’t so sure this would be to my liking but I have to say I am digging it!

This project is intense so I recommend doing a little over the course of a few days. Good to take breaks too because you see things more clearly after stepping away for a bit. :)

Have fun!