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It’s not even Thanksgiving, but I’m already thinking about Christmas. What can I say? It’s my favorite time of year. I love all of the parties, family gatherings and traditions that come along with the holiday season. And I could stare at my Christmas tree 12 months out of the year. (I just don’t want my neighbors to think I’m that person, so it’s only up a little over a month…)
I have so many ornaments for my Christmas tree, but a new Hallmark Ornament is still a tradition every year. I was inspired by a Hallmark Ornament I found at Walmart to make these polymer clay Snowgies.
If you’ve ever been intimidated by polymer clay, Snowgies are a great place to start. You’ll only need three colors and the ability to turn clay into a ball-something you probably learned how to do in elementary school. Polymer clay tools make the process a little easier, but there’s nothing you can’t do here with your own two hands and maybe a toothpick to help with the smaller parts.
Condition your white clay (conditioning just means working the clay until it’s soft and easy to use) and create four small balls to form your Snowgie body. Once you’ve finished making the bodies of your Snowgies, use a tiny-and I mean tiny-strip of blue clay to create the mouth. This is where a clay tool or a toothpick is helpful.
Once you’ve made the mouths on all of your Snowgies, add the eyes. The eyes will require very little black clay to create. Seriously. Take what you think you need, half that, and you might be on the right track. I made a variety of Snowgie sizes, including a super tiny Snowgie with an extra special mission.
Keep in mind that when working with white clay it tends to pick up any bit of lint or other clay around it. You can cover up any spots that might have gotten dirty with some matte white acrylic paint. Take any Snowgies you want to turn into solo ornaments and screw in tiny eye hooks before baking. I did a few with eye hooks and a few to just sit around because they’re so darn cute.
Once your Snowgies are finished and hooks are in place, bake them in the oven according to the directions on the polymer clay you used. Polymer clay tends to cool quickly once you remove it from the oven, but keep in mind that any eye hooks you used are going to hold on to heat a little longer. And I’m totally not saying that because I burned myself or anything. Nope. Wouldn’t be that careless. Not me. Not at all. So anyway…
Add some ribbon to your eye hook and your Snowgie is ready to hang.
But let’s circle back to that inspiration I mentioned. I love Frozen Fever. If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen that friends surprised me with a Frozen Fever cake for my birthday. My favorite part? All of the little Snowgies. Remember how those Snowgies were born? Yep…when Elsa sneezed. So when I saw an Elsa ornament in her Frozen Fever dress, I had to have it.
And I had to embellish it…just a little. I made a super tiny little Snowgie to glue on the side of the ornament. It’s basically my most favorite thing ever. And if you can find it, you should totally grab the Frozen Fever Elsa and make your own mini Snowgie. I’ll even let you say it was your idea. It can be our secret.