Gingerbread Man Made Of Polymer Clay

This Christmas craft project shows you how to make an adorable gingerbread pendant or ornament.

What you need

Polymer clay “any brand” tan, brown, white (red & green if desired) & tiny bit of black
Liquid polymer clay
Acrylic roller or wooden dowel
Clay knife or plastic knife
Toothpick or bamboo skewer
Eye pins or wire (optional)
Cookie or Fondant cutters – heart & circle (only for use with clay afterwards!)
Work surface – ceramic tile, file folder or wax paper
Oven for baking – it is recommended to use a clay – only oven (toaster oven).

Instructions

Condition & mix together equal parts brown & tan polymer clay – I used Sculpey tan & chocolate (to get “gingerbread” color), some white, red & green if desired & a tiny bit of black & plain brown by rolling and squeezing in your hands.

Test to see if it cracks when you bend it – that means it needs more conditioning!

Roll the gingerbread color onto a ball, flatten & roll out to desired thickness with your acrylic roller or dowel (You can also use a clay dedicated pasta machine).

Using your cookie cutters, cut one heart & three circles.

Turn the heart upside down to make the legs.

Pinch the ends of two circles to make a teardrop shape for the arms and place them onto the heart as shown.

Using your circle cutter cut a half circle out of the top to make a space for the head.

Place a thin line of Liquid polymer clay along the half circle and place the last circle shape into the space to make the head.

Insert your wire or eye pin or poke a hole for hanging.

Take a small amount of white and roll two tiny balls and press into place for the eyes.  Use black clay to make pupils & add a tiny ball of brown for the nose.

Roll out the white clay into a thin even “snake” to make the icing on the arms and legs & press into place.

Add peppermint buttons if desired (see my tutorial for mint candy beads!) or use solid colors of your choice & press into place.  You may want to add a drop of liquid clay if these will be 3D.

Add any detail with your pin or toothpick. To the face, icing, etc.

Bake according to manufacturer’s directions and let cool.

Add a drop of crazy glue to the wire as the clay will not adhere to it.

Hang on a pretty ribbon & enjoy or give as a gift!

***TIP***

***SAVE those pieces you trimmed off and roll them together to make swirly accent beads!

***Red or brown clay can leave some pigment on your hands.  To help keep the white clay from turning pink, handle most of the white clay first.  You can also use baby wipes to clean your hands and tools (alcohol is a solvent for the clay) or wear latex gloves & switch in between colors.

***Once you use cookie cutters, pasta machine, etc for clay, it is recommended to no longer use it for food.  Shop around for inexpensive cutters at your local craft store.