Teal Pumpkin Ornament

Halloween can be a scary time for kids with food allergies. That’s why, for the last several years, our house has been a “teal pumpkin” house. The Teal Pumpkin Project helps to identify houses that have non-candy treats available.

Usually, I print out a sign from the website and tape it to my door. This year, I decided to make a teal pumpkin ornament out of polymer clay instead.

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Materials:

• Polymer clay – white, black, teal, brown (or copper), green, and black. A darker shade of the teal, brown, and green colors is optional.
• Halloween cookie cutters – ghost, pumpkin & bat
• Rolling pin / roller
• Work surface / board
• Craft or utility knife
• Wax paper to protect your surfaces (optional)
• Baby oil or mineral oil
• Yarn needle, knitting needle, or other pointed object to make a hole.
• A crochet hook is also helpful to add the string / hanging loop.

Notes:

• If you don’t have multiple shades of the teal, green, and brown, you can create them. Mix the color you have with a little white to make it lighter, or a little black for a darker shade.
• Work clay in your hands or with the roller until it becomes soft and malleable.
• Wrap clay in plastic wrap when not in use, to keep it soft.
• All pieces should be rolled out to an even thickness. Anything from about 1/4 – 1/2 inch is fine.
• Wax paper is an easy way to protect your work surfaces.
• Clean your surface (or replace the paper) between colors. This is particularly important when working with white.

Instructions:

Ghost:

Roll out some white clay and press the cookie cutter into it. With the cookie cutter in place, remove the excess clay from the outside, then carefully remove the cookie cutter. Roll tiny balls of black clay for the eyes, and press them into place gently with the roller. Set ghost aside.

Bat:

Roll out some black clay and use the cookie cutter to cut out a bat the same way you did with the ghost. Set bat aside. 

Teal Pumpkin:

Roll out teal clay. Place the pumpkin cookie cutter onto it and press down very lightly, just enough to make a faint impression in the clay.

Using this impression as a guide, add a little copper or brown clay in the stem area. It is ok if it overlaps the edges of the impression. Roll over this area until it is flat and even with the rest of the pumpkin.

Roll out very thin “snakes” of darker brown, and place them on the stem to create some thin lines. Press these down with the roller until even.

Add lines of dark teal to the pumpkin in the same way.

Carefully align your cookie cutter with the impression you made earlier, and press down to cut out the pumpkin. Peel away the excess clay starting with the areas that are just teal. There will be bits of clay near the stem that are a mix of multiple colors. Keep those bits separate to use later.

Leaves:

Roll out some green clay and cut 2 roughly heart shaped leaves. Add veins with darker green clay in the same way that you added the lines on the pumpkin. Since these will be much smaller, you may find it easier to use your craft knife to cut and position them.

Press into place with your roller, then trim the leaves as desired with your craft knife.

Assembly:

Add a few small bits of the mixed-color waste clay from the pumpkin with a few drops of baby or mineral oil. Mix until you have a smooth, somewhat pasty liquid, with no lumps. This diluted clay is called “slip” and can be used as a sort of glue to help pieces stick together.

Arrange your pieces as desired, being careful not to press on them and leave finger prints or distort them. If any of the edges are rough, trim them with your craft knife.

Wherever the pieces overlap, score the overlapping surfaces with your craft knife to make them rough. Rub a bit of slip onto the scored surfaces and gently place them together. There is no need to press down on them.

When adding the leaves, you can reduce a little bulk by cutting away some of the bottom leaf, where they overlap.

Make any final adjustments, adding more slip as necessary. The slip will not hold the pieces together when wet, but will help them bond while baking.

Use a yarn needle, knitting needle, or other pointed object to make a hole for hanging.

Finishing:

Bake according to package instructions. Add a string or yarn to the hole you made in the ornament, and tie it to create a hanging loop. 

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

Teal Pumpkin Ornament Video Tutorial: