The journey continues on revealing an ornament from my collection (see related post).

Day 11: 2008 Penguin

Materials:

• Sculpey clay in black, orange, white and green
• Black permanent marker
• Paper clips
• Ribbon

Instructions: Start by kneading your clay for a few minutes to make it workable. Prepare for the baking of these ornaments on a metal sheet at 275 degrees.

Start with the body of the penguin and form an egg-shape out of black about 2-inches tall and about 1.5 inches thick at the base. Next, grab a small piece of the white clay, form a small ball and then flatten for the penguin’s stomach. Before attaching it to the body, take a paper clip and rough the body of the penguin and the back of the stomach, which will allow the two surfaces to form a bond. Place the stomach on the body and smooth into place. The stomach is about 1-inch wide.

Next, form two small white balls for the eyes. Follow the same directions above for sticking the two together by roughing the sides with a paper clip. Add two small tiny black dots for the eyes. Next, roll a small piece of orange and form a small beak for the penguin. Add it to the body with the same directions above. Use a paper clip and form a small crease in the beak.

To make the feet, form two balls of orange clay for the feet. Mold into an oblong egg-shape and fix to the body. Use the paper clip to form three small toe creases at the top. Add a small piece of green to the bottom of the feet for the skates, and then insert the paper clips into the feet.

To make the hat, form a ball of green and roll it into a cone shape. Work an indent into the inside so that it can sit on the penguin head. Fold over the top of the hat and place a white clay “pom pom” at the end. It’s important to make sure this fold in the top of the hat folds over and touches the hat, but still has a slit so that you can fit the ribbon through. Use the same directions to rough up the edges of both the hat and body before attaching the hat to form the bond.

Bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Add a ribbon to hang the ornament.