Surprise, Perfect Polymer Presents.

Surprisingly these little presents are not covered in paper, but Polymer Clay veneers. In this detailed tutorial I take you through everything you need to know from creating the present shapes, the patterned wrappings, ribbons, bows, holly leaves, gift tag and filial details. So, grab something to drink, sit back, relax, and unwind, as I show you how to make these sweet little stacks of decorated presents. Then have a go and make some of your own.

The music from the video is English Country Garden by Aaron Kenny and Waterfall by Aakash Gandhi, both available from the YouTube Free Audio Library.

If you like my work, then please do have a look at my website, http://www.fionaabel-smith.co.uk/ and follow me on Facebook   / fiona.abelsmith   and Instagram.   / fionaabelsmith.artist  

I also have a number of Polymer Clay PDF Tutorials to buy in my Etsy shop, PolyOriginals - https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PolyOrig... and as a video tutorial here - http://polyoriginals.thinkific.com/co...

Here is the link to my conditioning Polymer Clay video -    • Conditioning Polymer Clay Quickly - s...   . Here is the link to the Skinner Blends video –    • Basic Skinner Blend Tutorial from Pol...   .The Cute Festive Trees Video I refer to is here -    • Cute, Festive Trees in Polymer Clay, ...   go to 34.50 minutes to see the decorative bows I mention.

Polymer Clay is oven baked, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the brand of clay you are using, and I always protect my clay when baking by tenting it in aluminium foil, just in case my oven spikes in temperature. I also use an oven thermometer.

I used FIMO Soft Polymer Clay, but all well-known brands of polymer clay will work well for this project. Use whatever colours you wish to create your patterns and designs.

I used a Pasta Machine dedicated to Polymer Clay use to create blends/thin sheets and condition the clay. My Pasta Machine is an Atlas 180, and it has setting 0 as its thickest and 9 as its thinnest. There is a standard way of calculating the thickness of clay required, by using stacked playing cards. On my machine the thickness are as follows: Setting 0 = 8 playing cards, setting 1 = 7, setting 2 = 6, setting 3 = 5, setting 4 = 4, setting 5 = 3, setting 6 and 7 = 2, setting 8 and 9 = 1 card.

Depending on whether you are making a hanging decoration or a standing stack, other equipment you may need is:

A polymer Clay Blade / Craft Knife / small roller / 4mm Cable Needle – or something similar.
1mm, and 0.8mm craft/jewellery wire (18 and 20 gauge) cut a piece of each longer than your parcel stack. A tiny piece of very thin (0.4mm/26 gauge wire) if you are adding a gift tag.
Wire Cutters, small round nosed pliers / needle, or wire just larger than 1mm to make holes. Mini jewellery/craft drill if you are making holes after the clay is baked.
Liquid Polymer Clay (PVA glue would be okay for this project as an alternative) / PolyPaste if you have any, it can be found here - https://www.clayaround.com/shoppage/p... - but is not essential.
Foam or sponge texture, not essential.
Sculpey Ultralight Clay is available from many online or craft stores or use stacks of corrugated cardboard cut to the size you need and cover them in a thin layer of scrap polymer clay – bake before adding the decorative veneers.
PACPEN – I use tiny cutters from Aggies Miniatures on Etsy. I used the Christmas set 04, and Ornaments set 30 - https://www.agneshorvath.co.uk/copy-o... These are not essential, use any small cutters you have.
I also used small round, oval and star cutters – The round cutters can either be bought in a set specifically used for polymer clay from many shops on Etsy, but I have also bought them direct off eBay, where you can search under ‘Cord Pin End Crimp Terminal Wire Copper Connectors’, to find similar cutters, but you will get a huge amount all the same sizes. Other small cutters are available from many good craft shops and online.
I use a ripple blade, but this is not essential.
Pencil or something similar as a mould for the hanging finial element.
A couple of beads with holes large enough to thread the wire. I added 4mm glass crystals – they are not essential.
I work on a large tile and use a small tile to bake on.
Aluminium foil to cover the clay while it bakes.
Measuring sheet, or something similar – this is freely downloadable from https://www.printablepaper.net. I laminate mine so I can use it multiple times.
Ribbon to hang your decoration.

I really hope you have fun with these, and cannot wait to see what you create.

Thank you so much for watching.