On dark winter evenings we need comfort and warmth more than ever. The coziest things in winter are knitted items, and the most vibrant warmth in the apartment comes from a candle. All this can be combined in original handmade candlesticks, and the key to the longevity of your work will be the material - polymer clay.

Materials and tools for work

• polymer clay in the colors you like best. I used white, blue and blue colors
• working surface: glass or ceramic tiles with a flat, smooth surface
• knives for polymer clay
• extruder (metal syringe with nozzles for plastics)
• baby food jars without lids
• candle tablets

Modeling from polymer clay

Knead thoroughly and warm the polymer clay in your hands. If you, like me, decide to use white color to decorate your candlesticks, it is best to pass it through the extruder first so that it does not mix with other colors if they suddenly remain in the extruder after cleaning. If your colors complement each other, you may not need to clean the extruder very thoroughly between uses of different colors, or even not clean it at all. But if you chose contrasting colors, thorough cleaning is required.

To create one “knitted” cover of our candlestick, you will need enough plastic to fill approximately half of a standard extruder. I use a fine hole extruder tip, but you can make a larger "knit".

To get the effect of “melange yarn” you need to mix equal parts of any two colors, but without mixing until they are the same color. I used white and blue.

As a result, they are mixed chaotically in the extruder, and at the output we get two-color “threads”.

Now the most interesting part of the work, but at the same time requiring accuracy and patience, is turning our “threads” into a “knitted” pattern. To do this, we twist two “threads” together. We twist two more in the opposite direction. For some reason, it is very difficult to turn the second part in the opposite direction. I almost always confuse the direction, so at first I twist it just a little and check whether the work is going correctly.

Now we combine two twisted threads, making a “pigtail” pattern.
This is the main element of our candlestick case. If you are familiar with knitting firsthand, you can now use your imagination and create any patterns, just like in regular knitting, only without using knitting needles.

The base of our candlestick will be a baby food jar. You can take any other beautifully shaped glass jar.

The cover of this candlestick will consist of different pieces of “yarn”. Therefore, we decorate each piece along the edges simply with two twisted “strings”. This gives neatness and completeness.

Now I'll show you how to make a two-strand braid. We take a “thread” of white and blue colors and twist it together. We do the same with two more, but always in the opposite direction. In such a braid, the turns must be combined especially carefully, otherwise the whole effect will be lost.

From this type of “yarn” I got this piece.

Even using only three colors allows you to imagine as much as you like.

And to create a particularly romantic effect, you can deliberately lay the “threads” loosely or experiment with the “yarn” pattern.

Bake in the oven according to the instructions.

Now we will decorate the neck of the jar, trying to close the not very beautiful place where the lid was screwed on. It is necessary that in this place the plastic does not get on the inside of the jar for fire safety purposes. When exposed to an open fire, plastic can melt or even catch fire.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 130 degrees according to the instructions. After this, the jars will remain intact and unharmed if they are not cooled sharply. It's best to let it cool directly in the oven. If you are using the same oven as for cooking, you will need to use a baking oven to bake the polymer clay.

For this candlestick I made the cover one piece. But the cover made of pieces after baking needs to be checked for strength, and, if necessary, glued directly to the jar. For this I use Cosmofen glue.

The holes that remain in our “yarn” in places where the “threads” do not fit tightly together allow the light from the candle to penetrate outward and form beautiful patterns.

And if you intend to loosely adjust the “strings” or experiment with the “yarn” pattern, then a spectacular and romantic evening is guaranteed.

Small vases are great for storing keys and small items. They can also be used as a container for jewelry and costume jewelry. In this article we will tell you how to make an elegant vase or candlestick from ordinary clay or plaster. Our products will be made in the form of leaves, so they will organically fit into any interior. Another advantage of the described technique is that all the necessary materials are available to everyone.

Note: the sizes and shapes of vases and candlesticks can be very diverse. It all depends on the choice of leaves that will serve as templates.

Materials and tools:

• leaves
• clay that does not require baking, or gypsum
• rolling pin
• construction knife or scalpel
• glossy varnish
• paint brush

How to make vases and candlesticks from clay

Take a small piece of clay and use a rolling pin to roll it into a thin layer. The thinner the layer of clay, the thinner the walls of the vase will be. But the thickness should still allow all the veins of the leaf to be imprinted into the clay without making it too brittle.

Place the leaf face up on top of the clay layer. Make sure that the edges of the leaf do not protrude beyond the boundaries of the clay.

Using a rolling pin, gently roll the leaf into the surface of the clay.

Holding the edge, remove the leaf from the clay layer. A clear imprint of veins should remain on the surface.

Using a construction knife or scalpel, trim off the excess clay, following the contours of the print. Try to do this as carefully as possible, do not touch the clay with your hands so as not to leave imprints on the clay that has not yet hardened.

Carefully lift the layer of clay and place it inside the bowl or saucer. This will give the clay the desired bend.

Leave the clay to dry overnight. In the morning, remove the clay from the bowl, turn it over and place it on the bottom of the inverted bowl so that the bottom layer of clay dries out.

After the clay has dried, the product can be painted or varnished. It is advisable to apply the coating in 2-3 layers, allowing each to dry before applying the next one.

Original article in English.

The New Year's candlestick, which I propose to make in this master class from polymer clay, will not only be a wonderful addition to the holiday table, but can also be a wonderful gift for loved ones, made with love and the warmth of your hands. Due to the fact that polymer clay has established itself as a very strong material that is not afraid of high temperatures, water and does not fade, products made from it will be strong and durable, which means that more than one New Year and Christmas will bring you joy and emphasize the festive atmosphere in the house.

Materials and tools used to create a candlestick:

1. Cernit polymer clay in the following shades: purple, yellow, white, red, green;
2. Liquid plastic Fimo or its equivalent;
3. Blade or stationery knife;
4. Gillette razor, with ribbed handle surface;
5. Gold-colored gold leaf;
6. A glass with smooth walls, 10 cm in diameter;
7. Candle in a metal frame;
8. Metal knitting needle;
9. The cutter is in the shape of a rectangle of medium diameter. Approximately 1x2 cm;
10. Glitter or dry eye shadow, but only those that can be heat treated and are not afraid of high temperatures;
11. A cutter in the shape of a circle, equal to the diameter of the candle frame, usually 4 cm in diameter;
12. Toothpicks or needle;
13. Rolling pin and pasta machine;
14. Floral wire with a diameter of 0.8 mm (wrapped in green tape);
15. Round nose pliers and side cutters;
16. Cling film;
17. Varnish for polymer clay.

Master class on making a candlestick

Collect the remains of plastic from previous works - we will form the base of the candlestick from them.

So, let's start sculpting:

1. Mix and knead the remains of plastic that is unsuitable in color, trying to make the plastic as soft as possible and uniform in color. To a maximum thickness of at least 0.5 cm, roll out the plastic using a pasta machine and place a sheet of gold leaf on its surface.

2. Place cling film on the surface of the plastic with gold leaf. Using a glass with smooth walls, at least 8 cm in diameter, cut out a round shape.

3. We need to make two round figures with gold leaf and one figure from pure plastic in the same way.

4. Cover the circle without gold leaf with a circle with gold leaf. Set the second circle with gold leaf aside.

5. Using a cutter in the shape of a circle with a diameter of 4 cm, cut out a shape exactly in the center of the two layers superimposed on each other.

6. Turn the gold leaf circle set aside aside and place layers with the cut out core on it. Try on the candle so that it fits easily into the recess of the base.

7. Place small pieces of gold leaf on the sides of the plastic base.

8. Form droplets 0.7 cm long from green polymer clay. Wrap the ribbed handle of a razor with cling film, place a drop on the surface of the handle and flatten it with your finger so that the texture of the handle is imprinted on the clay.

9. By removing the flattened drop and turning it over, you will see that it has taken the shape of a leaf with characteristic veins.

10. Now you need to lay the leaves in three tiers on the sides of the candle base. Lift the leaves of each subsequent row slightly upward.

11. Measure and cut pieces 4-5 cm long from the floral wire and bend one end with pliers.

How to make a Christmas-themed candlestick from polymer clay, step-by-step photos and description of the sculpting process

How to make a Christmas-themed candlestick from polymer clay, step-by-step photos and description of the sculpting process

One of the most beloved and anticipated holidays is the New Year. A time of magic, gifts, warm hugs, joy and comfort. Home decorations for this celebration are always chosen especially carefully. And how great it will be not to buy, but to make cute details for interior decor with your own hands. After all, such crafts not only fit perfectly into the decor, they always carry a piece of the creative energy of needlewomen and masters of decorative and applied arts. In this article we will create a candlestick from polymer clay with our own hands. Plastic is an amazing material for creativity. It has a rich color palette, a lot of additional tint effects, for example, pearl or metallic shine, transparency, sparkles and much more.
Create a candle holder with your kids or your significant other. On the eve of the holiday, you will not only receive a colorful and relevant decorative element, but also great pleasure from the sculpting process itself. You can give your family and friends a warm souvenir that will last for many years, giving light, warmth and positive emotions. For the candlestick you need:

• Plastic in red, light green, green, brown and orange colors;
• Stationery knife;
• Universal leaf weiner;
• Golden color gold leaf;
• Candle (it is advisable to choose one with a metal frame);
• Round mold (cutter). Its diameter should be slightly larger than the diameter of the candle (ours is 4.5 cm);
• Toothpick;
• Stack with a ball at the end;
• A stamp with a ribbed surface (we took a razor);
• Pasta machine or acrylic rolling pin (you can also use a glass bottle);
• Glass with a diameter of 10 cm;
• Artificial stamens (golden) are sold in florist or handicraft shops;
• Green flor wire 0.8 mm;
• Green flor wire 0.5 mm;
• Tools for working with wire (round nose pliers and wire cutters);
• Sponge;
• A little cling film;
• Varnish for plastic;
• Thin brush and acrylic paint (brown).

Before you begin, you need to prepare the surface. Polymer clay absorbs small debris very quickly. Knead the clay thoroughly. Petals. Take red clay and form it into a sausage 1 cm in diameter. Use your fingers to gently flatten it on one side so that the cut forms a drop. It is necessary to cut the cane into petal blanks. You will need pieces of different thicknesses. The thicker the cut, the larger the petal it will make. We will make the inner petals from the thinnest ones, and the middle and outer petals from the larger ones. For one flower we will need 3 pieces of each size. We flatten the blanks with our fingers and place them in the weiner. To ensure that the veins of the petals are even, run a rolling pin over the weiner. This is what we got from blanks of different sizes. From green polymer clay we make a cane of the same shape, 1.5 cm in diameter. The cut should also be teardrop-shaped. We cut large pieces and use a weiner and a rolling pin to make leaves like these (see photo). For one flower we need 3 leaves.
Stamens. We collect several stamens together. We need to tie a knot around them with thread so that our stamens stay together and don’t fall apart. Now on a piece of floral wire 5 - 6 cm from one edge we make a half-loop (just bend the end a little with round pliers). Take the stamen bundle and secure the wire by clamping the loop to the end slightly below the knot that secures the stamens together. Cut off any excess thread tails.
We form flowers. We take three small red petals and attach them around the stamens. We attach the second circle, also of three larger petals, under the small ones in a checkerboard pattern. Similarly, we fix the three largest petals. The last circle consists of three green leaves. We carefully secure the ends of each petal, pulling the plastic just a little along the wire.
For one candlestick, 3 flowers with a diameter of approximately 4 cm will be enough. Of course, you can make flowers of different sizes and splendor as your imagination dictates. Now at one end of a piece of 0.5 mm wire 5 - 6 cm long we make a loop. Several such blanks will be required. We roll balls with a diameter of 5 mm from orange plastic. We put the balls on the wire loops and carefully smooth out the joints. Now on the opposite side of the ball we make grooves with a toothpick, diverging from the center to the sides. They do not need to be cut, but pressed through (see photo).
From lettuce thermoplastic we roll a droplet 0.7 - 1 cm in length. Now we put our lettuce drop on the ribbed stamp (in our case it is the handle of a razor covered with cling film) and press it with our finger. We have a leaf with veins. We do not remove it from the stamp and attach a 0.5 mm wire with a loop to its base. We slightly press the loop into the clay, fold the edges and smooth the joint (see photo).
Roll out the green clay into a layer 0.5 mm thick. Cut out a circle with a diameter of 10 cm using a glass. Place the candle on the circle and see if there should be room left for attaching our flowers and berries. Cut out 2 more large circles. Now take a small round cutter and cut two circles in the center of the hole. We place our circles with holes on top of the first large green thermoplastic circle. Lay out carefully and evenly. We've got a place for a candle. It should fit in and out easily. Smooth the edges of the cut layers.
We take a floor wire of a larger diameter and make a loop at the end. We form a ball with a diameter of 10 - 15 mm from red thermoplastic, fasten a loop inside the ball and smooth out the joints. It is necessary to finely tear the gold leaf and roll a ball of red thermoplastic in it. You need several such blanks, like the orange ones.
Knead the brown thermoplastic. It is necessary to prepare 2 pieces of 0.8 mm wire with loops, as we did before. From brown plastic we form a droplet with a length of 2 cm, a base width of 1 cm and secure it to a wire. There should be two blanks; carefully smooth the junction of the droplet and the wire as before. Now roll out the sausage to 7 mm in diameter and give it a drop-shaped cut (like the red one). Slice thinly. We place our preparations on a sponge (a regular dishwashing sponge will do). We roll the blanks with a stack of balls, making them thinner and concave (or convex). We take our droplet and begin to attach the petals overlapping. We make the topmost ones closed, and gradually open the next ones.
Assembly. Remove the candle from the metal frame. Now install the metal part in its designated place. On all workpieces you need to cut off the excess wire. To do this, measure the height of the green base for the candle, and cut off the rest. Now we’ll add our red and brown flowers and berries in random order, as you like. Berries can be twisted several pieces together.
Bake according to the instructions on the clay package. After the product has cooled, take a little brown paint and tint the orange berries in the center. When the paint dries, coat the product with varnish. After the varnish has completely dried, we insert the candle back and our wonderful New Year's candlestick is ready to bring light and joy.

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How to sculpt a snowman from polymer clay to decorate a Christmas tree? Step-by-step description of the sculpting process with photographs

A do-it-yourself candlestick, which I propose to make from polymer clay in this master class, can solve the problem of decoration, as well as become one of the gifts for loved ones for the New Year or Christmas. After all, there is nothing more valuable and expensive than things made with your own hands, with a piece of your soul, love and warmth of your hands invested.

Due to the fact that heat-baked clay is a fairly durable and strong material that is not afraid of water and high temperatures, such New Year's candlesticks will serve for many years, create a festive mood for all household members and make a bright addition to the festive atmosphere of the house.

Materials used to sculpt the New Year's candlestick:

Tools for making a candlestick with your own hands:

• blade or stationery knife;
• figured (wavy) blade;
• stack with a ball;
• rolling pin and pasta machine;
• toothpicks or needle;
• plastic card of the “credit” or “savings” type;
• a glass with smooth walls, 10 cm in diameter;
• double-sided mold or weiner with imitation of the veins of a universal sheet;
• candle in a metal frame;
• a cutter in the shape of a circle, equal in diameter to the candle frame;
• round nose pliers and side cutters;
• foam sponge;
• cling film.

How to make a New Year's candlestick in the form of a wreath with your own hands

I recommend starting to make a New Year's candlestick from polymer clay with. Prepare wire bases. Cut small pieces 5 cm long from floral wire with a diameter of 0.8 mm, and use round pliers to make a loop on one side of each individual wire. Set the blanks aside.

To form a poinsettia flower, you need to prepare plastic of the desired pastel yellow shade. Mix white and yellow clay in a 6:1 ratio until a uniform shade is obtained.

From the resulting light yellow piece of clay, form a cane with a diameter of 1 cm. Pinch the cane on one side with your fingers so that it has a teardrop-shaped cut. Cut the cane into slices ranging from 2mm to 5mm thick.

Each of the sections must be flattened and thinned along the entire perimeter with your fingers. The thinner the cut, the smaller the petals will be, and vice versa, the thicker the cut, the larger the petal. This will be necessary to form three tiers of the poinsettia flower.

Place the flattened petal on the surface of the weiner and cover with the other half of the weiner. Roll over the surface of the weiner with a rolling pin or press down firmly with your hand so that the texture of the weiner is transferred and imprinted on the plastic.

The bottom row of the poinsettia should be green and shade the flower. Form a cane from green polymer clay with a diameter of 1.5 cm, since the lower petals of the flower should be larger than the petals of the inner rows.

Similarly, using a weiner, form green petals.

To form the core of the poinsettia, you will need floral stamens, which must be collected in a bunch, about 6-8 pieces, and tied with thread.

Take a piece of wire and tighten a loop at the base of the collected stamens. Cut off excess threads with scissors.

Start collecting. Select the three smallest petals and overlap them, wrapping them around the core of the stamens.

For the second row, choose slightly larger petals and place them under the bottom of the petals of the top row.

Similarly, make the third row of petals from the largest yellowish petals, and the fourth row from the large green ones. To decorate a New Year's candlestick-wreath, 2-3 poinsettia flowers with a diameter of at least 3.5 cm will be enough.

Start forming a cone of brown plastic. To begin, create a cane with a diameter of 0.7 cm and use your fingers to pin it so that it has a teardrop-shaped cut. Cut the cane into thin slices no wider than 3 mm.

Place the cuts on the surface of the foam and use a stack with a ball to create a more rounded and thinner appearance.

Due to the fact that the elements of the cone were formed on foam rubber, all cuts began to have a rough surface, which will give the cone a more natural appearance.

Form a drop of brown plastic, 2 cm long and 1.5 cm wide. Take a wire blank and use a loop to immerse the wire inside the drop from the side of its rounded and wide part.

Starting from the sharp part of the drop, lay rounded brown sections overlapping each other.

Open each subsequent row slightly so that the cone becomes voluminous. For this you will need to make only two cones.

From polymer clay of burgundy color (also called “Christmas” in the plastic palette) form small balls with a diameter of 0.3 cm to 0.5 cm. Make five-centimeter segments from wire with a diameter of 0.5 mm. Using round-nose pliers, make loops on one side of each wire blank. With the loop inward, insert the wire into each ball.

Using the tip of a toothpick or needle, make indentations emanating from the center point of the ball.

In a 5:1 ratio, take green and white polymer clay and lay them diagonally to each other.

Using a pasta machine, make a smooth color transition and lay the resulting white-green stripe in the shape of a horseshoe so that the white shade is on the outside of the rounded cane.

Take a plastic card and, on the white side, press the layers of polymer clay with an edge in a random order.

Form a cane with a diameter of 1.5-1.7 cm, pin it with your finger and cut into 3 mm thick sections. Use your fingers to flatten and thin each cut.

Use a blade to randomly create a torn (zigzag) edge on the leaves.

Place the leaf on the surface of the weiner with imitation of leaf veins and cover with the other half of the mold. Press down the weiner halves to give the plastic a stringy texture.

At the base of the leaf, exactly in the middle, insert the needle into the plastic, making a small indentation.

Hide a loop of wire with a diameter of 0.5 mm in the recess of the leaf. Cover the wire with the side plastic, pinching it at the base of the holly leaf so that the wire is securely hidden.

Making the base and assembling a candlestick from polymer clay

With your pasta machine on high, roll out the polymer clay for the base of the candlestick. Cut out three identical circles with a glass or any other cutter with a diameter of at least 8 cm.