How to Make a Clay Pumpkin and Clay Ghost
Add a festive touch to your home with these cute Halloween clay ideas! These pumpkins and ghosts are super easy to make, perfect for beginners to polymer clay.
Yield: 2 Halloween clay decorations
Cost: $2
Equipment
- Clay cutting tool (or plastic knife)
Materials
- Glow in the dark polymer clay
- Polymer clay (black, orange, brown, and green)
Instructions
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Make a polymer clay ghost
- Break off a small piece of glow in the dark polymer clay (roughly 1/2 inch by 1 inch).You can also use white clay.
- Condition the clay, kneading it and squishing it with your hands until it's soft and easy to work with.
- Roll the clay into a ball and then form it into an oval shape.
- Use the rounded clay tool to push into one short end of the oval.
- Continue until you've hollowed out most of the oval. This will be the bottom of the ghost.
- Press the handle of the rounded tool into the bottom of the ghost, creating ridges.
- Then use your fingers to open up the bottom of the ghost a bit. This will help it stand easily and add to the draped look.
- Stand the ghost on your working surface and make any final adjustments to its shape.The ghosts can flatten out a bit as you work on the bottom, so you can re-shape it to make it taller, wider, etc.
- Condition a very small amount of black clay. Roll it into a small ball and place it on the front of the ghost, where you'd like one of the eyes to sit.
- Press the eye onto the ghost, securing it in place, and then repeat for the second eye.Continue on to step 4 to bake your polymer clay ghost.
Step 3: Make a polymer clay pumpkin
- Condition a small piece of orange clay until it's soft.
- Use your hands to roll the clay into a ball and then place it on your working surface.
- Push the rounded tool gently into the middle of the ball. This will create an indent in the top center of the pumpkin, as well as flatten out the bottom slightly.
- Gently push the clay cutter/knife against the side of the pumpkin, starting at the top next to the indent.Rotate the knife down, creating a smooth, indented line down the side. Repeat 7 more times, creating 8 sections on the pumpkin.(A dull knife or edge of a gift card may work better here than a sharp blade.)
- Condition a small piece of brown clay and roll it into a thin stem.
- Press the stem into the center indent on the pumpkin.Manipulate the stem a bit as you push it down. Twist it, curve it, or give it bumps and ridges. After all, each pumpkin stem is unique!
- Condition a small piece of green clay and roll it into a long, thin line.
- Use a needle tool (or a toothpick) to press one end of the green clay beside the stem.
- Twist the green tendril, curling it and giving it some shape.
Step 4: Bake the Halloween clay creations
- Set your ghost and/or pumpkin on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake according to package instructions.Our clay recommends 275F for 15 minutes per 1/4 inch thickness.
- Your clay ghost and clay pumpkin are complete!
- Now turn off the lights and watch the adorable ghosties glow!
Video
Notes
Looking for more polymer clay crafts? Here's a few of our favourites:
Ghost in a Jar
How to Make Polymer Clay Beads
Polymer Clay Earrings