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Clay Thumbprint Snowman Ornament

by 24 Comments

Christmas ornaments are one of my favorite things in the world to make. There are so many fun possibilities, and you know that you will get to enjoy them again and again each year with your family. They also make fantastic gifts, especially personalized handmade ones.

I’ve seen a lot of fun thumbprint snowman ideas (like these adorable fingerprint snowmen from one of my favorite bloggers), and I’d been wanting to make some out of polymer clay for some time now. (If you’re new to polymer clay, it’s easier than you might think. Check out this post for some tips and ideas for beginners.)

What you need:


1. Polymer clay (white, black, orange, and other colors for embellishments)
2. Cute little thumbs
3. String, twine, or ribbon
4. Optional: jewelry wire
5. Optional: Glaze

What you do:


1. Start by rolling three even balls of white clay. I used plain white but a shimmery white would also be beautiful.

2. Stack the three balls closely together. Now help your kids press their thumbs evenly into each of the three balls. Polymer clay is a little dense to work with, so they probably will need help. Make sure they wash their hands right away after touching the clay.

3. Add decorations. I thought about adding arms and a hat, but stuck with just the basics. To Make the scarf, I rolled out a long piece of clay. Then I slightly flattened it and wrapped it around the snowman’s neck.

4. Optional – Use jewelry wire to make a loop. Stick this into the top of your snowman before you bake it. If you’re not familiar with jewelry making tools at all, you can just glue ribbon to the back of the ornament after it is baked.

5. Bake the ornaments. Follow the instructions on the brand of polymer clay you used. The size and color of the ornament will not change after you bake it.

6. Optional – Let the ornament fully cool. Paint a thin coat of Glaze
over the ornament for a finished look. (I also added a dab of glue around the jewelry wire to make sure it was fully secure.)

Both of my kids helped me make one. They LOVE their snowmen, and love how their scarves are their favorite colors. I like how Benjamin’s snowman ended out being a little bigger than Lyla’s.

You could also have fun and add hats, arms, a mouth, earmuffs, and other fun accessories. I wanted to keep mine pretty simple and I wanted to leave the bottom thumbprints completely open.

Comments

  2. They are sop cute!
    I am not familiar with clay, do those balls and decorations stick together well without anything additional? Thank you for the tutorial!

    Reply

    • Thanks! I was a little worried about that myself. Everything held together really well. I think the glaze on top also acts as a glue a little bit. I actually dropped them both pretty far and nothing happened to either ornament at all. There is a special glue you can buy at the craft store to help attach pieces of clay together, but I've never had to use it.

      Reply

  19. OH wow!! THose are adorable! How do you get the three snowballs to stick together though? Does the combo of the glaze and stickiness keep it stuck forever? I love it!!

    Reply

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