Starting the Animal's Decorations - Mini Roses - Part 54- Edit Added Photos and Text

If a normal size rose looks right on a real horse, how small does a rose have to be to look right on a horse only five inches tall?  The answer is: really small.  I did not actually measure other than to say this size flower looks right.   

This photo was taken with the flower under a magnifying glass so you could see the detail.  

I made this flower from paper.  The rest of this article is about my process for figuring out how to make a flower that small.  

This is one time that the internet was not a lot of help.  I viewed multiple how-to videos before beginning.  There are plenty of ways to make flowers out there, but they are all about making normal sized flowers.  Cutting down the size of the pieces did not help.  The smallest I could come up with was twice the size of this flower.   Working this small is very difficult.

I also looked online for miniature flowers, but the ones I found were still too large for this project.  So, before I threw in the towel on having flowers on the animals, I decided to develop my own method for making miniature roses.  I did not see anything like this online, but I did not spend more than a few hours searching.  I hope you will find this method helpful.  I tried four different methods and multiple materials before I settled on how to make the roses.

The paper:  I did not try this with newsprint because it was not sturdy enough.  I used some heavy paper from a notepad that I had hanging around the house since about 1994.  The paper is about the weight of printer paper or lightweight card stock.  

The glue:  Elmer's white glue.

Other materials:  two pair of tweezers, sharp paper scissors, pen or ultra-fine marker, ruler, large sewing needle

Step 1

This photo shows the paper from the notepad.  The measurements are 3.5 x 4.5 inches (8.89 x 11.43 cm). Horizontally, I marked off every 1/4 inch (0.635 cm), then used the ruler to draw in the lines.  Vertically I marked points at 2 inches (5.08 cm) and a second 2-inch segment at the 4-inch mark (10.16 cm.).  The last little bit is crossed out as it was not going to be used.

I made two sheets like this.  

Step 2

Once I had the sheets drawn, I cut the pieces apart.  

Each sheet was cut into 1/2-inch x 2-inch (1.27 x 5.08 cm) strips.  Then I cut along the marks at 2 (5.08 cm) and 4 inches (10.16 cm) It made 12 strips with one 1/4-inch (0.635 cm.) piece left over.  The small strip is just a discard.  

Two sheets would yield 24 roses.  I hope that will be enough if I add other decorations to the animals as well.  If not, then I will be making more roses later.  The red background is just the notebook I used so that there would be some contrast.  They were not very visible on the white background of the plastic I use to cover my work surface.

The line down the middle of each piece is a guideline for the next steps of the rose.  You will not see the line in the finished piece.

Step 3

Roll the paper into little cylinders.  I started by drawing the edge of the scissors along the long side of the paper as if I were making ribbon curls.  This makes the paper want to curl and makes the next step easier.  

I wrapped the strips of paper around a large sewing needle; it was about the size of a darning needle.  Once I had it as tightly wrapped as possible, I slid it off the needle, held it between my left-hand thumb and forefinger, grabbed the loose end and pulled tightly to make it as tight as possible.  Then I rolled it between my fingers to make the cylinder want to stay in that shape.

Step 5

I made small cuts on one side of the paper.  The first and last cuts are cut just below the line.  The cuts in between are cut just to but not through the line.  

Once the small cuts have been made, I cut the right angles off each of the small cut pieces.  It should look something like a picket fence.  The points do not have to look exactly the same on each piece.  (See next photo)

Photo for part 2 of Step 5

Step 6

Spread glue along the uncut edge.  Then roll the paper back up into a cylinder, keeping the uncut edge even as it is rolled, and set it aside until the glue is dry.  I found that it was easier to identify which side was the cut edge after it had been rolled back into a cylinder if I folded one of the tiny cut strips out so that I could see it later. 

Photo for Step 6.  Picture was taken under a magnifying glass in order to see it better.

Step 7

Photos taken under a magnifying glass.  My husband took the picture as I needed two hands to hold the tweezers.

Once the glue has dried, hold the base of the uncut edge of the cylinder with a pair of tweezers.  Use the second set of tweezers to fold back each of the cut edges around the cylinder.  Curl the outer edge under.  It will give you two or three layers of petals.  Squeeze the center and twist slightly to give that bud shape in the center.

When the flower is shaped to your liking, dip the flower in white glue and set aside on wax paper until it dries.  

The glue will help the flower to hold its shape.  It eventually will be covered with a slurry of flour paste to harden it a little more before being added to the animals.

Check back next week on Monday or Tuesday for the next blog post.

The Last Two Animals Have Their Saddles - Musings on Next Steps - Part 53

This will not be as long a post this time because I have to be on the road early.  I have managed to make some more clay and put saddles on the other two animals.  

I saved the tiger for the last ones so that I could learn from my mistakes on the first ones.  Fortunately, this clay is very forgiving while it is moist.  Then it dries as hard as stone.  I do not yet know how well it will sand.  The edges are fairly rough, but overall, the flat surfaces are mostly smooth and will not need a lot of sanding.

If you are a new reader and want more information on how I made the clay, scroll back two posts.  If you cannot scroll back, you can look at it by going to the blog directly and then scroll back:  folkartbycaroljones.blogspot .com.  All of my projects for the last decade or so are there.

The other animal that received a saddle was the second horse. I just have not figured out how to move the pictures around.  I used to be able to click and drag the photo where I wanted it to be, but that option does not work any longer.  

I left a little more saddle blanket showing on this animal.  I wanted to add some decorative elements and have some areas to paint.  I may add some clay elements to this to make them stand out.  I had started on this the other day, but it was one of those drop everything days where I had to deal with problems and was not able to get back to the project before the clay started to harden.  I will have to make a new batch of clay, but it will be a smaller batch than the previous ones.

I wish that I could say that it was time to start to sand and paint the figures, but I am not there yet.  The bridles or more accurately halters still need to be added.  That will be a different technique entirely.  While this clay is strong, I am not sure it this clay would be strong enough since these pieces are so small and narrow.  I do have a plan for making the reins, which I will be showing in the next blog post.

Beyond that, I need to talk about the other decorations for the animals.  The intricately carved carousel horses I saw in my youth were bedecked with carved flowers and scrolling ribbons.  I was planning on having some of those features on these animals but have run into a problem.  The flowers would be so small that they are very hard to sculpt.  My hands just are no longer up to working that small.  To give you an idea, since it is hard to judge the scale from these photos, a flower that is 1.3 centimeters in diameter would be too large for these animals.

I actually looked online for small craft flowers thinking that perhaps I could cover them in paper clay.  The 1.3-centimeter ones were the smallest I found.  So, I am on to Plan B and Plan C.  I might be out of my mind to try Plan B.  I went online to learn how to make paper roses.  I will give it a try, even though the bits of paper (or other materials) will be so small that I will be holding the pieces with tweezers.  Even if I could only make a few, it would help.  Before I give up on my idea, I will give it a try.

My Plan C is probably more workable.  Instead of flowers, make little balls and paint them like jingle bells or other flat decorative objects.  It might change the flavor of the piece a bit, but sometimes you just have to say that something else has to be done due to circumstances beyond my control.  

Check back next week for the next blog post.

Using Paper Clay to Make the Saddles - Pics - Part 52

 This week I have been working with the paper clay mix to make the saddles for the animals.  I like this clay mix because it is very soft and easy to shape.  And provided that you can keep from sticking fingers in it once you have it like you want it, it will hold nicely in place even when the animal is standing upright.

 To make this clay I used toilet tissue, water, and white multi-purpose glue. More information on proportions of the mix, scroll back to last week's blog post.  If you are unable to scroll back, visit the blog at folkartbycaroljones.blogspot.com.  Otherwise, you can just wing it easily enough.  The main thing to remember is that you want the tissue damp, add some glue, and then add in more water until the mix is soft and easy to squish into a ball of clay.  Keep working the clay until it is smooth.  

After getting the clay shaped on the animal, I used first smooth the clay with a light touch of water to help get out any lines, fingerprints, or tool marks.  Then I go over it a second time with a fifty-fifty mixture of water and white glue to finish smoothing and seal it with glue.  To date, I have not had one of the accessories develop cracks as it dries.  I have had this problem with some commercial air dry clays.

So far, I have completed three of the animals.  I had to stop and give my hand a rest for a few days.  Sculpting is becoming hard on my hands.  If I overuse them, then I may have to ice and rest them for a couple of days to get the swelling to go down.  

Of course, the animals and their accessories still need to be sanded.  I am hoping that the heat wave will break soon.  While I was sculpting these the temperature was in the upper 90s to 100+ degrees with heat indexes of higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  It is not fun to be out sanding in the sun wearing a dust mask in those temperatures.

The goat and the rabbit (photo below) were covered with a cotton ball clay to give some texture to their hair.  Before the clay was added, they were created using the strip paper method as in the horse above.

The rabbit is the last one I have completed.  I still have one horse and the tiger to finish.  I am saving the tiger for last.  I really wanted to get as much experience with the clay as I could before starting to work on him.

Anyway, that is as far as I was able to get this week.  By next blog post I should have the two other animals' saddles added.

Once the saddles are finished, I will be working on the bridles.  I will be trying a different method to make the bridle parts.  I will be blogging more on that in upcoming posts.

Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the next blog post.