If you’re a regular here, you know that I’ve been obsessively making minis for a while now. I’ve made all kinds of little odds and ends that are starting to add up to entire rooms and scenes! So far, though, there has been one thing glaringly missing from my collection: food! Are your dollhouse residents hungry? Bake them a tiny pie! (No really, you actually bake it!)
Project estimate:
- Bottle cap, on hand
- Polymer clay (tan and red), on hand or about $4
- Spray paint (optional), on hand or $1 and up
- Toothpick, on hand
- Clear nail polish, on hand or $1*
Total: Free and up
*Note: I’ve heard mixed things about clear nail polish and polymer clay. Some people warn of disasters, while other people say they’ve used it for years and never had a problem. Use at your own risk! If you’d rather be safe than sorry, you can also use Sculpey Gloss Glaze, which you can find in the $3 to $4 range.
Before you can use the clay, you will need to condition it. (Straight out of the package it is too stiff to mold properly.) You can do this by running it through a pasta machine multiple times until it becomes pliable; if you don’t have a pasta machine, knead it between your fingers until it is soft enough to work with. Optionally, you may choose to paint your bottle cap.
Press a chunk of tan clay into the bottle cap. Press your thumb down in the center of the cap so that there is a slight depression in the clay at the center of the cap and a little excess clay spreads over the edges of the cap.
Roll a bunch of teeny-tiny balls of red clay and pile them in depression on the center of the cap. Add them until they form a rounded, slightly heaping pile.
Switching back to the tan clay, roll a long, very skinny “worm” shape. Cut the worm into short segments and press it into the top of the pie to form stripes.
Turn the pie and repeat in the other direction to complete the lattice top.
To give the edges of the pie crust a crimped appearance, use the tip of a toothpick to press tiny indentations around the perimeter.
Bake the pie according to the directions on the clay packaging. Allow to cool completely, then seal using clear nail polish.
6 Comments
Donna @ HomeBusiness
You got me hooked up with that idea for tiny newspapers. I really started thinking “small”! :) Love the pie.
Silverleaf
Hi, cute pie! Just wanted to warn you that some nail polishes react badly with polymer clay – after a few months they go sticky and start to dissolve into a horrible mess and ruin your piece. Really, it’s not worth the risk!
Something polymer-compatible like Future floor polish (I think it’s now called Pledge with Future Shine), Diamond Glaze, Flecto varnish or Sculpey/Fimo glaze would be much better. I’d hate for anyone’s hard work to end up all sticky and horrible!
Maureen Sklaroff
We don’t have a dollhouse, but all of these tutorials are great for homeschoolers/teachers who use the Montessori Method with language object boxes. This method uses miniatures to teach the phonemes. Buying all the miniatures for every phoneme gets expensive, so it is nice to have tutorials to be able to make cheap versions ourselves.
Sherry
I work in polymer clay, so let me add a couple of tips to enhance realism.
Use a glass jar or drinking glass with straight sides as a rolling pin for your crust elements. Roll the tan clay out on some waxed paper or foil so it’s pretty thin and even, then cut with a craft knife, single-edge razor blade, or even a sharp paring knife into a circle for your bottom crust and strips for your lattice. (A bit more “realistic” than rolling snakes of clay.)
Also, I’d leave slightly bigger holes in the lattice and after baking, paint on some shiny glaze only on the cherries.
Dollhouse miniaturists make all sorts of faux food with polymer clay, so there are books and magazine articles out there if you want to go further with it. I don’t like Sculpey for jewelry etc, but it’s usually ok for this use and is the softest of the polymer clays. I recently saw a sampler kit of something like 24 colors for under $11 in a store flyer, possibly JoAnne’s Crafts or maybe Michael’s… so if you watch for it, you can have supplies for MANY phoneme projects for cheap!
kami
Love this craft! I had an extensive mini collection as a child… many pieces I made myself. Looking forward to seeing more!