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Quick Question about Polymer Clay hides

Stefanie

Stefanie

New member
Hi all you crafty people out there!

My family and I have crafted some hides out of Polymer clay today (oh boy did they turn out ... bright?! /sigh)

Now they've been in the oven for way longer than they were supposed to, but they are still fairly soft & bendable.

Is that normal? I thought they'd "dry" hard?! They do seem to get harder as I leave them in there, but I'm scared they'll burn!

Any - fast - recommendations? ;-)
 
Hmmmmm. After leaving them in the oven for a bit over 1 hour and letting them cool over night they are still quite flexible. I might have to put them back in and let them burn a little harder. Thanks Solarian!
 
Stefanie said:
Hmmmmm. After leaving them in the oven for a bit over 1 hour and letting them cool over night they are still quite flexible. I might have to put them back in and let them burn a little harder. Thanks Solarian!
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what brand are you using? also make sure the temps are right. if the temps arnt getting up high enough then the clay wont harden at the core. You also want to follow the recommendations to only make it so thick.
 
I'm using Craft Smart Polymer clay. Cheaper than Sculpey and I think it had the same baking heat.
I've paid attention to the heat and the walls of the hides are fairly thin. I'll experiment a little.
 
Stefanie said:
I'm using Craft Smart Polymer clay. Cheaper than Sculpey and I think it had the same baking heat.
I've paid attention to the heat and the walls of the hides are fairly thin. I'll experiment a little.
Click to expand...

ahh! That makes sense, Craft smart is a pretty soft polymer and it bakes a bit soft. Sculpey might be a touch more expensive but the flesh colored kind is way more solid. Even if it is a touch soft I dont think its a bad thing, if anything it might be good! Give the snake some wiggle room and less likely to hurt him/her if it falls or flips :)

also pics! :D
 
Oh haha! pix ... you're funny ... your eyes might fall out :eek:
My 3 and 6 year olds made them and I let them pick their favorite colors. Although I gave them the base-color green ... they are a bit flashy.

I'll see what I can do, but it's on your own risk!

As for the soft part: I don't mind it being a bit flexible, but we've "stuck" decorations on the sides and I'm a bit afraid that if I scrub it during cleaning the decorations might fall off because the "walls" are flexing away under them. You'll get an idea if you really wanna see the pix
 
Pictures!

These are the hides the kids made (with a little help ;) )

My son made the blue one (daddy crafted the "daddy" snake on the top, my 3 year old placed the "baby" snakes around him lol)

My daughter made the Pink one, surprise! :) The window has a curtain around it and no, our snake's name will NOT be princess! I veto'ed that!
 

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This is the one I did when the terrors were sleeping. I reinforced it with wire mesh in between two layers of clay, and yes! Sculpy III dries SO much harder than the Craft Smart clay. Next time we know :)
 

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oh wow! i do love your childrens design- how old are they??
but your log is most impressive- reinforceing it too was a great idea- i hope they love them !
 
oh wow! those look great :D thats a perfect craft idea too for kids :D I work with boyscouts and girl scouts with corn snakes for projects this would be a perfect idea for them! :D
 
Thank you !!

My kids are 3 and 6. My son's we made by placing a glass bowl underneith. My daughter's we wrapped the clay around a glass bottle. Both things were removed prior to baking though. I had placed aluminum foil between the clay and the glass, so it just slipped off. And then I balled up some more foil and placed it on the inside to keep it from falling in on me.
The log used so much clay that while I was working it soft I thought my arms would fall off! I was feeling it the next morning, I needed lots of Ibuprofen lol!

I hope that the baby hatchling will like them, too! I am sure it'll be a bit too big for it, but I might just put a TP-tube inside the "door" so it's a bit more snug, or fill it up with moss until she's a bit bigger...
 
And yes, the kids had a blast! And kept them entertained for quite a while ;) Nothing better than an easy way to entertain the munchkins and knock some hours off a day.
And it got them ever so excited (... MORE excited) about the snake lol
 
Stefanie said:
Thank you !!

My kids are 3 and 6. My son's we made by placing a glass bowl underneith. My daughter's we wrapped the clay around a glass bottle. Both things were removed prior to baking though. I had placed aluminum foil between the clay and the glass, so it just slipped off. And then I balled up some more foil and placed it on the inside to keep it from falling in on me.
The log used so much clay that while I was working it soft I thought my arms would fall off! I was feeling it the next morning, I needed lots of Ibuprofen lol!

I hope that the baby hatchling will like them, too! I am sure it'll be a bit too big for it, but I might just put a TP-tube inside the "door" so it's a bit more snug, or fill it up with moss until she's a bit bigger...
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when i made my clay and baked it, i used wax paper and paper mache for shape- the wax paper stayed though :( i like the tin foil idea better :)
 
The kid ones are too cute! what a great idea; I'm sure my daughter would have a blast with a project like this.

And the log you made is awesome! Very cool.
 
I love them! I'll have to hire your kids :) I love the log too, wouldn't have thought of that. I'll have to see if I can do something neat.
 
Always good to get the kids involved in the maintaining of the snakes, the hides look great as well as the log
 
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