Mirrored Candle Holder
Design By Karen Prince

Materials:

• Premo! Sculpey Polymer Clay in the following colors:
  • Green Pearl #5299
  • Purple #5513 mixed with Sculpey III Lilac Pearl #1004
  • Silver #5129
  • Gold #5303
• Beveled mirror
• Sculpey Super Slicer
• Acrylic Roller or Pasta Machine

Directions:

• Condition clay with hands and roll with acrylic roller until pliable. Using one pack of the silver, and one pack of the gold, roll each into a long snake approximately 20 - 24 inches long, depending on the thickness of your braid. Braid or coil these two colors together. This forms the frame for the outside edge of the mirror.

• With firm pressure, press the braided clay into the edge of the mirror all the way around, joining the two ends as neatly as possible. (Note: This joint will later be covered by the leaves and roses.) the clay adheres very well to the mirror. Try to have even amounts and a consistent thickness.

• With the leftover clay from the braiding, roll four (4) equal sized balls to form the feet for the mirror. Press onto the bottom of the mirror. Before placing back down onto your work surface, lightly powder the surface with corn starch to prevent your project from sticking while you finish working with it. Then, with even pressure, press down on the mirror with your fingers in order to level the feet. Clean the mirror surface at this point.

• Now, condition the Green Pearl clay. For interest, I like to lightly mix some of the gold and silver into the green. Now, roll a ball of clay and press out with fingers into a leaf shape. Using the wooden skewer or the Super Slicer, cut veins in each leaf. Crimp and curl the edges of the leaves with your fingers for a more natural look. Add the larger leaves first to the braided mirror, then the smaller leaves next.

• Condition the lilac pearl and purple together. Then, roll out a ball of clay and flatten to about the size of a quarter. Curl this piece to form the center of a large rose.

• Continue to roll balls of clay and flatten into disks. These will be the petals around the large rose. Add the first petal to the rose.

• Continue adding petals to the rose to achieve the desired fullness. Place the rose in the center of the large leaves. The rose buds will go on either side of the rose.

• Roll out a small snake of Green Pearl clay. Flatten one end. This will be the "sepal" which holds the rosebud. With the Super Slicer, cut pointed slits in the flattened end of the clay.

• Now, wrap the cut "sepal" around a rolled piece of the purple/lilac mix. This forms the completed rosebud. Place it next to the side of the rose. Add as many rosebuds as desired. At this point, you may also add small leaves for fullness on top of the rosebud stems.

• Roll small skinny snakes of green clay and curl to form tendrils. These look pretty lying across the leaves onto the mirror.

• Place completed project into a baking pan that has been lined with index cards. Bake at 275 degrees for 1 hour. Be certain that you have calibrated your oven by checking the temperature with an external thermometer. Adjust the dial up or down to reach 275 degrees.