Spring Time Bonnet

Spring Time Bonnet
By Bonnie Willey

This project is a simple to make for beginners and children. It would make a great gift for Teachers or anyone special.

Hints for Beginners:
Look around the house for bottle lids that measure 1 ½" and 1" for cutting the circles for the hat if you do not have cutters. Also to roll out the clay at an even thickness, use crafts sticks stacked together to roll the clay out.

Materials:

Sculpey III in the following colors:
- White III 001
- Spring Lilac 1216
- Sunshine 1274
- Ballerina 209
- Tan 301
- Yellow 072
- Emerald 323
Clay Texture Sheet Basket weave or a piece of vegetable netting
Needle tool or straight pin
Sculpey Super Slicer clay blade or craft knife
Pasta maker or craft sticks and rolling pin
White sheet of computer paper
Cookie sheet
Sculpey Oven Thermomter
Timer
Oven
1" pin back
E6000 Glue

Directions:

Hat and ribbon:

1. Condition the white clay first, cut one 3/8" x 3 ½" strip of clay for hat band, two 3/8" x 1 ½" strip for ribbon tails, two 3/8" x 1" strips for bow, fold in half and one 1/8" ball for ribbon knot.

2. Roll Tan clay out at thickest setting on pasta machine or between two craft sticks if you do not have a pasta maker.

3. Texture clay using either the clay texture sheet of the vegetable netting. Insert rolling Cut out 1 ½" circle. Fold over textured clay to make double thickness, cut a 1" circle. Place smaller circle on top of the larger circle towards the back.

4. Wrap 3 ½" strip around the smaller circle. Wrinkle up the 1 ½" strips, press on the back of the hat.

Flowers & Leaves:

Leaves:

5. Roll out five balls Emerald clay 11/64" in diameter. Roll each into a teardrops, flattening into ¼" long. Use a needle tool to make indentations lengthwise into the center of each leaf.

6. Press two on the side of hat and three on top.

Flowers:

7. Roll out five balls clay 11/64" in diameter in Sunshine, Ballerina and Spring Lilac five. Roll each into a teardrops, flattening into ¼" long and arrange into a flower. Use a needle tool to make indentations lengthwise into the center of each petal. Roll 1/8" ball of Yellow clay and press into the center of flower. With needle tool make a tic-tac-toe design in the yellow center.

8. Press one flower on each side of hat and one on top of hat.

Bow:

9. Press the two 1" folded bow pieces of the white clay on top, below the center flower of the ribbon tails. Roll 1/8" ball of white clay into a oval and press in the middle of the bow pieces.

BAKING & FINISHING:

Place the hat on a paper lined cookie sheet in a preheated over at 275° for 45 minutes. Turn off and let cool in oven. With E6000 glue, glue on the pin back or magnet disc.