Clay People

Here is one of my kids made of polymer clay with a tiny photograph glued on for a face. This is my daughter, Christine, as she looked in 1999.Making this ornament is fun and really, really easy. Fashion the body from the clay (you don?t have to make it perfectly), and leave the face area flat. Then bake it according to the clay directions? about 20 minutes at 275F or so. Let it cool to room temperature. With acrylic paint I painted a shirt of yellow, with brown jeans. I drew on her hair and clothing details with an indelible ink marker. I glued on a hanger to the back of her head, but on subsequent ornaments I ?built in? a button-type shank with a little hole in it for hanging.. The only hard part was finding a photo at the right scale that I was willing to cut. . My girl is 3.25" tall. Taller people could have larger photo-faces. This is just the basic idea: you could paint all the features, you could make hair from fuzz or yarn, you could glue fabric on for clothing, you could use different colors of clay for the clothing, etc, etc. This would make a great gift for grandparents.