Crafting: Christmas Make Your Own Clay Figure – Elf

Time Required: 1h – 1h30
Difficulty: Hard
Review of kit: 3 out of 5 stars – figure is difficult to make and instructions are rather vague

This is another crafting kit I bought in the Action store in Belgium. I think it cost 1 EUR tops, and there were a few different kits to choose from, so I decided to buy all the ones I could find since they were cheap.

The package contained modelling clay in all the colours needed to craft the elf shown on the cover, instructions and a spatula.

I tried a few of these kits, but I have to say the elf one is the most difficult one I’ve made thus far. The instructions are not that clear, and there are a lot of details that make it extra difficult.

I started by making the body, which is just a hump of green clay, and then started working on the feet. They weren’t easy, so I have added a close-up for those of you who want to give this elf a try as well.

Next, I combined the body with the feet, but it was already clear to me by then that there was no way the elf would be stable. Maybe that’s due to my (lack of) skill, but the figure couldn’t balance properly.

I also thought there wasn’t enough pink clay for the head, ears and hands. I mean, I did manage but it made the head look rather small compared to the rest of the body.

I worked on the hat next, which was probably the easit part to do. But as you can probably see, I struggled with the feet / stockings the most, especially when combining the different parts of the figure and trying to balance the figure so it could stand up straight.

The figure eventually ended up looking like this. I struggled with the details: the belt, the collar, the eyes and mouth, etc. And while the figure can balance for a few seconds, it inevitably ends up tumbling forward. Someone with more experience with clay will no doubt do a far better job than I did, but I did enjoy myself while working on this little elf, and that’s the most important thing.

I ended up adding the elf to my Christmas decorations. It’s leaning against a wooden house I made, so it doesn’t fall down anymore. Excuse the grainy quality of the above picture, but I took it at night with only the Christmas lights on.