DIY polymer clay balloon dog clipboard

a balloon dog for a splash of pop art (or circus) on my fridge!

Because clowns freak me out, 

but I do love balloon dogs (and pop art).

Now I have a non-popping one holding my notepad for my {never ending} lists!

my balloon dog and my vintage blue / red pencil (I glued a little magnet in the center of the pencil, too) 

Since I started using polymer clay, the make of a balloon dog seemed easy enough for a novice, and I started to look online for tutorial, insights and tricks.

But the balloon dogs that I found where made to look like standing dogs, made out of "sausage" parts.

So there it is how I made mine, just a tiny bit different.

I used 90 gr. of red polymer clay.

the polymer clay balloon dog (that looks like a twisted balloon) 

how-to / tutorial:

*make a "sausage" about 1/2" in diameter and about 10-1/2" long

--> the balloon dog is made out of 10 parts: all shaped like "sausages" with rounded edges, and a small part for the tail and nose.

- 6 pieces are 7/8" long

- 1 piece (the body) is 1-1/8 long

- 2 pieces are 2/3" long (face and neck)

- 1 piece is about 1/2" long (the tail)

*bend the 6 parts 7/8" long to a "bean shape", 

and join them together, leaving a slight opening in the middle

* use few pieces of wire (I used copper) to create the "bones" of your balloon dog, and assemble the different parts together.

The polymer clay I kept aside for the end part of the tail was way too much. 

Keep a large image of a "real balloon dog" on your screen to try to keep the sizes into the right scale

making the "nose" of the balloon dog

In a real balloon dog, the nose is the open part of the balloon, tight in a knot.

This is how I made the nose {and pretty pleased with the result!}.

1* make a 1/4" ball with polymer clay

2* push the center of the ball with the end part of a brush, 

3* lift this round shape with the curled edges 

4* place it back onto the end part of a brush and manipulate the center with your fingers until you have a small cone.

5* squeeze it just a bit until it looks just like a know on a balloon

I used a metal clip and glued two magnets on the back with E6000 glue

(the glue gun will dry faster, but ddin't work)

* I placed my balloon dog on a tile, and squeeze it down a little to make some parts flat 

(the ones that are going to be glued on the clip) 

* ready to bake (I gave it a little longer int the oven because of some of the thick parts)

*placed some craft sticks under the muzzle and tail to avoid the collapsing under the weight while baking

REMEMBER !
Any tool, surface, oven, rolling pin, knife, cookie cutter or pasta machine that comes in contact with polymer clay CANNOT be used with anything else than polymer clay.

* apply some E6000 glue onto the back of my balloon dog, and glue it onto the front part of the clip.

Once dry, I applied a coat of clear varnish to make it shine like a pro!!

And here it is, making my beat up refrigerator 

in my craft room looking a little happier :)

(refrigerator is beyond vintage, but still works. 

And... will get a makeover at some point!!)

xox, d.

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