how i make ceramic animal ornaments
Explaining the process of making ceramic clay Christmas ornaments. A raccoon, polar bear, cat, fox, deer animal figurine ornaments.
About a month ago I’ve asked on my Instagram stories what animals you’d like to see as Christmas ornaments. The most votes were for a polar bear, fox, deer and a raccoon.
To make these clay animals firstly I had to play with mud as I like to call it:). For me building something out of clay, especially animal figurines has a therapeutic effect. I can put on some good audiobook or watch a episode or two of my favorite Tv show while I’m working. I watched Sandman while doing these stoneware ornaments.
It took me about two working days to make enough animal ornaments to put in my Etsy shop. Usually on the first day I play around more and try to discover the clay shapes that I like. The second day everything goes faster as I already know what I’m doing.
The first few ornaments
After I’m done I put everything on a shelf and forget about them for a week to 10 days. Then it’s time for underglaze coloring. You can do that after the first firing, right before putting on the glaze but that way you won’t be able to fix any potential mistakes.
I’ve made some cat heads as well
A day later I put them in the pottery kiln for the first firing. Then it’s time for putting on the glaze. You can put it with a brush or dip them in the glaze. I’ve combined both methods for this batch.
Once dry the Christmas ornaments are ready for the second and final firing.
Raccoon ceramic ornaments in the kiln after glazing
If you’d like more details on how I did it, you can watch my YouTube video
how to build a rack for glazing ceramics
If you are a ceramic enthusiast like me there will come a time when you’ll need to glaze ceramic beads or Christmas ornaments in your pottery kiln. Since the glazed parts can’t touch anything during firing in the kiln you’ll have to hang them on something. You can buy something or you can make your own rack made out of clay and wire to suit your specific needs and desires.
The best wire for this use is kanthal wire or you can use nichrome wire as a substitute. Usually you can buy them online or in a craft supply store. But if you can’t find them for some reason, you can always ask in a manufactory that does electrical heathers.
The process is very simple, you’ll need to make a rack out of clay. I did it shaped as a box with the bottom just in case some of the glaze drips. That way it’ll catch the drips and it won’t ruin your kiln. A lesson I learned the hard way:).
You’ll need to cut the holes on both sides for the wire.
Once it is dry you need to do bisque firing and after that it is ready to use.
The wires do bend a bit in firing but you can always straighten them back
If you’d like more details on how I did it, you can watch my YouTube video
