Coke Bottle Angels

So I finally got a chance to get into the clay and create using the coke bottles. This was the first time doing this project, so there was certainly a learning curve. Still it was a great way to recycle some things laying around and make some cute Christmas gifts.

The Process:

I took a glass coke bottle and placed flesh toned fimo mixed with Puppen fimo on top of the sip hole for the face. Although I went for a gesture piece as opposed to realism, this clay mix is excellent for doll work, but it takes a long time to press and warm the clay with your hands to get it workable. When it finally gets to that point, it's a dream. I got the tip for the puppen fimo from Wendy Froud at Comic Con one year. Unfortunately I don't remember the exact mixture that she told me, as it was a long time ago. The one thing I did learn from this is that while in the oven, the air from the bottle will find a way to make a hole in the fimo, so it's best to go ahead and make an air hole in a discrete place to allow the air to escape, before it finds its own way out.

Taking the clay, I fashioned a "bodice" down the bottle neck. This left the bottom piece as the skirt. It would have been a pain to do the whole thing in clay. Then it was cooked in the oven for 30 minutes at 275 degrees. If you venture this project and are using a coventional oven to cook the clay, it's going to have to lay down. It will be too tall otherwise.

So to finish up, below the bodice for the finishing touch, I took some modge podge and glued fabric beneath the bodice to make a skirt. I made the bodice flare out kinda of like a corset, but looking back, I think it would have been better to end the bodice at the waist line. It would have made the skirt more consistent. Also to hold the skirt while the glue dried I ultimately still had to tie it with a piece of cloth around the waist, which looked a bit odd with the flared corset waist.

For some reason the image thing is not working ... so I won't be able to show the finished result.