Dollhouse Miniature Strawberry Cookie Jar

 

Watch the video here.

This week we are making another cookie jar and I have to say this one is my favorite so far. I love how it turned out and I hope you all do too. It was really easy to make too so I know you can make one for your dollhouse.

We start just like we always do with a strip of white card-stock that measures ¾” by about 4” long.

Use a thick Tacky glue and form a tube to build your cookie jar on. I will refer to this as the cookie jar base. I use a BIC brand marker to form my base around but anything that is around ½” in diameter. (the pen I use is just under that size, a bit smaller is probably better than bigger but use what you have) The glue on this base needs to dry completely before going on to the the next step.

Now just like every time we add a thin layer of white clay to the outside of the base. We need to use some TLS (Translucent Liquid Sculpey) as glue for this. I find that the mistake I make most often is the make this layer too thick, then the cookie jar starts to look too big and out of scale. Add a layer of the white clay to the bottom of the base as well. At this time also make a small disk of clay about ¼” thick that will fit inside the opening of the base to later build the lid on. Bake these pieces at the temperature you clay directs for about 10 minutes.

Once the base has baked and cooled to room temperature it is time to add a layer of red clay. Since red had a tendency to look very dense and chalky I do suggest mixing your red with an equal amount of translucent clay. This will help the red clay to look much better when baked and much more realistic. I folded down a small amount of this layer and placed it to the inside of the layer to add a bit of thickness to the top of the cookie jar. 

This will help to build just a bit of shape into the cookie jar and make it recognizable as a strawberry. Be sure to coat the baked clay with some TLS to help glue on this new layer of raw clay. At this point since my clay was very soft I put my cookie jar in the freezer for 20 minutes to help the clay firm up. This makes working with the clay so much easier. Once the clay firmed up and with the help of a bit of cornstarch on my fingers to help them glide over the surface and few clay tools I smoothed and shaped the clay on the cookie jar to get the shape I wanted. I then used a pointed tool to make some random holes around the jar to look like the seeds on the real berry. Once you are happy with jar bake it for 10 minutes.

Now we can start the lid. I decided since I wanted to get the size.shape of the base of the lid just right to do this after the body of the cookie jar was finished. That way the red clay of the lid was less apt to damage the cookie jar. Form some of the same red clay into a half ball (dome shape) that will sit on top of the cookie jar nicely. Once you are happy with it use a toothpick to make a hole in the top center so you can later add the stem/handle.

Speaking of the stem/handle we need to make that now too. I mixed some green clay with an equal amount of translucent clay. I then formed a small snake probably about the diameter of a toothpick and about 3/8” long. I made one end pointed and gave it a bit of texture with my clay tools and gave it a bit of a bend so it would look like a stem.

Now both of these parts for the lid need to be baked for 10 minutes and cooled to room temperature.

Once baked and cooled we can use a bit of TLS to add the white disk of clay we made earlier to the bottom of the red clay dome. I cradled mine in a piece of aluminum foil to keep it level so that everything stayed in place until the TLS cured in the oven. I didn't want gravity moving anything.

Once baked and cooled use some more TLS to add the stem/handle to the hole we made in the top of the lid. Use some tiny bits of green clay to help support it and bake again. I ended up using the foil to help keep mine stable for baking. Bake 10 minutes and cool (again)

 

 

 

Now we need to make the leaves that will go on the lid. Use more of your green clay and make a bunch of ¼” balls. Then roll one side to make a cone shape and flatten with your fingertip to make a simple leaf shape. You want these to be a bit on the thick side. I then used my dental pick to make some vein lines running the length of my leaf.

Use some TLS to add as many leaves as you want on your lid. I ended up adding 10 leaves on mine (at least that's what it looks like when I count them). Once all the leaves are in place and just the way you want them bake for a final time. To be absolutely safe it would be a good idea to cradle the lid in the foil again.

Once everything has cooled give both the cookie jar and the lid a very thin coat of Gloss Mod Podge.

Now let's talk about the first lid I made and had to re-do for the video. When I first filmed this video I made a different lid than you saw me make. I did show it to you in the video at the end. When I made it l liked it, didn't love it but liked it. I got as far as coating it with Mod Podge and getting ready to film the outro for the video. Then as soon as I turned on the camera to film I bumped one of the leaves and it bent to the point it cracked and almost broke off! I knew I couldn't just go on with that lid even though it was cute it was obviously that it was way too fragile to even handle. So I looked at pictures of other strawberry cookie jars and found lids that I liked even more so that is what I made in the video. I am glad I did because this version I am in love with. So when things don't turn out like you planned try again.

And just for fun here's a picture of the entire cookie jar collection as it is now.

 

 

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