I recently made these cake toppers for my penguin mad daughter, who was born on Bonfire Night. Combining penguins and fireworks is no mean feat, I can tell you! I was inspired to have a go at a Christmas penguin and here is a tutorial so you can try too!
I’ve made a list of Fimo colours on CraftMerrily which are great for Christmas but for this penguin you just need polymer clay in:-
black
red
white
yellow
It’s really important not to discolour your white, so I recommend very clean hands and working with one colour at a time, as I have done in the pictures.
I tend to have baby wipes on hand too.
1. First roll a ball of white Fimo into a circle/egg shape/oval. The exact shapes will alter the character of your penguin and different shapes are great to experiment with.
Before you move on, also make two small eye dots and flatten slightly, a large hat pom pom and a long thin sausage for a hat trim.
2. Make two yellow tear drops for feet and flatten them slightly; then make a thick yellow triangle for the beak. Again the shape of this will alter your penguins look and is fun to play about with. I marked a groove around two sides of the beak to give it a slightly open mouthed look.
3. Make a red ball and then shape it into a hat shape with your fingers. I also made a long red sausage, flattened it slightly and used a knife to cut tassels into it but you can leave that bit out if it feels too hard.
4. Next, roll a black ball as a head. It will look best really circular so take the time to shape it nicely between your palms. The wings are two tear drops flattened out and then given a pinch to shape them. They’ll look just fine as a simple shape too, so don’t worry if the wiggle is too hard to achieve. It takes practise!
5. I make my penguins with ‘coats’ on, rather than trying to make a moulded, all in one, body shape. Make a large ball of Fimo and then flatten it into the shape in the picture. The dent at the top becomes his collar.
6. Time to dress him! First clean your hands thoroughly as the red and black will have discoloured them. The gently drape the coat around the body so about 2/3 of the ball is covered.
7. Pop his head on to the top of the ball and press it gently so the coat, body and head stick to each other, add his eye whites and bead, leaving enough space under his beak for a scarf to go round.
8. Gently lift your penguin and sit him down so he is on his feet, with about 2/3 of them sticking out in front. Use a knife end to gently press 2 toe dents into each foot.
9.Take two tiny pieces of black and make eye dots. When I’m making lots of characters I pre make eye whites and put the dots on and bake them in batches to save squishing them when I put them on. The direction of the eyes will alter the penguins expression, so take care to have them a similar size and pointing in the same direction – or he may look a little confused! If the dots are scary, wait till afterwards and draw them on with a black indelible pen.
10. Put his wings on each side, pressing firmly so they are attached at the shoulder and near the front of his coat. I tend to leave the tips not pressed down to give them a little movement and realism. Don’t worry about blending them to the coat unless you want to; the scarf will cover the joins.
11. Finally, tuck his scarf around his neck and put his hat on. The hat will look best if you gently press your thumb into the underside so it is concave and fits his head. Add the white trim, with the join at the back and texture it if you wish using a cocktail stick. Add the pompom.
These penguins will look lovely on a cake, or on a mantelpiece or, if you put a hole through the hat, hanging on the tree.
Ok I’m a total Fimo virgin so most of this will probably sound stupid but hey ho, it might help someone else too. Once made do you bake or air dry? When do you varnish?
You bake it, at 110C. It is lovely to work with