Bottle Tree Seed Pod Sculpture

Hello and happy Friday everyone! Cinnamon here and I am going to show

you how I created this piece I call  "They Didn't Know that We Were Seeds" 

which was inspired by a Mexican proverb. This is one of the smallest

pieces that I've made, I'll show you how I created this with the steps below:

Supplies: 

Creative Paperclay®
Masking tape
Bottle Tree Seed Pods

Cardboard
Exacto Knife
Sand paper
E600 Craft Glue

Aleene's Tacky Glue
Acrylic paint
Sealer, Varnish

I had these pods hanging around my studio that a family member

 gave me after coming back from vacation. They come from a tree

that is native to Australia and is known as Queensland bottle tree. 

I started out by getting a piece of cardboard and folding it to a size that

 would fit inside the seed pod. I covered it with masking tape and clay. 

After getting the rough shape of the piece, sit it aside and 

allow it to dry for around 24 hours. Make sure that it fits in 

the pod with a bit of room at the top and the bottom.

After allowing it to dry begin to work on the face and build 

up the features. This will be a gradual build up and 

break down process, so you need a little patience.

When you are satisfied, sit the piece aside again to dry

before building up the rest and allow it to dry again.

After letting the piece dry, begin to carve into the piece with a 

razor or exacto knife to better define the shape of the face 

and features. Add more to finish out the shape of the clay 

if it still needs more work and allow it to dry again. Continue 

this process until you are happy with how the face comes out.

Once you are done, you can begin to paint the piece with your choice of paint.  

I am using a magnifying glass here so that I could see the lips

better. I didn't want to mess them up because they're so tiny! 

(I also thought it would make the photo 10% cooler, and it did! :)

I am using some wool here for the hair. I decided to put two

 long braids on the doll so I braided the hair in advance so

 that I could glue the braids on later.

I am using Aleene's Tacky glue here so that I could get the hair to stick

to the piece quickly. This glue grabs on to whatever you are gluing

 fast so that you don't have to spend a long time holding the pieces together.

I have panted the eyelashes with a tiny brush to make the strokes

 look like real lashes. I'm not good at putting lashes on my 

pieces, and especially not in this micro size!

With every piece that you add to the doll, be sure that she still 

fits in the pod. She can easily become to big for it when you 

start dressing her, so take note of how big you are working.

I am now wrapping a piece of fabric around her to dress her. 

Again, make sure that it still fits in the pod here!

Wiki image Public Domain

(This is what the pods look like hanging in the tree)

I decided to use corn kernels to resemble the seeds from the plant.

I am using the Aleene's Tacky glue here to get them in place.

I felt that the kernels were a bit too yellow, so I put a light coat

 of brown paint over them to tone  them down.

After getting the kernels in order I moved on to putting the 

doll in place. I went with the E6000 glue here to get a better 

hold of her since she was bigger. I left the bottom kernels off

so that I can glue them after placing the doll.

After the doll has been placed, you can move on to placing the last few kernels.

Thank you all once again for stopping by, and I hope that you enjoyed 

today's tutorial! You can find Creative Paperclay® at the following 

retailers Creative Paperclay® Online Store, Michael's, Amazon, Joann's.

See more of my work at Melandolly.com, catch updates on 

my Instagram page and here is a link to my shop!

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if you didn't already!