HOW I MAKE CLAY BEBESSSSssss (super long post sorry hehe) (Patreon)

henlo bestiesss!!! Here's a kind of a long post about my clay making process hehe I wasn't able to record the process so i'll just try to record when I make the second batch of the bebe bear skeletons!!

So first, here are the materials I use + the links! These are the essentials!!

1. ORIGINAL SCULPEY OVEN BAKE CLAY 1 LB ($6.56) - This is the only brand I've ever used and 1 lb is already plentyyyy if you're not trying to make super big stuff! I always buy this from Walmart, I tried looking it up on Amazon but omg it's like double the foken price so try your local stores first!

2. APPLE BARREL MATTE ACRYLIC PAINT ($0.54/bottle) - I also buy this from Walmart haha it's what I used for my acrylic paintings too and I love it because it's super cheap and it's kind of a soft acrylic paint, which is not viscous but not super watery too, which makes it super easy to mix!

MAGICFLY ACRYLIC PAINT - Magicfly sent a box of acrylic paint to me years ago and it's very nice and pigmented but it's a bit thicker than apple barrel which makes it harder for me to mix. I'm not sure if they still have the same set I have, but I linked their current acrylic set from amazon

3. BLUE BRUSHES! ($4) - you will not need bougie ass paint brushes so just grab whatever you can grab from walmart too hahaha it's around $4 and I bought the round brushes and another set with smaller brushes for details.  The one on the right, i did a little digging and it's a mermaid brush for $10. you dont need that bestie. unless you like how it looks because it's cute af

4. ANY SUPER DUPER OLD BRUSH, you can even make one from your nose hairs! I use this one I stole from my sister hahahhaa you will need this for resin, and you should just like.,,, throw it away after because it will get sticky affff

5. CLAY TOOLS WITH CASE ($7.99) - Honestly,,, i only use like 3-4 tools out of the set. And the two of my favorites (the one with the wooden handles) i got from another set but idk where I bought it, it's not in my amazon history, it's also not included in this clay tools with case set, but I found a similar one  for $6.99.

-Flat tools i use to..... flatten.. hahahahha

-Sharp end, sometimes i need to put little balls.... like the teeth of the bear for example, and since i have longs nails i cant pick it up lmaooo so i use this to pick up and stick it to the main clay

- Ball tool haha this one I use for eye sockets or just to make smooth holes

6. MELODY SUSIE UV LAMP ($39.99) - This one is the priciest purchase for my clay shenanigans but it's also a necessary one! I use this to cure (or dry) the resin.

This is usually for gel nail polish, so you can probably try other cheaper brands just look up UV lamps, you just have to check the WATTS, higher watts means faster dry time.. BUTTT idk.. make sure you do research! I just bought one the other day which was supposed to be like 120 Watts but it didn't work at alll!!!

I've had this melody susie since 2021 and i only have to replace the lamps every year maybe, so it's a great investment! I also use it for my nails HAHA

SUN (FREE) haha some people just cure their resin using sunlight.. like they just put it outside for some time.. which i haven't tried.. but if you live in a sunny area then you should probably try to save $40!! haha

7. UV RESIN ($16.99)  - I know it seems pricey but this one is a bigger bottle (200g) and I would use this for a long time (depends how big your project is ofc) Like the UV lamp, you can always try cheaper resin, but I'm tellin u bestie, resin hunting is super hard!! I tried two other brands, one turned yellow, the other was still super sticky even after i cured it for hours!! So i try to stick to this brand with like the floral illustration haha

8. TOASTER OVEN - I've had this lil oven since 2021 too and I'm pretty sure I got it on sale for like $20!!! The brand is Cooks and I tried to look it up but it's probably an old one so I can't find the same toaster oven anywhereee!! I did a quick search though and there are like other $20 toaster ovens from walmart!! Maybe you could also try if you have like an oven at home butttttt ya know.. the clay fumes is certainly not good if you use the oven for your food too..

NON-ESSENTIALS BUT IT COULD HELP!!!

1. SUPER GLUE ($10.31)  - you can absolutely buy any type of super glue, i do not recommend this because it's crazy expensive and not necessary! I only use super glue when I do clay wall hangs, I put it in the holes so the eye pins will have extra stickiness other than the resin. This could also help if you want to make clay keychains or earrings! anything that hangs!

2. ANY CORN STARCH! - This oneeee.. kindaaa not necessary but super helpful if you have it! Sometimes when you work with clay, your hands will veentually get sticky, so a little bit of cornstarch on your hands would help! Also great to smoothen the clay and get rid of finger prints!

3. Aluminum Foil! - Also not necessary, but I place my clay bears here when I resin them and put them in the lamp because sometimes the resin leaks to the lamp tray and it's a hassle to clean that all up! You can also shape this up and use it as a structure for you clay!! Like for example you have this little crumpled aluminum foil ball, just cover it up with clay and bake!! It makes your clay lighter and also will help as a structure or base. Make sure you press the clay hard onto it though or else it could break apart!

4. Sandpaper - absolutely not foken necessary but I just have it because sometimes my clay bears' little feet could be a bit wonky, so I use sandpaper to even it so they can stand hehe you can also use it to smoothen your clay or shave off parts you dont like

5. Light Bulb replacement ($9.98)  - For the melody susie lamp!! I only changed my lamp bulbs twice since 2021!

6. Fiskars Cutting Mat - absolutely dont recommend, i'm just showing you guys what I have hahaha I don't recommend because it's pricey, i think it's a set so its $55, and i just use it to cover my desk andddd it's not very resin and clay friendly!

Silicone Mats - ($7.99 rn bcos it's on sale) I'd recommend silicone mats tho! I'm sure there are cheaper ones, but silicone mats are resin and  clay friendlyyy!!

NOW THE PROCESS!

1. First, I sprinkle a lil corn starch on the mat and on my palms too, then just knead and knead the clay, sculpt, do little details like this!

2. Bakey bakey! The temperature of your oven and baking time depends on how thicccc your clay is! The bears i usually make are about an inch thick and 2 inches wide and 3 inches tall and I bake them around 220 degrees for like 15 minutes! Theyre still hottie hot so make sure you just leave them be for like uhhhh maybe 5-10 minutes before you pick them up

3. Paint time!!! Not much to say... hahhaa this takes me so much time though especially if I need to make a lot of them plus the details too!!!!

4. RESINNNN!! My acrylic paint dries super fast so I go to putting resin right away (after I'm done painting all the bears) Theyre all laid down like this and I will only cover the top half first

5. THEY GO TO THE LAB!! (UV LAMP) - so I cure them with the UV lamp, the curing time depends on how thick your resin is. I put thicccc layers because i don't want to do it over and over again hahaha the lamp has 120 secs, 180 secs and 30 min options so sometimes i just leave them for 30 minutes to reallllyy relaly cure them thiccc resin, but i think theyre already cured after 10 min haha you can just check by lightly touching them, see if theyre still sticky

Make sure you space them out inside so they don't sticky together!!

If they stick together or to the foil, just rip them apart, paint that area again, resin again, cure again haha

I bought another UV lamp the other day, but it's LED and not actual light bulbs, just so I can cure the bears faster, it has120 watts, my melodie susie only has 36 i think?? But this is such a floppirita!! I cured it for like 10 minutes and the mf still stickyyyyy..

But anyway tadaaa!!!! That's basically it!!! I just put resin on the other side of the bears andddd

WE GOT A SHINY BEAR!!!

Let me know if you guys have any questions!! I will try to record a process video when I make the next batch!!!

here are some other clay stuff I did from 2021!!! They're still cute and shiny!!! 2nd pic the other two not so shiny because I haven't discovered resin yet that time, I used this mod podge thingy to make them shiny!!