These miniature bees are so cute!
This is an easy entry level project if you have not worked with clay much before.
If you’re looking for a short creative DIY project to enjoy without having to get all complicated, or you’ve wanted to try working with clay, this is the perfect way to have that experience with minimal investment of time and money.
Here's what the clay artist says you will need:
Yellow clay * Black clay * Translucent clay
TLS * Punch * Ball tool * Cutter * Eye screws * Gloss varnish
Just watch this great 7:37 minute long video, created by Giulia Basile of Giuliart, and get the few items you’ll need in a local store or from an online supplier.
Following along, step-by-step:
Take some yellow clay and use a small roller to roll it out to about 2mm thick
Slice the ends off it so you have a smooth yellow rectangle
Then use your slicer to divide it into three equal-sized strips
Now it’s time to roll out the black clay the same way as in step 1 above
Now lay two of the yellow strips on top of the flat black clay
Cut away the excess black clay on all sides until you end up with two strips that are black on one side and yellow on the other side
Overlay and add the third yellow strip after the black strip
Now you have stacked yellow, black, yellow, black, yellow – a 5 layered strip
Smooth it out on all sides gently with the roller along the edges
Now lay the strip flat and with a sharp cutter, slice off anywhere from 5-8 of these pieces, each of which is a cute “bee body” that can be gently shaped with your fingers
Roll and form them into capsule like shapes with your fingers gently
Use a pointy tool to make too small dimple cavities for the eyes on one end of each body
Roll out a super slim piece of black clay, thin as a needle, and slice tiny eyes from it that you fit into the indents you made
Poke a small deeper indent on the side of the bee, and use Sculpey Translucent Liquid Sculpey to cover the hole, then insert a small round-headed stainless-steel eye-screw, then top off with more TLS since this is needed for sticking on the wings
Roll out your translucent clay to only about 1mm thick with the small roller and cut 2 round circles with a pastry tip tool
Pick up one circle, pinch the clay and pinch it to make it like a teardrop, then set it to lie at a right angle to the eye-screw pointing out like a wing—repeat with the second little circle and affix it to the other side of the bee
Now little Miss Bee is ready, so it is time to bake her! (NOTE: no baking time mentioned)
After baking and cooling off, you can put a large paper clip through the eye-screw and use Duraclear gloss varnish on her with a not-too-thick paintbrush
Your sweet little buzzing bee is now ready to buzz away to go foraging in a garden of nectar-laden flowers!
You can make as many bees as you like, for decorations around the house, or hang them on earring hoops, on a chain as a pendant, or make a happy bee charm bracelet with them!
Bee Happy! :)