Oh Christmas Tree...

Christmas is just around the corner, so today I thought I'd share an idea I came up with last year for some cute Christmas tree charms.

Porcelain Trees

These are made in porcelain, but they also work in polymer for a quick festive make.

Depending on what you prefer, you will need some ceramic or polymer clay. Paints, inks, glazes, whatever you like to use to create with. For the tutorial I chose to use green polymer clay. You will also need a ball ended stylus and a little bit of wire.

Gather Supplies

Start off by conditioning your clay and rolling to form a tree shape.

Ready to start creating

Using the stylus, poke a short groove in the clay beginning at the top and pulling the tool out at the bottom to flare it out. (This doesn't work quite as well with polymer clay as it does with ceramic, you will end up with a slightly smoother design). To get a nice finish, lift the tool out before it tears through the clay. Do this all the way round the bottom of the tree shape.

The first row of branches

Once you have your first line repeat just above to make a second line. Try and finish the groove of the second line just above the top go the first so there are no gaps.

Building the design.

Continue adding lines around the shape until you get to the top.

Branches finished

Take some wire and create a loop. Fix this in the top of the tree, then cure the clay following the instructions on your clay packet.

Adding a copper wire loop

Once cooled it's time to decorate. I decided I liked the green colour of the clay so opted for a snowy effect using white alcohol ink, but you can paint, use inks, metallic wax or whatever takes your fancy!

To make it look as though the snow has fallen on the branches, I took a dab of ink on my finger and gently patted it around the tree so that just the tips of the branches were coloured.

Adding the snow

While the ink was still wet, I sprinkled on some microfine glitter for an extra bit of sparkle (Well it is Christmas!)

And a bit of sparkle

And here are the finished trees. They would be great as some last minute earrings, a pendant or make a bigger version and turn them into a Christmas decoration, a tree for your tree!

The finished decorated trees.