Getting Ready for Christmas Lollies

Lollipops are great for every season but Christmas is the perfect setting for hand-made ones.  I decided to make these as ornaments but they can be used as the "garnish" for wrapping presents, or if made thin enough, you might use them in scrapbooking.

Supplies:

Creative Paperclay Modeling Material ® 

Popsicle sticks

Acrylic paint

Glue

Latex or PVC gloves

Wire

Glitter nail polish

24 gauge wire

First, I take a chunk off the block of modeling clay and put some dark red acrylic paint in the middle of it.  Knead the paint into the clay until it is thoroughly mixed.  You can keep adding paint to get to the color you want.  I wanted the color to be between red and pink.

It will look something like this.  The rubber gloves keep your hands from becoming a mess.

Next, you'll roll out a bit of the red and plain clay to make two ropes of equal length.

Put a light line of glue on the top of both ropes and roll to the side so the back rope is glued to the front rope and the front rope is ready to adhere to the coil you're about to make.

Start coiling the two ropes.  If they start sticking to your work surface, add a little water.  Keep coiling until you get to the end.  I've cut a slight angle on the red here so it will fold in easier.

Next, I used a wet Exacto blade to make the starting slit for the popsicle stick.  Place a little glue on the top of the stick to allow for firm attachment.  Then I took a wet paint brush and smoothed down any rough parts in the clay and also spread out any extra glue.

I tried different combinations like coiling the ropes first and then coiling again OR you can put the two ropes together and roll them together into a single rope, twist, then coil...  Let dry on aluminum foil or wax paper.  

After they were dry, I spiced them up with clear nail polish with glitter.

I made some small loops with 24 gauge wire and pushed them into the top of the lollipops with more glue so I can hang them.

You can experiment and find out which style is the most appealing to you.  Whatever you do, though, make sure you have fun!