Polymer Clay Maraca

Before you begin, condition the polymer clay. Simply knead and warm with your hands or roll it through the pasta machine several times, folding and rolling until the clay is soft and pliable.

Materials:

small glass ball ornament
Kato Nublade
Kato Polyclay in two contrasting colors, plus black and brown for the handle
glass beads
pasta machine for clay
tall drinking glass
polyester batting

1. To create a zigzag cane: Roll each color of clay through a thick setting of your pasta machine into sheets. Place one atop the other and cut through both sheets to make a 4" x 4" square.

2. Leave the sheets together after cutting. Cut them in half (side to side, not diagonally) and place one half atop the other, maintaining color alternation (figure A).

3. Cut this in three equal pieces lengthwise, and then stack to form your slab. Using the Nublade, trim each side (figure B). Repeat to make another striped slab for later use.

4. Examine striped ends of the slab and select the side that is most square in shape to be the face of your cane. If necessary, trim to make the face as square as possible.

5. Using Nublade, carefully cut the face of the cane diagonally, dividing into two triangular pieces (figure C).

6. Separate the pieces and reassemble so that the stripes of one piece run perpendicular to the stripes of the other piece and the assembled shape is a triangle (figure D).

7. Lay the longest side of the triangle flat on your work surface, and cut into two equal length pieces (figure E). Grasp each piece next to the cut you've made, bring them up and, without turning, press them together (figure F).

8. Place the newly formed square cane on your work surface and reduce by pressing opposite sides of the square with the palms of your hands. Work all sides, flipping the cane over and repeating until the reduced cane is approximately 10 inches long (figure G).

9. Trim the ends and then cut the reduced cane in half. Reassemble so that stripes run diagonally from one corner to the other (figure H).

10. Divide in half again and press pieces together so that the diagonally running stripes form a "V" (figure I). This is the basic cane.

11. Roll a medium-thin to thin sheet of clay that is large enough to cover the glass ball. Onto this sheet place thin slices cut from the cane (figure J). Roll with either an acrylic rod or a knitting needle to join edges of the slices together. Trim sides.

12. Carefully wrap this sheet around the glass ball. Trim so that the ends of the sheet meet neatly with no overlap (figure K). Gently smooth to close joints.

13. To close the top and bottom: Hold the ball so that the top faces you. Make four equally spaced cuts from the top edge of the sheet to the place where the sheet touches the ball (figure L). Carefully press one piece to the ball; then from the place where the cut meets the ball and cut, aiming the blade to the opposite cut (figure M). Repeat, trimming the other side.

14. Repeat this procedure with each quadrant and join the seams (figure N). Repeat to close the clay around the opening.

15. Place the ball on a piece of polyester batting and bake at 275 F degrees for 20 minutes. Once cool, fill the ball with glass beads and set aside.

16. To make the handle: Roll a cylinder approximately 2 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. Cut thin slices from the reserved striped slab (from step 3) and place them on the cylinder so that the stripes run parallel to the sides of the cylinder (figure O). Trim the ends.

17. Close one end of the cylinder by first indenting the end with your fingers and then gradually drawing the stripes over the inside clay. Gently roll the closed end to form a point (figure P).

18. Push the open end of the baked, covered ball into the thick end of the handle clay. Work the clay up around the neck of the ball.

19. Roll a snake of black clay and wrap around, trimming neatly. Finish by rolling a thinner snake of brown and wrapping around next to the black snake (figure Q).

20. Wrap the finished maraca with batting and nest into the drinking glass (figure R). This will ensure that the handle will be straight while you bake it at 275 F degrees for 45 minutes.