DIY Miniature Polymer Clay Drip Cake

For this project, I decided to make a miniature drip cake in 1:12 scale, but it could be adapted for other sizes. The materials are cheap and simple, and someone of any polymer clay sculpting skill level could have a lot of fun making it, and have a beautiful end result. It would be perfect for a wedding or fancy birthday diorama, and is the is mixture of elegant and creative!

Materials

• White, red, and orange polymer clay
• Tan and light brown chalk pastels
• Liquid polymer clay
• Polymer clay glue
• Polymer clay glaze
• Gold pigment

Tools

• Bottle or marker cap
• Assorted clay tools
• Old or unused toothbrush
• Exacto-knives
• Paintbrush
• Toaster oven
• Straw
• Toothpick
• Optional:
• Polymer clay roller

To begin the main part of the cake, find a circular object like a marker or bottle cap depending on the width you want your cake to be. For this cake I used the cap of a small jar. Then, roll a piece of white polymer clay evenly so that it is about a quarter of an inch thick. (If you are using a clay roller, use the largest setting.) Press your object into the clay like a cookie cutter, and make five circles. Stack the circles on top of each other and smooth out the cracks between them using your finger or a clay tool. Press a round clay tool into your cake near the bottom of it, and pull it around the cake to make an indented ring. Repeat this two more times at even intervals up the cake, and then smooth the edges of rings with your fingers or a rubber clay tool. Use an old or unused toothbrush to give your cake a realistic texture. Finally, take tan and light brown chalk pastels, and use an exacto-knife to scrape the pastels to create powder. Use a dry paintbrush to brush the powder onto your cake to make it look like bread. Bake your cake in the toaster oven for 7-10 minutes at the temperature specified on your polymer clay's packaging.

Mix a little bit of white polymer clay with liquid clay until it has the consistency of frosting. Use a flat-edged clay tool to spread your "frosting" on your cake. The top should be completely covered, but the frosting should not be too thick on the sides, and you should be able to see parts of the cake where the cake is thicker and the frosting is thinner. When you are satisfied, and the frosting is smooth, bake your cake for 3-5 minutes.

Mix liquid polymer clay with gold pigment, it should have a very liquidy consistency. Get a little bit of the gold pigment onto a toothpick or pointed clay tool, and starting at the top of your cake, drag your clay tool down the side of your cake to about halfway. When you pick up your tool, the gold liquid should bead at the bottom of your line and form a "drip". Repeat this at different lengths around about a third of your cake, then bake in the toaster oven for 2-4 minutes.

To make the macarons, you will first need to mix white polymer clay with a little bit of red polymer clay to make a light pink color. (I recommend mixing your polymer clay with a bit of liquid clay to make it softer.) You will also need to find a small circular object, like a straw or a bead with a large hole. Roll the pink polymer clay out so that it is very thin, and use the straw like a cookie cutter to make two circles. Then roll out a very thin snake of polymer clay and wrap it around the edge of your two circles. Use a toothpick or a pointed clay tool to press the snake of clay into the circle, and to give it the texture of bread. Roll out a white piece of polymer clay even thinner then you did before, and use your straw to make a circle in it. Take one of your pink circles, place it upside-down, stack the white circle on top of it, and place the other pink circle upright on top of that. Make sure they are firmly attached together. Make three macarons and bake them in the toaster oven for 2 minutes.

To make the large frosting decorations, take a small ball of white polymer clay, and shape it into a cone that is about 5mm tall. Take a clay tool with a small rounded tip, press it into the bottom of the cone, and drag it to the top. Repeat this all around the cone, and then take the clay tool and press the little ridges on the cone to the sides in a zig-zag pattern. Make two of these.

To make the small white frosting decorations, make a very small ball of white polymer clay, and press it into a cone shape. Take a pointed clay tool and press it into the cone starting at the bottom and going to the top like you did before to make ridges. Use the clay tool to press all of the ridges in one direction so they are slightly curved. Make one of these decorations.

For the pink and white frosting decorations, take a tiny bit of white polymer clay and some of the extra light pink clay from the macarons. Press them together, and form them into a cone shape. Repeat what you did to make the last type of frosting, and then make two more of them (three in all).

Bake all of your frosting decorations for 1-2 minutes.

Add a tiny bit of orange polymer clay to the extra light pink from the macarons, and roll it into a very flat sheet (if you are using a clay roller, use the smallest setting). Cut the clay into different sized squares with an exatco knife, and accordion fold the bottom of the squares to make the pieces look like fans.

Roll pieces of the original light pink polymer clay and white polymer clay into thin snakes, and then twist them together.

Make little balls of pink and white clay.

Bake the decorations in your toaster oven for 1-2 minutes.

After the twisted decoration has been baked, cut it into different sized pieces that are smaller than half an inch with an exacto knife.

Mix a little bit of white polymer clay with clay glue and use this to stick all of your decorations to your cake above the gold drips, and directly across from them on the bottom of the cake.

Bake the whole cake for 2-3 minutes, and once it is no longer hot, gold drips with clay glaze to make them stand out.

Admire your beautiful cake and show it off to your friends, you're finished!