Polymer Clay Waffle

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What happens when the breakfast table meets the craft table? You get a polymer clay waffle with personality. It’s not very often we venture beyond upcycling, but sometimes inspiration for a project can’t be ignored! And since I still had to thrift one of the supplies to make it, I’m declaring it an upcycle by association. I’ll allow it, if you will 😉.

Before we get to the tutorial, it’s time for another Creative Craft blog hop co-hosted every other month by yours truly and Donna from Modern on Monticello! If you are visiting from Carol at Blue Sky at Home ,welcome! Thanks for hopping over!

At the very bottom of this post, we’ll be directing you to the next stop on this venture. But don’t forget to visit the other talented creators too; they’re sharing plenty of inspiring projects. And if you don’t have time to see them all today, pop back throughout the week so you won’t miss a single one!

Breakfast Inspiration

Ever since I made this DIY bag charm to look like my favourite snack food (pistachios), I’ve started seeing polymer clay food everywhere. Once you notice it, you can’t unsee it! Then one morning while deciding what to have for breakfast, I looked down at this box of waffles and thought, you’d make a pretty cute little character. The next thing I knew, I was reaching for the polymer clay instead of the maple syrup and butter.

Box of gluten-free waffles

But I’m not must making any plain ‘ol waffles; this one’s serving up a healthy dose of sass! Aside from the creativity, there’s such a satisfying tactile element in crafting with polymer clay. Kneading, conditioning and shaping the clay can be sooooo relaxing!

Polymer Clay Waffle Materials

[If you’re looking for some of the things we used, we’ve got you covered (disclosure): The blue links in this post may be affiliate links. We earn a commission from qualifying purchases which we proudly donate to Alzheimer’s research. But don’t worry, you don’t pay a cent more! Thanks for helping to support our fundraiser!]

Four different colours of Culpi three on a table with a keyboard key in the middle. Colours are beige, brown yellow cream.

Polymer Clay Waffle

Conditioning your clay is always the first step; you ‘need to knead’ it right out of the package. Mix a few colours to approximate the colour of a cooked waffle. It’s all trial and error, so have fun.

At first, I rolled out a square. Tip: Use a few stacked paint sticks either side of the clay to keep the thickness consistent as you roll.

Then I used a key from an old keyboard to make the square impressions. I dipped it into cornstarch to prevent sticking (don’t worry, it brushes off after baking). Note: Don’t let raw clay sit with cornstarch for too long before baking, as it can draw out plasticizers and dry the clay.

Pressing the keyboard key into a square of polymer clay to mimic a waffle. Also present our polymer, clay eyes and two spoons on a sheet of baking paper.

The waffle was so cute with its pat of butter hat, but I really wanted to add hands and legs. When I realized I made the waffle too thin to add those elements, I baked just the face and moved on to plan B.

Clay waffle face on a sheet of baking paper with polymer clay hands, rolled tubes and silicone brush

By the way, if you are using the keyboard key method for this project, the corn starch (or baking soda) easily brushes off with a soft brush. Alternatively, if you have a keyboard attachment for your vacuum, and you’re careful, that could work in the hard to reach places. Just don’t use a vacuum with full suction or you might damage your masterpiece!

A red toothbrush, brushing away baking soda from polymer clay

Plan B

Making Your Own Impression Tools

While out thrifting, I came across this red mini silicone mold tray and immediately saw its potential. Since polymer clay picks up every speck of dirt easily, we ran it through our ultrasonic cleaner.

Red silicon mat with square grids in a plastic bag sitting on top of an ultrasonic cleaner

Pressing polymer clay into the tray creates a raised (positive) impression, but since waffles are all about those little sunken squares, I needed the opposite: a negative impression.

Hand holding tan colour polymer clay after being pressed into square silicone tray. The clay is impressed squares

The solution is to bake the clay so it hardens into a reusable texture maker! Now I had a perfectly consistent waffle pattern ready to go.

One word of caution before you try this: use Premo polymer clay instead of Sculpey III. I learned the hard way that Sculpey III can be too brittle for this type of application and didn’t hold up the way I hoped. The thinner parts broke apart when I pressed it into the clay because Sculpey III doesn’t have any flexibility.

Tan coloured polymer clay square beside polymer clay square mould impression.

Anyhow, it not only broke, but the first try was a little bit wonky. With a bit more practice, and re-roling of the polymer clay, I did manage to get the look I wanted.

Polymer Clay Face

Next, up is the face! I find it so much easier to use a circle cutter for the whites of the eyes. Of course, you can improvise and use anything circular you happen to have. For instance, for the iris, I used a circle punch from one of Hubs kits. However it’s not stainless steel, so I had to remove the grease keeping it from rusting! Keep this in mind when working with improvised tools so you don’t accidentally stain the clay.

Notice that I’m cutting out the pieces on a white glazed tile. It’s the perfect surface to work on, but it’s also great for baking on too.

The lids are also a circle, just cut in thirds. Stack the pieces together to form the eye.

Polymer clay eyes on a piece of baking paper

Then use the tiniest amount of white to add catch lights with a dot on each iris. I rolled black for the eyebrows and also lined the lids with a thin rope of black.

Polymer clay face adorned with two eyes and two eyebrows sitting on a tile with polymer clay in the background

My sassy waffle is starting to shape up! Next, I extended the ‘eye liner’ into eye lashes. I also sculpted a melty-looking butter pat hat and draped it over the top. Ever since I made this crochet corn pattern, I’ve been obsessed with butter pat hats!

The lips are two rolls of pink that I brought together and pinched into a pouty mouth

Polymer clay face in progress with butter pat hat on baking paper and lips on the tile

Adding on the lips completes her sassy face!

Hand adding the lips to the polymer clay waffle face sitting on baking paper and a tile, with polymer clay in the background

Polymer Clay Tips

At this point, I set aside the project to work on something else. I often have a few different projects on the go. If you don’t make a clay project in one session, be sure to cover it with a clean container or set a piece of baking paper on top to keep the dust off. Polymer clay doesn’t air-dry, so you can prolong your projects for day or weeks and keep adjusting it project until you’re happy with it. That’s particularly handy when you’re making something detailed.

Baking paper does tend to draw out the plasticizers so my preference is to leave projects on a tile and cover it with an overturned plastic tub or foil pan.

Note that clay that sits too long will likely need reconditioning if you want to work with it again. So try to get certain parts complete before moving on. Here, I did the face and then finished the extremities and final assembly a few days later.

Polymer Clay Pumps

A sassy waffle needs bright pink pumps, don’t you think? I adapted a pattern for shoes found online and cut out the pink clay.

Cut pieces of bright pink polymer clay in the shape of shoes, with paper patterns on a tile

For the heals, I cut two rectangles into a narrow shape at the bottom.

Two pieces of bright, pink clay on a tile with the left one cut out in the shape of the heel

An overturned chopstick holder helps to bend the soles into shape.

Bright pink clay in the shape of a shoe sole on the back of an overturned chopstick holder

But I wanted a higher heal so bent it even more and added the heal for support.

Bright pink clay shoes with heels attached

For support, I added a wooden dowel. However, it squished the shoes down quite a bit.

Thin wooden dowel inserted into heel of one of the clay shoes with scissors positioned over it, ready to cut it to size

After adding the sides, they were even more misshapen. So I improvised and made use of the silicone sheathing from an old wire wisk. I bent some wire into shape and threaded on the silicone tubing from the wisk.

Polymer clay shoes, stuffed with pieces of tissue on top of baking paper and tile. Beside it, a hand holds a piece of wire with bright green silicone tubing wrapping around it.

The shoes need to be wide enough to accommodate a foot! After inserting my makeshift tool into each shoe, it gave me just enough support to reshape the pumps.

Green silicone wire form wedged into the left clay shoe. The right shoe still has tissue stuffed in it, with wire beside it. It all sits on top of baking paper and a white tile.

They look so much better!

Two pink polymer clay pumps are finished on top of baking paper and tile. The green silicone and wire sits beside it with several sculpting tools.

Before proceeding, I baked the pumps to harden them so I could continue with the legs. Twist and bend some wire as shown and fit it into each show.

Two pink polymer clay pumps on top of baking paper and tile. Inside one of the pumps is a bent piece of twisted wire with more twisted wire in front. Two pieces of green silicone wrapped wire sit to the side.

Sculpting Hands

For the hand, roll two lump of clay into a ball. Shape it so it’s narrower at one end. Cut 4 sections partway through the clay. These will become the fingers.

Two rudimentary sculpted polymer clay hands in front of some polymer clay.

As you can see, one hand is outstretched and I sculpted the other to form a fist. Roll two ropes for the arms and insert wire as shown. Feed one end onto the hands. The other end will be inserted into the body later. So set them aside while you make the legs.

Polymer clay hand with arm attached and wire sticking out the bottom. Another hand sits to the side, another arm sits blue. Waffle mould made of polymer clay is also on the baking paper, which is on top of a white tile.

Polymer Clay Legs

Roll some clay ropes for the legs.

Polymer clay shoes, rules of beige coloured clay and twisted wire on top of baking paper and white tile

Insert the pointy end through the middle of each leg.

Hand holding the wire form of the leg with polymer clay wrapped around it

Cover the bottom with more clay to form a foot and blend together. Bend one leg at the knee and place it over the other leg as shown. Be sure to leave enough wire sticking out at the top to insert into the waffle body.

Two polymer clay legs crossed on top of baking paper with bright pink pumps in front of it

Insert each foot into now-baked the shoes. You can add a drop of Sculpey adhesive if you like, but I think the force of gravity will keep them on!

Polymer clay waffle, during assembly with one arm, propped up by a white ceramic chopstick holder. Legs are below crossed with wires, sticking out at the top.

However, when it comes to attaching the arms and legs to the body, it’s nice to have some added insurance.

Hand holding a package of scope adhesive above the polymer clay waffle about to be assembled

So I did use a drop of adhesive before attaching those parts.

Hand holding polymer clay leg with Sculpey adhesive on the end while polymer clay waffle is below it

Baking Polymer Clay

You’ll notice that I’m supporting her arm using ceramic chop stick holders. They are perfect in the oven to prop things up as needed.

All ready to bake!

Polymer clay waffle, ready to bake; sitting on top of baking paper and propped up by white ceramic chopstick holders

Polymer clay can burn easily if your oven experiences any temperature spikes. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so I always bake my polymer clay tented under something sturdy like a foil pan.

Side view of polymer clay waffle, sitting underneath a foil pie plate.

I found this foil pie pan a bit shallow so am using more of the ceramic chopstick holders to prop it up for additional clearance!

Foil pie plate supported by ceramic chopstick holders on top of a baking sheet

Test Your Oven

Calibrate the oven you plan to use to bake your project. Polymer clay isn’t toxic (if you don’t burn it), but I don’t like the smell. So I use a dedicated toaster oven outside.

One must-have piece of equipment is a temperature gauge so you can preheat your oven and make sure you’re reaching the correct temperature – AND maintaining it. You can easily ruin all your hard work if you don’t bake at the right temperature (and for the correct length of time).

I usually bake my projects for an hour; the rule of thumb is 15 – 30 minutes for every 1/4″, but it really doesn’t hurt to bake longer. The oven temperature MUST be a steady 175 degrees (I’ve baked as low as 160 with success).

Toaster oven with polymer project baking inside. Oven thermometer is at the front of the oven.

I let every project cool down in the toaster oven with the door closed.

Polymer Clay Food Magnet

Didn’t I tell you she was going to be sassy? Ordinary waffles are fine, but a sassy waffle is so much more fun! Glue a magnet on the back and let her take up residence on your fridge.

Completed sassy polymer clay waffle with one hand on hip and the other hand extended. She has her legs crossed and is wearing pink pumps.

Pin Polymer Clay Waffle

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Pinnable image for polymer clay waffle

Creative Craft Hop

Now it’s time to check out this Woven Bamboo Fibers Placemat Box Tutorial from Gail at Purple Hues and Me. When you’re done, please remember to visit these other amazing talents below:

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