Learn To Build
A Flower Border
by Tracy Topps
Materials Needed
- 6�" Dolls House Fence Section
- Glue Gun
- Strong 8" Cardboard Sheet
- Scissors
- Small Bowl of Cold Water
- Paper Towels
- Moss, sheet type
- Small Vine
- Small Fern Pieces
- 15-20 Tiny Assortment of Plastic Flowers, (in your choice of colors)
- Bunch of Clay Flowers
- 3-5 Small Plastic Plants
- Green Polyfiber
- Optional, fountain or other decorative garden pieces
Close-up images of materials needed
Enlarge picture of basic supply requirements
TIP
As you've noted from the materials list, I've included a small bowl of cold water. This is used just in case you burn your fingers with the hot glue! You can dip your burned finger into the water, which will make the glue peel off without too much pain.
1. Take your fence and put it at the end of your cardboard. Make a line on the other end so you will know where you are going to cut it at the end. I cut around 3" in front of the fence by 6 1/2" wide by 3" deep. You can make it deeper. Mark the measurements about 3�"-4" deep if you are going to use a fountain or other decorative garden piece in the center.
Enlarge picture marking the width of cardboard base
2. Cut the cardboard and round the edges. You can leave it square if you like, but I always prefer to round my edges.
Enlarge picture showing size of cardboard base after cutting
3. Using your glue gun, add glue under your fence and press it to the straight (back) end of the cardboard base. Hold it in place and you can blow on it until it dries.
Enlarge picture showing where to glue the fence down
4. Press the sheet moss on the glue! Be careful it may be hot. If you are using a bird bath or other decorative piece, now is the time to add it in the center. Make sure you have centered the added piece.
Enlarge picture showing how to add the first sheet moss
5. Now add a bit of glue in the corner of the cardboard (see image).
Enlarge picture showing where to add more glue
6. Now add more sheet moss to the glued area while it is still hot. Press hard enough so that the glue grabs.
Enlarge picture showing where to add glue and moss
7. Add more glue, right below the area on the last step. Then add sheet moss to it the same way you did previously.
Enlarge picture continuing to glue and moss
8. Keep repeating these steps until you have completely covered the entire base. For those of you with bird baths, etc. you will need to add sheet moss up to the base. Press firmly so that you cannot see the bottom of your bird bath, feeder, etc.
Enlarge picture showing complete covering and adding garden accessories
9. Checking progress so far.
Enlarge picture to showing progress so far
10. Now we want to start adding flowers to the back of the fence. Take your fern and cut it to a size that you like. Snip a piece of wire and twist it around the bottom of the fern piece. Now add a touch of glue at the bottom of the wire. Press it down firmly into the moss base.
Enlarge picture showing how to add the fern
11. Showing where to place the fern along the fence line.
Enlarge picture showing the placement of the fern
12. Take out your small vine.
Enlarge picture showing the vine
13. Add a dollup of glue to the bottom of the vine.
Enlarge picture on where to add glue
14. Once the vine is in place, add a little of your sheet moss on top to cover the glue. Press hard and toward the fence so that it will stand up straight.
Enlarge picture showing how to cover the base of the fern
15. Take your tiny flowers bunches. Cut the top part off (so that the three parts are still connected). Doing them this way will make the flowers look more like a 1" scale.
Enlarge picture showing how to prepare the flowers
16. After cutting the flowers, you will have three tiny flowers per bunch, see image.
Enlarge picture showing the cluster of flowers
17. Add a drop of glue to the bottom of the flower cluster and place it down into the moss.
Enlarge picture showing glue & placement
18. Place them in a cluster around each other within the mossy areas.
Enlarge picture showing the flower clusters
19. Now choose your bunch of white flowers. Add glue to the bottom of this bunch and press down and add a pinch or sheet moss around the bottom area. This will aid the flowers to stand tall. If they lean, add a small drop of glue and press more moss around the bottom to make the flowers stand straight up.
Enlarge picture showing how to straighten the flowers
20. This is where you should be so far (see image).
Enlarge picture showing garden so far
21. Take a small bunch of light colored flowers. Add glue to the bottom and press into the moss.
Enlarge picture adding more flowers
TIP
Always remember, smaller flowers should be in the front and larger flowers look better in the back.
22. Cluster the flowers in threes. This adds symmetry to the garden.
Enlarge picture showing flower clusters in threes
23. Now select any of your plants (without flowers). Add them to the border in the back. Larger flowers go in the back.
Enlarge picture showing border plants
24. Remember to use a pinch of moss around the base of the plant and press it firmly to help the plants stand straight up.
Enlarge picture showing moss being added to plants
25. Next, take your clay flowers. Cut the wire stems about 1� inches below the flowers.
Enlarge picture showing preparation of the clay flowers
26. Take three individual flower stems then twist the wires together.
Enlarge picture showing clay flowers twisted as one stem
27. Add glue to the bottom of one bunch; press the bunch into the sheet moss. This will be your choice of placement, either in a nice grouping or spattered around the garden. As you see in the image, I made a grouping of mine.
Enlarge picture showing clay flower placement
28. Progress of border plants and flowers so far.
Enlarge picture showing progress so far
29. Now select a tall greenery piece that has foliage at the bottom and flowers at the top (see image) to add to your border.
Enlarge picture showing new border flowering shrub
30. Again, add glue to the bottom of the flowering plant and press into the sheet moss. Cover the base with moss if the glue is exposed.
Enlarge picture showing garden border after shrub placement
31. Now turn your fence around to the back like it is shown in the image. You will be using the green polyfiber next. Remove a small piece and set aside. Add glue along the fence line.
Enlarge picture showing polyfiber preparation
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Learn To Make 
Close-up images of materials needed
1. Take the large mirror and trace around it onto the surface you are working on. 
2. Now take the two smaller mirrors, trace these in separate areas. This will be the pattern for the clay. 
3. Next take your brown polymer clay and press it into the extruder. I used the medium flat disk however, if you prefer, you can use the half round disk for a softer look. Extrude the polymer clay a line that is approximately enough to form it around the large pattern that you drew. Once you get your clay all around the pattern, cut the ends at an angle and smoosh the ends together. Repeat this process for the smaller patterns. 
4. After you have your large oval formed, you need to decide where the small mirrors shapes will go in juxtaposition to the large one. It is good to make the clay stick to the pan because that will keep the shape intact, especially if the clay is cold and stiff. Once the three shapes are formed, join them together and set aside. 
5. Next we will move onto the ribbon being extruded and tied. Here you can use any size round dot disk you wish. A flat disk, will produce a flat ribbon look which is really pretty. I did a very simple ribbon but you can jazz it up any way you want. Extrude a piece of clay about 8" long. Begin tying the clay, in the traditional shape of a bow. Take your time, otherwise the clay will break. 
6. Continue tying the polymer clay length into a ribbon shape, leaving long lengths to drape across the mirrors. 
7. Completed polymer clay ribbon. 
8. Attach the completed ribbon section to the large oval frame at the top and give it a little push to adhere the clay. Drape the tail of the ribbon over the two smaller oval frames. 
9. Take your paint and brush and apply the first coat of paint. You will need to be sure to get the edges of the frame, inside and out, and under the ribbon. 
10. Let the first coat of paint dry. Then paint again. As mentioned above, if you are using the distress method, you may want to repaint several times. In this instance, I have two coats of paint on this frame. Let dry thoroughly. 
11. When the frame is completely dry, turn the frame over. You need to apply a touch of glue to the frame where each oval is touching. This will insure the bonds of the different sections. Let dry. Now you can paint or distress your frame. To distress the frame, use fine sand paper and choose areas where the item would have naturally been worn down. Once you are satisfied with the look, glue your mirrors into place. The frame is going to be bigger than the mirror so you only want to add glue to the inside edge of the frame. Not the inner edge. Let dry. If you do get glue on the mirror, you can gently scrape it off after its dried. 
12. Completed distressed mirror! 
Learn To Sculpt 
Close-up images of materials needed
1. Here are some of the clays and combinations of clays I use to make pumpkins: 
2. Roll the pumpkin clay into approximately � inch balls and the stem clay into snakes about 1\8 inch round. 
3. If you prefer your pumpkin to have a more 'flat top and bottom' squeeze the clay between your index finger and thumb. The other ball is for a more 'rounded' pumpkin. 
4. For these pumpkins I used the Small/Medium tips and just slightly indented where I wanted the stem to be and the blossom end. The photo below shows the small ball tip making marking the end. I used the medium ball tip to mark the opposite side for the stem. 
5. Result of marking with the ball stylus. 
6. Now we are going to sculpt the pumpkin's ribs. Before making the ribs expand the hole for the stem using a tool similar to the one in the photo. Make it deep enough to anchor the stem ~ at least 1/8th of an inch but not too much deeper. Using a tool similar to the one in the photo (a toothpick or straight pin also work fine) place the pointy end at the top of the pumpkin near the stem's opening. Depending on how deep you want the ribs lay the tool down and press into the clay while guiding it all the way down to the blossom end. 
7. Do this all the way around the pumpkin. Don't worry if the ribs lose some definition while handling the clay. We will come back and give them a final definition before curing them. 
8. For the stem slice a piece of clay about a � inch long. Lift the piece of clay off the tile with your razor blade and carefully set it into the stem's hole. You may need to adjust the hole's opening to accommodate the stem. If the stem seems too large or even too small for the size of the pumpkin you may need to roll and slice another piece of clay. 
9. After setting the clay upright in the hole use the small end of the ball stylus or a blunt-ended toothpick to gently but firmly anchor the stem in place. Go all the way around nuzzling the stem in place. Doing this is two-fold: 1), it secures the stem; and 2), it gives the stem the natural roughness or lines you see on the stem of a pumpkin. This is just the beginning of how we are going to give our pumpkin's stem some character. 
10. Since the blossom is actually the scar where the blossom's flower came off we want to texture the area. I used my dental tool that has the tiniest point and sort of roughed it up. A straight pin would work. So would a piece of sand-paper. Take a corner of the sandpaper and carefully rough up the clay a bit. 
11. The pumpkin on the right was done using the method we've discussed up till now. It started out having the same shape as the one on the left ~ although it was a bit smaller. The one on the left (the alternative method)had the stem added after the pumpkin was baked. 
12. I need to put it on some Blue Tack to hold it in place. Remember, once the clay is cured it's not sticky any more and can be a challenge to hold in place. 
13. I use Liquid Fimo� to attach the stem to the pumpkin. See the prior steps ~ An Alternate Way to Attach a Stem for further discussion. 
14. I use a variety of tools when sculpting the stem depending on the size of the stem or how the clay is reacting to me trying to manipulate it into my shape. As we did in the previous step the ball stylus can be used to create nice deep-rounded lines. I may then use a toothpick to create another shape as I sculpt. For smaller stems I'll use a straight pin. 
15. Once you have the line how you like them you may want to twist the stem slightly or even a lot to give a nice curve to your stem. 
16. After all the discussion about sculpting a stem there are times when there is nothing better than a well placed twig to make your pumpkin complete. The lone pumpkin in this photo isn't one of them but I couldn't find a decent twig. 
17. Here is a nicer example showing a table with a bottom shelf and three large pumpkins. 
18. This photo shows the top of the table sporting a small pumpkin for decoration while two baby pumpkins are used to hold candles. I put some Liquid Fimo� on the portion of the stem that would be going into the pumpkin then baked baked it for about 20 minutes. 
19. To add color we're going to use Artist Pastels or Artist Chalks. I prefer to work with them in a powder form so I gently scrape the sides of the pastels with a razor blade. Take care not to breath in the dust and try not to touch the pastels with bare skin. Some pastels may be made with toxic ingredients, just a precaution. 
20. A Green Stem ~ Using a fine tipped paint brush I put a small amount of the darker olive green pastel and dab the stem in various spots all around the stem. I'll usually add a couple of shades of green pastel at a time. I don't know if it gives it depth but I think it does!! Blend the pastel as you go along adding color where needed. 
21. At some point I usually use course sandpaper to scuff or rough the stem a bit, gently though. I may deepen the lines on the stem if, the lines seem to be loosing their shape from the brush going over them. I will also often use a tiny bit of an ivory-colored pastel to add dimension to the green. 
22. Here I've got it colored just about right. Notice, I did add a bit of the green coloring to the pumpkin itself. I just dipped my brush into the green powders and then tapped it on the side of my dust dish to shake a bit of the powder off. The reason I do this is I don't want to have a big 'glob' of pastel powder on the brush when I touch the clay. I only want to add a bit of color at a time. More color can be added if there isn't enough. It's always easier to ADD color than to take color away, right? Go around the pumpkin touching the brush to the orange clay (closest to the stem, in this case). Blend the pastel to create a realistic effect. 
23. Here is the pumpkin so far. 
24. No matter how long, short, narrow or wide you want the stem to be it will look more realistic if the tip is cut off exposing the inside. 
25. Yes, I know this is a terrible photo but it shows how I use a very fine, pointy dental tool to rough up the stem's blunted end. 
26. You can also use a straight pin to poke fine little holes randomly in the tip. I also use a razor the make indentations in the sides at the top of the stem so it isn't perfectly round. 
27. To finish off the coloring I use the ivory-colored pastel on the tip. It adds just the right color and texture to the stem. 
28. Now is the time to go back and look at your pumpkin and see what ribs, if any, need to be redefined, etc. When you are happy with your masterpiece place it on an uncoated paper plate and bake in a preheated oven at 250-275 degree for 20 minutes. 
29. After the pumpkin is cool you can add whatever amount of shine you'd like or not. In this photo I've applied a thin coat of Future� Floor wax on the pumpkin. That's right.....floor wax. This clear floor wax is so thin it is a great choice for any item that you want to have a very thin coating of varnish. You can also use a matte or medium gloss varnish. I happen to think high gloss makes the pumpkin look like plastic. Don't apply varnish\wax to the stem, though? Stems are not shiny in real life. 
Learn To Make A 
Close-up images of materials needed
1. Take your piece of thin card – marbled paper and watercolour paper measure out rectangle’s at: 
2. Next cut a piece of double sided tape or glue (I prefer double-sided tape as it's stronger) and stick it to the back of the card. Do not remove the tape cover on the exposed side. 
3. Take your coloured/marbled piece of paper and turn it upside down so the pattern is on the table. Now peel back the double sided tape from the card stock and carefully place in the centre of the paper (see image). Press down firmly. If you are using glue, allow to dry completely before continuing. 
4. Next take your pen and ruler and draw a line across the corner angles of the paper. Cut off the drawn corner triangles as shown. 
5. Cut a piece of double-sided tape and place it in the centre of the card stock. Peel of the tape on the opposite side. Fold in the sides of the marbled paper gently creasing as you go - then the top and bottom until it is all folded over (if gluing, allow to dry). 
6. Next you will be making the top of the desk pad! Take your cut-out piece of watercolour paper, apply a piece of the double-sided tape and apply it to the centre of the paper. Place the paper dead centre on the board, as shown in the image. The cut-out paper will need to have equal sides, equal top and equal bottom. The top and bottom will be narrower than the sides, so be careful how you do this; once placed it will be impossible to remove! When ready, carefully press firmly down.
7. Now the fun begins... Take your chosen coloured roll of tape and cut off 2½ cm square. Cut across the diagonal and place on the corners as shown in the image. Repeat for each corner. Hold the board up to a window or light source, then carefully trim off the excess tape so that it fits the corners. At this stage, if you want to, you can repeat the process for the board back then trim it, then press down all edges. You now have a desk pad! 
8. Now we will make the pencil and ink well. 
9. Next we'll make the feather quill. Using small scissors, take a feather and begin trimming from the bottom up, not taking off too much feather. Cut the feather at an angle at the very tip and broaden the cut as you move up. Trim off all of the feather at the base which will create the nib. Try cutting with different feathers. Dip the Quill in black acrylic or the Indian ink to give an authentic feel to it. Leave to dry. 
10. Take either your button or leaf and glue the ink well onto it. Dry completely. Place your newly cut quill pen in the ink well and the pen on the base and place or glue onto your ink blotter. 
11. For authenticity, I always take the end of the left over cocktail stick and dip it in the India ink, then drop or drag it over my blotter. Then take the left over watercolour paper, trim back to size and with a tiny '00' pen or cocktail stick dip into the India ink and write out a menu or letter to Mom on the paper. You can add extra touches like envelopes or notepads. 
12. I hope you enjoyed making this and you had fun. 
Learn To Sculpt 
1. To start, roll your yellow clay into a snake, about � inch in diameter. 
2. Using your blade, carefully cut the yellow snake of clay into about 1/6th of an inch pieces, and roll the pieces into round balls. 
3. This is a stem tool. It's used for making icing flowers. This particular one is plastic and is part of a "Confectionery Tool Set" which is sold by Wilton Industries�. It's plastic and therefore, must be cleaned thoroughly after any contact with polymer clay. As you can see, my tool has started to 'melt' from not being well cleaned. Once icing tools have been used for polymer clay, they must not be used with food. If you do not have a tool like this, a small ball ended tool will work very well. 
4. Using a stem tool or a ball ended tool, poke a small indentation into the top of your clay peach. 
5. Using either your dental tool, or a pin, make an indentation down the side of the peach from the stem end on top to the blossom end on the bottom. 
6. Your peach should look something like this. 
7. Using your fingers, very gently form a slight point on the bottom of your peach. This will be the blossom end. 
8. Using your fingers, very gently squeeze the indentation on the side closed so that your peach looks like it has 'cleavage'. 
9. Side view of the peach 'cleavage'. If you have fingerprints on the side of your peach, you can gently rub them out with a bit of cornstarch. 
10. Crush some of the red chalk, and using your small, soft brush, apply some red to the sides of your peach. Try to remember what a real peach looks like. It usually only has red on one side, and yellow on the other. If possible, use a real peach as a model. 
11. The color should look very soft and blended on the side of the peach. Don't be afraid to add the chalk, you want the fruit to have vibrant color! 
12. Here are some peaches that have been colored. Please notice that I have left part of the skin yellow. 
13. Using the brown 'stem' colored clay, roll a very thin snake shape. 
14. Using your pin or your dental tool, take a very tiny piece of the brown clay and insert it into the indentation on the top of the peach. When you pick peaches, most of the time the wooden stem comes off the peach and stays on the tree. Peaches usually only have a light brownish colored spot on the inside of the indentation on top. 
15. Using your green clay, make a small leaf shape. Peach leaves are generally long and thin. Use your pin or dental tool to form a 'vein' on the leaf. 
16. Attach the leaf to the peach center. 
16. Your peaches should look like this. 
Learn To Make 
Close-up images of materials needed
Close-up images of materials needed
1. Cut out a piece of card, approximately 3" x 3/8". If the hat is to fit a doll, you can test the fit by wrapping it loosely around the doll's head and leave an overlap of 3/8", then trim to fit. 
2. Lightly apply tacky glue all over one side of cardstock and stick onto the "wrong" side of lining fabric. 
3. Trim around the edges of the fabric. 
4. Smear the glue onto the other side and place onto the "wrong" side of the hat fabric, leaving a tiny edge 1/16" along the top and 3/8" to one side. 
5. Run a line of glue along the bottom edge to prevent fraying. 
6. Glue along the top edge and fold the fabric neatly over. 
7. Press down well. 
8. Test the size of the crown again and dab glue onto the extra fabric at the end. The other end can be trimmed, if the hat needs to be smaller. 
9. Gently bend the piece around into a circle holding together firmly for a couple of minutes. 
10. Clamp ends with the peg and set aside to dry. 
11. While the band is drying, take a piece of 1½" square piece of cardstock. 
12. Join the wrong sides of the lining fabric and the hat fabric onto each side of the card. 
13. By this time the crown piece should be dry. Remove the clamp/peg and glue along the raw edge in a thin line. 
14. Now gently push the crown into an oval shape. The seam can be at the back, front or side in the place where you will be putting the most decoration to hide it so now is the time to decide where you want it. 
15. Once the hat is dry, cut carefully around the edge as closely as you can. 
16. You now have a basic hat shape and you can start the really fun bit - the decorating! 
17. Inside view of basic hat shape. 
18. Use the narrow trim to cover the tiny join at the top of the crown. Rummage through your selection of bits and decide what you will use to decorate your hat. For a 1920's hat jewelry findings come in especially useful, as do feathers and unusual braids 
19. Choose trim for the lower part of the crown. 
20. Add beads, feathers, etc. to decorate; use your peg to clamp where needed. Allow all pieces to dry thoroughly. 
21. Completed and decorated hat. With the techniques you have just learned, you can make any style hat you desire. Altering the shape just a little will greatly change the style to fit your next hat, so play and experiment. 
Learn To Make 1:12 Scale 
1. Cut two pieces of fabric for your curtains. Each should be the width of your window. Length will be a personal preference for you but when you've worked it out add ¼" for the hem and ¼" for fixing at the top. If this turns out to be too long you can always trim away at the top before you fix. 
2. Cut two thin strips of card, approximately ¼", the length of the fabric you've just cut, plus an extra ¼". The extra ½" makes it easier to handle later. Decide which is going to be the wall edge of each curtain piece. If you have a patterned fabric make sure you get the pattern going to same way on both pieces. From now on you're going to work each step with both curtains. This will ensure you don't get two left curtains or one upside down. 
3. When the card is dry, turn the edge inward and glue it in place so that the card is now invisible and you have a clean hemmed edge at one side of your curtain. Now you can tell which is the top edge, because you have a bit of card sticking out. 
4. Turn and glue the hem at the other side of your curtain. No card on this edge, since you want it to be flexible. 
5. Turn up and glue the ¼" hem at the bottom of your curtain. You should now have two hemmed curtains. 
6. Next, gather your foam pad, knitting needle and pins to prepare for pleating. First, pin your first curtain to the pad along the card stiffened edge. At the inner edge of the card so that you have a flat section at the outer edge. I usually use four pins and recommend you use as few pins as you feel you can get away with. You will need at least one at the top edge and one at the bottom hem. 
7. Slip your knitting needle beneath the fabric and butt it up against the line of pins. 
8. Push the fabric up to form a fold over the needle and pin it in place close against the needle. 
9. When you have the first fold pinned in place, slide out the knitting needle and slip it under the fabric again, butting it up against your new line of pins. Form another fold, as you did the first time. Then continue the same steps, until you have all your fabric pleated. Repeat with the second curtain. 
10. Both curtains have been pleated now. 
11. To make the tie backs cut two strips of fabric 3"long by ½" wide. 
12. Turn in one side of the length and make a hem. Glue along the edge, press down, then glue to the opposite side. 
13. You should end up with two long strips about half an inch wide. 
14. Measure up your curtains at the card edged side, somewhere between 2½" and 1" from the bottom hem. The longer the curtain you are making, the greater the distance. I would use 2½ inches for an 8½ inch long curtain and 1 inch for a 5½ inch curtain. Mark this point by pushing a pin through the fabric and into the foam pad. 
15. You cannot move more pleats up close unless you remove some of the pins now. From the hem and possibly from further up too. Try not to remove any pins above your tie back if you can help it. Carefully remove the remaining pins between your tie back area and the hem. If you're very careful about it the folds will still be visible so that you can then drag them up to the edge of the curtain at the tie back mark too. 
16. This will leave you with a fan like section below your tie back. Carefully drag the folds back so that they lie parallel to the card edge and pin them in place. Continue with pleating. 
17. You should now have two very realistic looking pleated curtains and the last step is easy. Using your can of hairspray, spray them thoroughly. Now you just lay them on one side to dry and bring them back with you next week. Don't unpin them in the meantime. 
18. Next comes the pelmet. Measure your window width. If you are using decorative architrave include that in the measurements; then add half an inch. The extra half-inch is to ensure there is an overlap of ¼ inch each side of the window, just as you would if you were dressing a full size window. Now draw a rectangle the length you have just calculated and 3/8 inch deep. 
19. Now you need to cover the pelmet you just made. Cut a rectangle of fabric the same size as your pelmet, plus ¼ inch all around, then lay face down. Spread glue along one long edge of your fabric and fold it in. 
20. Fold the other edge of your fabric over the pelmet and glue in place to give a nice neat edge. Snip the excess fabric at the pelmet corners diagonally to reduce the bulk. 
21. Snip in from the edge of the fabric to the center rectangle of your card pelmet at both edges of the indentation. Fold that fabric in and glue in place. 
22. Fold in all the remaining raw edges and glue in place. You have now completely covered your pelmet. Decorate the front pelmet (the largest rectangle) with braid or lace. Whatever takes your fancy. 
23. Turn your curtains right side down. Attach a tie back to each curtain (as shown) with a dab of glue at the card side. Make sure you have the right side of the tie back facing you. 
24. When the glue is dry, wrap the tie back around the curtain from front to back and glue in place on itself at the stiffened outside edge of your curtain. Attaching the tie back at a slight downward angle for a realistic look. Snip off any excess fabric. Let dry. 
25. Now bring in your pelmet and lay it face down. Snip off any excess card left at the top of each curtain. Spread glue on the inside back edge of the pelmet. On the inside of the rectangle that you have not decorated. Only put glue where you're going to attach the curtain. 
26. Press the curtains into place on the glue. Only press down in the valleys of the folds or you will squash your pleats flat. If your fingers are too large to get in the valleys, use the flat of your knitting needle or the flat of a pair of tweezers to press. Make sure you get the curtains edges at right angles to the pelmet. Let dry. Once dry, apply glue on the outside face of the back side pelmet tabs. 
27. Fold your pelmet forward, affix the side tabs of the front to the side tabs of the back. This will form a little box pelmet. 
28. Flip over, gently press down the front of the pelmet. 
29. Your curtains are now finished. 
Learn To Sculpt 
1. We'll start with making the eggs - you will need to mix up the yolk color first. Mix a small bead of orange clay with about a ½ inch (12.7mm) square chunk of yellow to make a rich egg yolk color. You can adjust the color as you wish, just don’t make it too orange. 
2. Roll a snake of clay around 1/8th of an inch thick. Using your blade cut small chunks about 1/16 (1.6mm) of an inch each from the snake. Roll them into a ball. These will be your egg yolks. Don't be overly concerned about getting the measurements exact, just an approximation is fine! 
3. Use your finger to flatten the yolks slightly on the tile. If the yolks come off the tile and stick to your finger, just dust your finger with some powder. 
4. Put the yellow yolks to the side and wash your hands again. It's time to mix up the white clay for the 'whites' of the eggs, and we don't want yellow streaks in it. Mix about a ½ inch (12.7mm) square of translucent with a bead of white as shown. 
5. Roll the translucent/white mix into a snake as shown and using your blade cut off 1/16 inch (1.6mm) chunks. 
6. Press the whites flat with your finger on the tile. They should stick to the tile, but if they stick to your finger instead just dust it with powder. 
7. Press the sandpaper into the egg white to flatten it further, and put some texture into it. You might have to go over it several times before it is ready. If the white rips a bit on the edges, that’s ok. You don’t want the whites to be perfect circles. Think about how they look in a pan when you fry them. The whites run all over the place. If your clay sticks to the sandpaper, just dust it with some powder. 
8. Carefully scrape the white off of your tile with your blade, and gently put it over the top of a yolk. It might help to dust your blade with a little bit of powder to help it slide under the clay. 
9. Notice that there’s enough translucent in the egg white so that the yellow yolk is visible. The white has been gently pressed so that it adheres to the tile, but the yolk is nicely rounded. Don’t flatten your egg out too much, and try to keep your white as thin as possible. 
10. You can also use some of your white/translucent mix to make a few unbroken eggs for your breakfast scene. When you roll your egg shells make sure to make them with a slightly more pointed part on one end. If you'd like to make some broken shells, you can press some of the white/translucent mix on to the end of a small paint brush like this - 
11. Onto the bacon while the eggs are baking. 
12. To mix up the bacon meat color, you’ll need about equal parts of burnt umber and translucent + about half as much alizarin crimson as shown. So the ratio is about 1:1 burnt umber (dark brown)/translucent, then 2:1 burnt umber+translucent to crimson. If you don't have alizarin it's not a big deal, you can use any dark red or even a more reddish red, just add the red color slowly to get the color you're looking for. You can refer to 'real' bacon for a reference. 
13. Next, you will make a layered cane. To start – flatten out a piece of the fat color, about as long as the first joint on your finger, (I’m terrible at measuring, but about 1.25” would be fine for now, that’s around .3cm). 
14. This is about 3/8ths of an inch or around .75cm. You don’t have to be exact since we’re going to be reducing this. 
15. Now flatten out a strip of the red meat color, big enough to fit on top of the slab of fat. 
16. Like this! Notice how I’m not being exceptionally neat, it’s not a big deal for this cane since bacon is not straight. 
17. Flatten out a slightly thinner layer of fat and layer this on top of the meat color. 
18. Here’s where you can get a little bit creative with your layering to make your bacon look real with chunks of meat running through the fat instead of just making stripes. For this layer, I formed the meat colored clay into a sort of long tear drop shape, only about half as wide as the clay slab. The layering doesn't have to be perfect because you will be adding texture and color later. 
19. Here you can see that I have added the same sized strip of fat colored clay beside meat clay. This will make up the 4th layer, half of it will be 'meat' color, and half will be 'fat' color. The 'fat' color clay should be a little bit tapered on one side so it fits over the 'meat'. 
20. Cover up the meat part with another piece of the fat colored clay. Then you can put one more thin layer of meat color clay on, as the top layer, (reference the arrow). That should be about enough. You don’t want the bacon to look too stripey. 
21. This is the cane with the last piece of meat colored clay on top. I didn't cover the entire top of the cane with the brown/red clay, just about 3/4ths of it. To reduce the bacon cane - You can start reducing this right away, you don’t have to let it sit and cool off (unless your clay is really mushy, then just pop it in the fridge for a few minutes). We want this cane to be long and thin so gently press the cane with your thumbs all over the length, being sure to use equal pressure all over, and gradually lengthen it by gently pulling it apart as shown. By pressing and gently pulling your clay, this will move the way you want it to. Go slowly! If you reduce it too fast it might get smaller than you want it. Also, if the cane starts looking too wide (we want to keep it around the width of your index finger) you can gently press the sides back into shape and continue to lengthen it). 
22. Here's what it looks like from the side as you reduce the cane. 
23. When it’s about .5” wide (around 1.7cm) and 3/16 inch (.7cm thick) you’re done. Cut into the center of the cane, and it should look something like this. Don’t panic if it doesn’t look exactly the same. Even a remote approximation is going to work out just fine!! 
24. Time to slice it up! If your clay is warm, you might want to wait on this for a few minutes. You can also put your cane in the freezer to firm it up before you cut it. You want nice thin slices. Slice up as many as you want. I always make more than I think I need because I usually wind up ripping some, and generally goofing up. Even if you get a partial slice, that’s fine, we can use it!!! Try to get them as thin as you can! 
25. This is what I’m after! You’ll notice that not all of my slices look the same, I sliced the bacon in this image from another part of the cane. Again, bacon slices are not always the same sizes. 
26. Press your bacon slices on to your tile to secure them, then dust them with some talc, cornstarch, or chalk so the tops are less likely to stick. We need to texture them. 
27. Texture your bacon with sand paper, tap the pieces gently so they stick to the tile. If they come off on the sand paper you can coax them off with a pin. If they rip, don’t worry about it, that’s why you made extras! 
28. This is where they start looking more like cooked bacon! Use a small soft brush, gently color the edges with the Burnt Green Earth (or medium brown) chalk pastel. Use a light hand, don’t coat the whole strip, just the edges and maybe a little bit in the center. We’re going to add more color later too. The whole time you’re doing this think about how a real bacon strip looks like. 
29. After your bacon has a bit of color, grab your toothpick or pin and gently gnarl up the edges just a bit. 
30. When bacon cooks it shrinks, and gets bubbly on the edges, and sometimes curls up in the center. Very gently slide your blade under the bacon and very, very, carefully lift it off of the tile so we can shape it. 
31. Gently drape the center of the bacon slice over the thin end of a toothpick. You can bake the slice just like this – the toothpick won’t burn. The slice will retain its shape when cured. 
32. I use another toothpick to help arrange the slice, or you can just do it with your fingers, as shown. This is sort of hard to do and you can leave your bacon flat on your tile, if you rather, it will still look really good that way! 
33. You can use a variety of ‘poses’ for your bacon slices. They look best this way when you put them on a plate. They’re ready to bake now, so get your eggs out of the oven and put the bacon in. You should only have to bake the bacon for about 20 minutes because they are super thin. When you're ready, go ahead and put the bacon in the oven. Watch it closely as its baking because with all of that translucent clay, there is a chance it might discolor, if the oven temp is off. 
34. Time to finish the eggs. 
35. Next, move onto the potatoes. Wash your hands again because you will be working with white clay. Mix clay in these proportions. You want the potatoes to be slightly translucent and creamy in color. The best way to do this is to mix the translucent and white first, then bit by bit add the yellow until it looks like cream. 
36. This is the color difference that you’re looking for. Stark white is on the left, and ‘potato cream’ is on the right. 
37. Take a bit of the clay and roll it into a snake shape, until it is about 1/8th of an inch (3cm). Using your blade cut about 1/8 inch chunks from the snake. Roll each chunk into balls. You can make your potatoes a little larger or smaller to emulate real potatoes. 
38. Mix your yellow ochre (or golden yellow) chalk with a little bit of medium brown and using your soft brush, generously coat your potatoes. 
39. This is about how you want the potatoes to look. Now it’s time to bake the potatoes according to your clay’s directions. Again, about 20-25 minutes should be enough. 
40. After baking the bacon strips it’s time to color them so that they look crispy! Dilute some amber stained glass paint in a small bit of water and cover just the ends and sides of the bacon, where it would get browner in the skillet or broiler. 
41. Here is how I have applied the amber stained glass paint to the ends and sides of the bacon. Let the amber paint dry. 
42. When the paint is dry, cover the entire bacon slices with clear stained glass paint for that greasy look. Set aside and let dry. 
43. Ok back to the potatoes! When your potatoes are done, take them out of the oven and let them cool just a bit. Cut the potatoes into wedges with your blade. They are easier to cut if they are a bit warm from the oven. When you’re done, just set them aside. 
44. Now it’s time to arrange the plate! I decided to use a cast iron plate for this tutorial, but any plate will do. If you want your plate to look a little greasy, I’ve found that amber stained glass paint is perfect! Just brush some on!! This is good for greasy grills, and skillets too. 
45. Take your eggs and put some white glue on the back of your eggs. 
46. Arrange your eggs, using your toothpick to overlap just a bit. If the glue squeezes out from underneath, just scrape it off with your toothpick. Its best if no glue shows. 
47. Take your bacon and put some white glue on the back of your eggs using the toothpick. 
48. Again, if glue squeezes out from underneath, just remove it with a toothpick or a pin. Put several bacon slices on the plate, and try to jumble them up – I like plates to look messy, like Mom just slapped the bacon on the plate! 
49. Take some of your gloss varnish and put a drop on your plate. Start adding the potatoes bit by bit, and mix them up with a pin or toothpick to coat them with the varnish. 
50. Before the varnish dries, arrange the potatoes so you see some cut surfaces, and some skin. When they varnish dries, the potatoes will be stuck to the plate. 
51. Put a drop of amber stained glass paint on your work tile and using your toothpick, put some paint on the edges of the potatoes. Just a little bit – you want them to look like parts were over browned in the skillet. 
52. If you prefer not to use greenery in your miniatures you can skip this step. I like to add just a touch of color on the potatoes since everything is rather brown in this dish. Take a small bit of oregano (or whatever dried greenery or herb that you like) and grind them in the palm of your hand. While the varnish or stained glass paint is still wet, sprinkle a small amount of oregano on top of your potatoes. When the varnish is dry you can cover the herbs with another coat of gloss varnish to seal them. If you prefer, you can use chopped leaf green clay for the garnish if you don’t want to use real herbs. 
53. That's it!! You have now made a complete breakfast plate for your dollhouse. 
Learn To Sculpt 
Close-up images of materials needed
1. Before you begin the actual sculpt, you will need to print the Conure Parrot Template, see image. It will be helpful to refer back to in keeping your sculpt to scale and basic form, as you advance through the steps, and when you chose a color pattern for painting your parrot. 
2. Begin with a piece of clay about ½" x ¼" wide - as shown in the photo. For this sculpt, I chose black clay because the beak of this parrot is black and the sculpt will look more natural once the clay has been baked and cured. 
3. Using your thumb and finger, pinch the bottom half of the clay into a "V" shape. This will help define and form the tail of your parrot. 
4. Next, gently hold the tail end and use your fingers to begin to shape the neck and head of your parrot. At this early stage, you are simply forming a basic shape. 
5. Once you have formed the basic shape with your fingers, you may need to use your X-acto® knife to trim away any excess clay. How much clay you trim away, will depend on what your form looks like at this point. If it looks a little plump, carefully carve very small amounts of clay away until you are pleased with it. Hold your sculpt gently - try not to squeeze and use caution with the X-acto® knife - it's very sharp! 
6. After you have trimmed your desired amount of clay with the X-acto® knife, use a sculpting tool (or toothpick/cocktail stick) to continue to smooth and shape the clay. This sculpt is so delicate, that simply rolling your sculpting tool along the surface will help shape and define your parrot form. 
7. Keep refining your parrot using your sculpting tool. Make sure you shape the parrot as evenly as possible on both sides. So far, this parrot's head is facing in a forward direction. Keep it pointed forward until you have finished with all the detailing. You will "pose" your parrot later. 
8. Use your sculpting tool to define the area under the wings. To do this, gently scribe a line (or crease) into the clay using the tip of your sculpting tool. Make a line (or crease) on each side. Continue to work the clay, smoothing the line and defining as you go. 
9. Turn your sculpt to the side and check your wing lines. Do they gradually taper back as in this photo? If not, make the adjustment with the tip of your sculpting tool, then define and smooth the clay. 
10. Time to check your parrot sculpt to the example 'Conure Template' (Step 1). How does your parrot form look? From this photo, I can see that "my" parrot form is still a bit "plump", so it will need some additional trimming with the X-acto® knife. I will not extend the length of my parrot wings or tail. 
11. Here I have shown where "my" parrot form was a bit "plump" compared to my scale example. In this photo, I have made yellow dotted lines to show you where I will prudently trim away the excess clay with my X-acto® knife. Once I have trimmed the excess clay away, I will smooth out the X-acto® cut and edge marks with a sculpting tool. 
12. Next, you will begin by defining the shape of the head, cheek, throat and beak area. Start, by gently pressing into your clay sculpt with your sculpting tool. Do not apply too much pressure with your tool here -- such a tiny form calls for a very delicate touch. 
13. Again, It helps to look at your parrot sculpt head on. Check to make sure that both sides are evenly matched. You will need to define the beak area by using the end of your sculpting tool and very lightly scribing the beak outline into the clay. First one side, then the other. 
14. Because this parrot is an extremely small sculpt in polymer clay, it can be challenging to shape at this stage. Keep at it with the tip of your sculpting tool. Press and define until you are happy with it. 
15. Turn your parrot sculpt left and right as you shape the chin and beak. Keep your line detail even on both sides. Make slight adjustments if needed. 
16. When you get the overall beak shape to where you are happy with it - then you are ready to scribe a line into the clay, detailing the upper and lower mandible (mouth). I have indicated the approximate starting point with a yellow dot in the photo example. Using the tip of your sculpting tool scribe a fine curved line. Do this on both left and right sides of the beak. 
17. Here you can see the upper and lower mandibles separated by a scribed line. 
18. A final word about the parrot beak. The upper mandible has a small, curved, sharp point to it. If you chose to, take your sculpting tool and press in this detail with the tip. If you do not want to risk messing up your beak detail at this point, wait until after you bake your sculpt and cut or carve this detail when the clay is hard. 
19. Now you are ready to work on the back of your parrot form. Carefully turn your sculpt over in your hand. With your sculpting tool, lightly press a "V" shape into the back. This helps to define the back of the wing area. 
20. After you have a "V" shape pressed into your clay, smooth with your sculpting tool. When you have finished defining the back of your parrot, set your sculpt aside (in a safe & dust-free place). 
21. Measure out and cut (2) 4.5" lengths of 31-32 gauge wire (0.226 - 0.200 millimeters) *also called "bead wire". 
22. Parrots have a unique toe arrangement. This photo shows a typical bird toe arrangement compared to a parrot toe arrangement (2 toes forward and 2 toes back). 
23. Take your 4.5" wire strand in hand and bend into a 90 degree angle at about 1". This point will be the beginning of the leg and where you will start the first toe loop. 
24. You will need a toothpick or cocktail stick for this next step. Take your wire and begin to wrap it once around the toothpick. 
25. Make a single loop and twist the long end of your wire several times around. 
26. Next, take a pair of tweezers and grip the long ends of the wire. Using the tip of your toothpick inserted into the loophole, twist the wire in the direction of the loop. Twist several times. 
27. To start toe #2 - take the long end of the wire and make another loop around the toothpick. 
28. Repeating Step 24. Grip the end with tweezers, while using the tip of your toothpick inserted into the loophole. Twist the wire in the direction of the loop several times. 
29. Before beginning toe #3, bend the first two toes downward. Doing this, will give you room to complete the two remaining toes. 
30. Begin toe #3 in the same manner as toe #1 and toe #2. Loop your wire around the toothpick and twist. 
31. Grip the end of toe #3 with tweezers, while using the tip of your toothpick inserted into the loophole. Twist the wire in the direction of the loop several times. You have completed toe #3 and your wire should look similar to the photo example. 
32. Begin toe #4 by looping your wire around the toothpick and twist several times. You got it -- just like the previous steps, finish twisting toe #4 using the tip of your toothpick. 
33. When you have completed toe #4 - your wire parrot feet should look similar to the photo example. 
34. Now, that you have "mastered" the toes, you will need to finish twisting the leg wires together. Begin, by taking the two long ends of wire and bend them upwards. The long ends of wire are marked with a yellow "X" in the example photo. 
35. To twist the two "leg" wires together - first grip the toe ends with tweezers. Next, begin to twist the two "leg" wires together. You do not have to twist all of the remaining wire lengths - only twist until your leg reaches the length of 1/2". 
36. Finally clip the leg wire with scissors. Do not worry if some of your toes appear longer than the others. You will "fine tune" these in the next step. 
37. To begin fine tuning, take hold of the twisted "leg" end with your fingers. With a pair of tweezers in hand, finish out the toes by pinching the tiny end loops flat. Pinch all four toes. 
38. Bravo! You now have one completed parrot foot. Don’t do a happy dance yet -- you still need to complete one more parrot foot. Take a breath, and go back to Steps 21 thru Step 35, repeating the entire process. Then meet me back here at STEP 37 
39. When you have completed your parrot feet, you may chose to clip the toes a bit shorter, depending on how may times you twist the wire or if one or two of your toes appear a bit longer. Just take a pair of scissors and "snip" back the toes until you are happy with the results. Be careful not to "snip" too much toe or you will have to make another foot. 
40. This photo shows two completed parrot feet, with leg ends clipped and slightly bent at an angle. You are almost ready to attach the parrot feet to your sculpt and bake. First though, you need to retrieve your parrot sculpt and make a few minor adjustments. 
41. Alternative Parrot Feet 
42. Before adding the wire feet, take your parrot sculpt in hand and very gently press into clay with your sculpting tool. This area is where you will insert the your wire feet. 
43. Grip a completed parrot foot with your tweezers and carefully "insert" the leg end into your sculpt using an upward motion. Your parrot foot "leg ends" should not exceed ¼" in length as you may risk running the leg wire through your sculpt and out the other end. If the "leg end" wire looks too long, trim it back a bit, before you insert it. Do not trim the "leg ends" too short. If your "leg end" is too short, it will easily fall out of your sculpt after it has been baked. 
44. Grip your second parrot foot with tweezers and repeat Step 43 by carefully inserting the leg end into your sculpt. Make sure your leg wires are evenly placed and spaced. 
45. After inserting your parrot feet into your sculpt, take your sculpting tool and smooth the clay around the leg. This will help secure the wire feet to your sculpt. This parrot sculpt is extremely small and the spacing between the feet is tight, so just take your time and enjoy the process. 
46. Work on both of the legs evenly, smooth the clay using the end of your sculpting tool. 
47. Finally, make sure that your parrot feet are even before you place your sculpt in the oven. Now is the time to make any last adjustments to the unbaked clay form. 
48. PREHEAT your oven per the manufacturers recommendations for your polymer clay. Place your sculpt on a tile or oven-safe dish and bake (10-15 minutes or per your polymer clay package instructions). Use an oven thermometer, if possible and keep an eye on the temperature. This is a tiny sculpt so take caution and do not over bake. Oh yes, don’t forget to wash your hands after handling the polymer clay. 
49. Optional Carving Details 
50. Ready to add color. After you have finished baking, cooling and carving any additional detail into your sculpt -- gather up your paints and brushes. You are ready to add some brilliant color to your parrot. 
51. You are ready to add some color and personality to your parrot sculpt? First, you may want to refer to your Conure Template and chose which Conure color pattern (Sun or Jendaya) you wish to paint. 
52. Now, you need to apply paint to the wire feet. I recommend using an enamel paint (gray in color -- or a mixture of black and white) on the wire. If you do not have any enamel paint, but chose to use acrylic paint on the feet, it may "flake off" of the wire when you bend or pose the parrot feet. 
53. Before painting the eyes, it's a good idea to check the eye placement and color by referring back to your Conure Template. Both the Sun Conure & Jendaya Conure have a white-colored circle of skin around their eye. Paint this white circle first. Once the white has dried, paint the "eyeball" by taking a fine paintbrush and place a dot of black onto the white circle. 
Learn To Flock and Feather 
1. This photo shows a variety of feathers that would work for this project. On the left are dyed turkey flats and hen saddle feathers. The feathers on the right are from a sun conure parrot (I have a friend that owns one of these birds and she collects the feathers for me when her bird sheds/molts). 
2. Grip the feather in one hand and begin trimming the right side from the tip upward. Work slowly, and carefully cut in a straight line following the spine. Sharp scissors and steady hand work best. Don't get discouraged if your feather looks a bit "ragged" at first. Cutting a smooth, straight line across the vanes takes practice. The more feathers you cut, the more confident you will become. 
3. After you have trimmed the right side - turn your feather over in your hand, and begin trimming the left side. Trim from the tip upward. Make sure you trim the feather with both sides an even distance from the center spine. You want to trim your feathers down to approximately 1/16" in width if possible. 
4. You may need to trim the tips of your feathers after you cut them to size. To do this, carefully round the tip using your scissors. 
5. After you finish trimming, your cut feather should look like. 
6. You will need to save some of your feather trimmings. These trimmings come in handy as fill-ins when you glue your feathers onto your parrot sculpt. 
7. To use your trimmings you can carefully take your tweezers and gently pull apart the vanes to the width you choose. These trimmings work nicely when a full feather is just too much. 
8. Continue to trim all your feathers and set aside. You will need approximately 10-15 cut feathers. As you can see from the photo, much of the original feather vanes have been cut away. After you have cut all your feathers to "size" you may want to go back to trim and reshape some of the "ragged" edges on a few. 
9. Set your cut feathers aside to a safe (draft-free area), you are ready to make your own flocking. Before you can cut your thread into flocking, you will need to unwind a fair amount of length from the spool (if you are using sewing thread), wrap this around your fingers. 
10. When you have finished wrapping the thread around your fingers, cut the thread from the spool and set the spool aside. 
11. Slip your index finger out from under the wound loop and cut ends in half with scissors. 
12. Pinch the thread ends together and begin to cut the thread as fine as you can into a container. The finer the "cut - the better the flock. Your flock should resemble "fluffy powder". 
13. Making your own flock is a tedious process. Remember...don't rush it. Try to cut a fine, consistent length with every clip. To fluff it up a bit in the container, gently stir with a toothpick. 
14. Cut enough flock to generously cover the areas of color on your parrot sculpt. Store your cut flocking in a small container with a lid and set aside. This photo actually shows much more than what you will need (but it makes for a nice, colorful photo). You are now finished with cutting your thread into flocking. Set aside. 
15. You will now begin applying feathers to your parrot sculpt. To begin the feathering process, you need a ruler and scissors to trim-to-length the tail feathers. Start by cutting 4 feathers at approximately inch in length. 
16. Use any glue you do use sparingly! If you use too much glue it will seep or bleed through your feathers and show when dry. 
17. Take your parrot sculpt in hand and apply the glue onto the tail section. 
18. The placement of the red dots in this diagram shows where the first 3 tail feathers will be placed onto your parrot sculpt. 
19. With a pair of tweezers, apply the first tail feather. Gently press the feather into the glue to set. Remember not to use too much glue here or it will bleed through your feather. 
20. Apply the second tail feather with your tweezers and gently press into the glue to set. 
21. Before applying feather #3, you may need to add a tiny bit of glue to set the feather to the top-middle portion of your parrot tail. 
22. Apply the third feather with your tweezers and press to set into the glue. 
23. Now, turn your parrot over in your hand and lets begin to apply some feathers to the underside of the tail section. Apply some glue. 
24. Remember when I mentioned earlier in the tutorial, that you need to keep some of your feather trimmings. Here is an opportunity to apply some. With your tweezers, you will place a small strip of feather trimmings to both left and right sides of the underside of your parrot tail. 
25. Applying additional fillers. These feather trimmings are perfect feather fillers because they do not have a spine. 
26. Take your fourth and final tail feather and apply it in the middle of the underside of the tail section. This feather should slightly overlap your feather trimmings. Gently push the feather into the glue to set. 
27. In this photo, I have cut feathers of different colors (green, light green & yellow). Again, if you chose to make a sun conure parrot, you will need some yellow primary-covert feathers. If you are making a jendaya conure you can cut all green feathers. 
28. The following diagram shows approximately where you will glue your 4 primary wing feathers. 
29. Begin by applying a small amount of glue along the wing as shown in photo. 
30. With your tweezers take one of the long primary feathers and place it onto the wing glue (at an angle). Press gently to set. It might be easier to hold you parrot by the head during this process being careful not to get your fingers into the glue. 
31. Once the first wing feather is in place, pick up the second primary feather with your tweezers and set it into the glue next to the first feather. Your feather should slightly overlap the previous feather. 
32. Repeat this process with the next two feathers so you have a total of four primary feathers on each wing. 
33. Once you have all four primary feathers in place on one side you will want to repeat the steps on the other. Holding your parrot by its head (so as not to press into your glued wing feathers) -- apply the glue. With your tweezers take one of the long primary feathers and place it into the glue (at an angle crossing over the first set of wing feathers. See photo example. Press gently to set. 
34. Continue to apply the remaining three primary feathers into place (slightly overlapping them). 
35. When you are finished, you should have four primaries feathers on each wing. 
36. Once you have all your primary feathers in place, its time to add the smaller primary-covert feathers. These feathers will be glued to the wings above the primary feathers. This second row of feathers will consist of at least 4 on each side. If you are creating a sun conure this row should be yellow. If you are making a jendaya color pattern this row will be green. Apply glue. 
37. With tweezers place a primary-covert feather onto the glue, just slightly overlapping your primary row. Continue to apply these feathers, one by one, until you have placed all four. You can use your tweezer ends or finger to gently press into the glue to set. See photo example. 
38. Once you have finished applying the primary-covert feathers on the first wing You will need to repeat the same process on the other wing. First apply the glue. Then with your tweezers place a small primary-covert onto the glue, slightly overlapping the first row of primary feathers. With tweezers, place the second, third & final fourth feather into place. Here I have selected a Jendaya conure color pattern - so I have placed both primary & primary-covert feathers in green. 
39. If you have finished applying both primary & primary-covert feathers to your parrots wings, you are ready to "clean up or trim" your feather spines and lines before moving on to the next step. To do this, take an X-acto knife and very gently press/score (trim) the upper tips (edges) of your primary-covert feathers. Be very careful here that you do not press too hard and cut through your sculpt or your hand. If you are using a new, sharp blade, it will not take much pressure. 
40. After the feathers have been scored/cut remove excess feathers and glue with tweezers. 
41. Apply a bit of glue in a "V" shape as shown. 
42. Take a small end section of a feather trimming and place over the glued area. It should overlap just a bit onto the primary-covert layer. 
43. Do this on both wings. Because I am making a Jendaya color pattern this trimming is shown in green. However, if you are making a sun conure pattern you would want this feather trimming to be yellow. 
44. If you should have any overlap of trimming (and you will probably have a small amount) - you can simply score and trim away using your X-acto knife. 
45. Finally, you will finish up the feather process by turning your parrot over and working on the underside of each wing. Depending on how deep you made your crease detail (under each wing) on your original parrot sculpt, will determine how much feather trimming you will use here. If you do not have any wing crease detail, then skip this step. 
46. You will need to retrieve your flocking and prepare it for gluing onto your parrot. Take your flocking and pinch a bunch with your tweezers. 
47. Place this flock onto a clean, dust/lint-free work area. You want your parrot flock to be free of various bits of stuff (like hair, pieces of trimmed feathers, etc.) 
48. Take your finger and tap the flocking as flat as you can. This makes it easier to pick up with the tweezers. 
49. Apply a small amount of Hob-e-Tac glue. It helps to hold your parrot sculpt by the head during this process - so as not to damage your newly feathered areas by gripping too hard. With your tweezers pick up some flocking (a even, thin layer) and apply it to the glue. Cover the area as evenly as you can with flock. You may need to apply a couple of tweezer-loads, but keep them as thin a layer as possible. If you place a bulk of flock onto the glue, you are more apt to have a lumpy parrot. 
50. I have applied the green flocking to the bottom area and will transition to yellow flocking from the chest upward to the neck and head area. Work one small section at a time this will keep your fingers out of the glue. 
51. Slowly work up the neck and head area of your parrot with glue, then flocking. Blow away any excess before you begin to add glue to a new section. Press the flock into the glue evenly and smoothly. I usually finish the underside first, then turn my parrot over and work on the back of wings and neck and head area. 
52. Turn your parrot over. During this stage of flocking, I find it helps to hold the parrots feet. Apply a small amount of glue on the back of the wings. Most of your wings are already covered in feather, except for the upper portion. I have chosen a Jendaya color pattern so this section is green flocking. If you are making a sun conure color pattern, this would be yellow flocking. 
53. Continue to hold your parrots feet, resting it onto your fingers. Apply glue to the neck and head area. Be careful not to apply any glue around the white eye area and beak. With your tweezers place some flock evenly and press using your fingers or tool of choice. Work slowly around the delicate eye and beak. If you do happen to get glue or flock onto these areas, just dip a paintbrush in a little water and wipe away. You can also use the tip of your tweezers and lift or push away the excess (but I prefer a moist, fine-tipped paintbrush (or microtip applicator) as it tends to grab the flocking and glue better). When you have finished pressing your flock into the glue evenly and smoothly -- blow or brush away the excess. 
54. There are several ways you can add this additional color. First, you can trim a tiny amount of orange or orange-red thread into flocking and apply with glue. I prefer this method when working on a larger parrot like a macaw. 
55. You can also apply this color using a micro-tip fiber applicator and a soft chalk pastel. Rub a small amount of chalk pastel onto your micro tip and apply it to the flocking. For my Jendaya conure, I used a dark orange as well as a cobalt blue on the mid-wing section. 
56. If you chose to use pastels on your flocking, you will need to spray a fixative onto the surface to keep it from smearing or coming off when handled. After applying chalk pastel colors to the flocking, I will spray a very light coat of alcohol-free, hairspray onto my parrot to set the color. WARNING Do not use too much hairspray, or it will darken or spot your feathers. 
57. Here is my little Jendaya Conure, who measures 1 inch in length from beak to tail. 
58. You have completed your Conure! I hope you had as much fun with this project as I did. 