Making a cherry pie out of modeling clay, suggestions/help please!

Cafe Society
1

I would like to make a permanent lattice cherry pie for my younger sister for Christmas, which had originally been made out of (I think) modeling clay. When I was about 14, I had locked myself out of the house on accident. I was letting myself in the kitchen window when I accidentally knocked the table off balance and broke that beautiful clay pie. It was really a work of art. I’ve felt bad about it ever since.

I really don’t even know where to start. I’m not artistically-inclined, so I figured if I start now, that would be enough time to make a passable final product. I know I will need modeling clay, red/brown/white paint (what kind of paint?), something shiny to glaze it with, and some kind of pan as a base to put it all in. And how do I make the cherries? Just make some spheres and drop them in one at a time, then paint/glaze the top? How do I know how long to cook the clay for? ugh, I feel like an idiot. But this present would mean a lot to my sis, so I’m going to do it, damn it.

This is an actual pie that looks a lot like the one she made (but with no slice taken out) http://www.chow.com/assets/2009/07/lattice_cherry_pie_2_600.jpg

2

…Is this a full size replica? Or a minature? If minature, I’d recommend using fimo clay (maybe even recommend it for full size, but that might get pricey). Fimo comes in colors. I’d then look at a gloss sealer once it is done.

3

Yeah, it is intended to be a full-size replica of a lattice cherry pie. It seriously looked like the real deal. I can probably get by with buying an actual glass or metal pie plate, but it would have to take whatever adhesive I end up using. I’d love suggestions on that, too.

I will look into fimo clay. Never heard of it! I’m looking to spend between $50-$60 on this, but wouldn’t object much if it exceeded that budget a bit.

4

Wow, big project!

Well, if it were me, I’d either use bake-hardening clay (Fimo is a popular brand) or epoxy putty (Milliput White or Aves). It’s going to be expensive, though, if that pie is full-sized.

If you use epoxy putty, you’re going to have to paint it. If you use Fimo, well, it’s available in a wide range of colors, and some may be what you want.

Painting: For the amateur, an acrylic (water-based) craft paint is your best choice. Michael’s or Hobby Lobby is going to have a wide selection.

For the cherries, yeah, I’d just roll little balls, then plop them into the crust. For the gooey stuff around the cherries, I think I’d try gloss acrylic gel medium, a milky goo available in a variety of viscosities which dries clear; I would try mixing in a bit of red paint to give it the right tinge. Of course, after you’ve added the gel medium you can’t bake it any more.

You should be able to roll out the clay or putty just as you would pastry. With epoxy putty, you need to put it between two sheets of plastic (otherwise it’ll stick to your roller), and wait for it to partially harden before you peel the plastic away. I’ve never rolled bake-hardening clay, but I imagine the plastic would be a good precaution there, too.

Most epoxy putties (Milliput and Aves, for sure) are partially water-soluble, so you can smoothe the surface with a brush dipped in water, or some saliva on your thumb, if you don’t care about your health :wink:

The usual problem amateurs have with art of any sort (speaking as an amateur myself) is seeing what colors things actually are. Your left brain says, “Brown, dammit; now let’s do something more interesting,” but if you were to look more carefully, using your more patient right brain, you’d see that it’s really a yellowish-tan color, and there in the shadows it’s really a darkish chocolate color. One useful trick is to cut a little square peephole in the center of a piece of white cardstock, and look at colors through that. Use your left eye.

5

I had one more thought.

I’d consider making a little teensy cherry pie, maybe an couple inches across.

Your sister would find it easier to store, and with less money invested in each trial, you could make several test pies before embarking on the final project. Plus, a miniature is almost always more charming than a full-sized something.

6

The Boy Scout magazine Boys’ Life used to have a monthly feature on making nackerchief slides (which hold the triangular neckerchief in place). One of the ones they showed was a cherry pie neckerchief slide, made of a miniature pan, cherries (made of whole peppercorns) set in the pie innards (made of plaster of paris) covered with a latticework crust (modelling clay). There was a wedge-shaped pie f pie removed, which made it artistically more pleasing and showed you clearly what kind of pie it was.
So you could certainly use something spherical for the cherries. You could use marbles, or (if you want something less regular) round stones, or some sort of nuts. You could even roll modelling clay into balls between your hands.
You might want to use something like Sculpey, which you can “fire” to hardness in your oven.

The Boy Scout Slide from 1970:

http://woodcarversrcut-ups.com/wordpress/wp-admin/Slides/CherryPie.pdf

7

Great advice, I love it!

I feel like maybe I’m missing something, because she made the original and she was only 12 or 13 (it took a few days, of course). And she was always more artsy than me, but she was no Michelangelo. So if a tweenager could do it, I should be able to do it, right? Of course, my memory could be glossing over how great the original model actually was. If I need to scale down the materials or size due to cost constraints, I will, though.

I’m not thinking she used very expensive clay. I’ll have to investigate those options. This sculpey stuff actually sounds vaguely familiar, like my memory’s dredging it up from extreme-long-term storage.

8

Get some plasticene and practice before you commit to the permanent materials.

9

A different tack - if the modeling clay from scratch doesn’t work out, there’s a ceramics studio in Naperville where you can go, buy a ceramic piece that’s already molded, and paint it there at the studio. They glaze and fire it for you. It’s called Color Me Mine, here’s their website. It might be worth a call to see if they have a lattice pie ceramic piece that you can use as backup if needed. I’ve been at a few off-premises parties, and the ceramics are nice. I’ve given them as gifts, myself.

10

Have you considered a different gift? This pie you intend to make, while a physical replacement, would not have the same sentimental value to your sister as the pie made by her own hands when she was 12 or 13.

11

The point isn’t to replace the sentiment of the original pie, it’s to apologize properly by replacing what I broke. Which is a new sentiment in itself :V

Thanks for the link, Seadragon! I will check them out :slight_smile:

12

Neither am I. In your shoes I’d look around on Etsy and commission a “real artist” to do the project.

13

Just letting you know I wouldn’t see it that way if I were her. A thoughtful gift from your heart would mean more to me than your attempt to replicate my artwork that was ruined. If the original had meant anything to me, seeing your facsimile would simply remind me that mine is lost forever. Hell, I’d rather have a nice sentimental card than that. To me a sincere apology would mean the most. YMMV

14

Make it a Christmas ornament. A full-size pie would just end up in a box somewhere.
I second the Fimo idea. Get Fimo Soft or Sculpey (a different brand); both are much easier for a beginner to work with. You don’t have to paint it, either. Sculpey makes a gloss coat you can put on the cherry filling.

An aside, when buying your supplies, be sure to consult with a knowledgeable clerk and say what you’re using the stuff for. If someone asked me for “modeling clay” I’d give them an oil-based clay that never hardens.