Arts & Crafts with Sculpey: How to make Portal Dice!

I've made little things with Sculpey since the first time I spent hours making clay dinosaurs and put them in the oven to harden, only to find out that THAT clay was water-based crap that *doesn't* harden when you cook it...it melts.  I was a sad panda that day.

I have soooo much Sculpey clay, and I've been thinking of things to make with it, just to get rid of some of it at the very least.  It was then that it hit me: Portal companion cubes. As Dice!

Step 1: buy clay!

Making "Companion Dice" is really simple!  You only need 3 colors of clay: grey, white and pink!

Sculpey can be procured from any craft store for about $2-$4 for a 2 oz block (pictured to the right).

The first step is to make the cube, which is the easiest part, since you only need to break apart the pre-seamed clay into small blocks!

Step 2: make the corners

Then, take a piece of white clay and roll it out into a log then flatten it.  You can use a special roller or any kind of smooth tube to roll the clay flat.

Once flattened into a relatively straight and flat line, cut or press a zig-zag into the line to make small triangles.  Using the triangle pieces, place one small triangle into each corner of the grey cube and then press the edges of the triangles together to form the corner pieces of the cube.

Step 3: make the heart

Once each corner is finished, it's time to move on to tiny hearts!  Pull some tiny bits of pink clay and roll them into tiny balls.  Then roll the balls into tiny little rolls.  Pinch the roll in the center and push the edges together to create a tiny heart!  You'll need to make 21 hearts of varying sizes (the 6-side is a pain!) in order to cover your die.  Are you still there? 

Apply hearts to your cube, and you're almost done!  You need to put your companion into the incinerator.  About 275° for 15 minutes should do it.  Make sure you place your cube on a baking sheet or some tinfoil.

Final analysis: these dice look great, but I wouldn't necessarily consider them "effective" alternatives to your regular d6: the surfaces are uneven, some sides have more clay than others, and some corners will be larger than others.  They look great though!  Make some and give them a roll!

Faithful companions!

Next up on Sculpey Sessions..... cake????  It doesn't have to be a lie!