Sculpey Mockingjay Pin

The Hunger Games movie comes out in less than a week and I'm getting pretty excited.

There is only one other hobby that comes close to my obsession with crafts, and that's reading!  I was one of those crazy kids who got grounded from books for reading under the covers with a flashlight late into the night when I was supposed to be sleeping.

Despite countless recommendations from other bibliophiles, my husband and I both put off reading Hunger Games until this past month.  We wanted to wait until as close to the movie coming out as possible because we knew we'd be hooked.

So, in honor of the movie release next Friday, I created my own version of the Mockingjay pin out of sculpey clay that Katniss wears in the book.

Here are the supplies & tools that I used:

Gold Sculpey III Polymer Clay, Sculpey Clear Glaze, Fine Tip Permanent Markers

A sharp Exacto Knife, & Some Random sculpting tools that I have collected over the years.  You can use whatever you have around.  Toothpicks also work pretty well for details.

 Other things that you will need but aren't pictured are: a printer and paper, scissors, a laminator (optional), a baking sheet (that you use only for crafts), an oven, a pin finding, and glue (hot glue or Glossy Accents).

Here are step by step instructions so that you can make one, too!

To begin, I found a photo of the pin and printed it out on my color printer to make a stencil from .  I chose to laminate the image for stability, but that's completely optional.

Then I used scissors and my Exacto blade to carefully cut around the image to create a stencil.

Then I softened the gold clay and rolled it into a sheet, approximately 1/4 inch or less.  A pasta machine is very helpful with this step.  I did all my work directly on top of the metal sheet I use to bake my clay, that way I didn't have to pick it up after all the details were done and move it to a baking sheet.

Then I placed the stencil on top of the clay and pressed down gently to make sure it wouldn't move around.

Then I used the Exacto Blade to remove the inside cut outs first.

Here you can see that all of the inside parts have been carefully removed.

Then I cut around the outside of the pin, being careful not to push down on the stencil and distort the inside that's already cut out.

Next I peeled the stencil off the top of the clay to reveal the cutout of the pin.  If you're not much of a detail person, it would be fine to stop right here and bake your clay.  But if you want it to look even more like the pin from the book/movie, then keep going!

I took my Exacto knife and cut lines around the areas where the bird or arrow lay on top of the circle.

Then I cut away at the circle by putting my Exacto knife  parallel to my baking sheet until it was half as tall as the other parts of the pin, so that it looks like the bird and arrow are on top of the circle.

Then I used my fingers and all my other tools to add the details to the Mockingjay and the arrow using my stencil as a guide to what it was supposed to look like.  After I was satisfied with all the details, I put it into an oven to bake (follow the directions on your clay).

 After the clay came out of the oven, I used the permanent markers to add some shading and details (which is optional, I almost this is looked nicer before the markers).  Then I used Sculpey glaze over top of the pin to seal it and add the glossy look.  Then flip the pin over and use a hot glue gun or preferably Glossy Accents glue a pin finding to the back.

Here is the finished product!

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and give making your own Mockingjay pin a try.  And if you haven't read the Hunger Games yet, it's definitely worth a read!