A few months ago I was doing some cleaning and came across an ornament my son made in preschool about 20 years ago. That sounds so crazy to me, 20 years! Anyway, I'm pretty sure it was created using Crayola Model Magic, or a product similar to it. It's in pristine condition! It's super lightweight, has somewhat of a pliable texture, but it's also durable and holds shapes amazing well. I thought it would be perfect for creating some faux food ornaments! I've only seen it locally in a handful of colors but apparently it's available in about 12 different colors. I purchased a few 4oz packs in white hoping that it could painted after it "cured."
Helpful Tip #1: Prime your with Gesso!
It is paintable but it requires a few coats to achieve good coverage. Unfortunately, when I went to apply the second coat, it pulled up the first coat in some areas. I shaped and molded a second batch of ornaments and allowed them to "cure" for about 24 hours. I then applied two coats of Gesso, allowing each coat to dry completely before applying the next. The Gesso helped the Model Magic to accept the paint and allowed me to apply a second coat of paint without pulling the first coat.
After my paint was completely dried I used Puffy Paint to apply the frosting to my cookie and donuts ornaments. I applied the "sprinkles" and glitter to the paint while it was wet and used my finger to very gently pat the sprinkle bits into the paint to ensure that they'd stay in place once the paint dried, and then left them to dry overnight
Helpful Tip #2: Use Matte Medium to protect & seal
After the puffy paint was dry I added two coats of Matte Medium to seal the puffy paint, "sprinkles," and glitter in place. Be sure to use a thin application of the Matte Medium and allow the first coat to dry before applying the second. You can apply additional coats if necessary. The thin application will reduce the amount of noticeable brush strokes and texture after drying. You could also use a glossy gel medium if you prefer a glossier finish. Mod Podge would probably be a good substitution as well. I prefer Matte Medium because I always get a ton of brush strokes when using Mod Podge and it annoys me LOL.
Helpful Tip #3: Use to create heavy items
The Model Magic worked great for heavier ornaments like the donuts and pretzels! I used air dry clay for my first few donut and pretzel ornaments and they are really quite heavy. I had to be strategic in placing them on my tree because some branches weren't strong enough to hold them, and others left the branches drooping leaving big gaps.
I hope you found these tips to be helpful!
