This year's Christmas cake challenge was Sam the Snowman (the claymation narrator from the old Rudolph special.) The goal was to create two identical cakes within a couple hours so my son and daughter could each take one to school.
I made the fondant while the cakes were cooking. By the time the cakes cooled I had most of the small pieces sculpted. I started with the small parts so they would have time to harden. This makes them easier to adhere to whatever I'm adhering them to.
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| Arms, noses, eyes and facial hair |
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| Pocket watches |
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| Gold buttons and red holly berries |
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Next came the body segments (snowballs) and the heads
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| I was surprised to find that Sam was made up of 5 segments (including his head.) I've never made a real snowman that has had more than 3 pieces. |
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| It was at this point that I discovered Sam is just a heavy-set Colonel Saunder. |
Next was his derby. A simple black hat with a gold hatband and a piece of holly.
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| Those are coloring jells, not prescription bottles |
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| Close up |
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| Bodies together and hats on |
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Once the heads were on it was time to make the vests, place the buttons and his gold pocket watch.
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| The vests |
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| Adding the buttons |
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| With his tie, arms and pocket watch (with chain.) |
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I was very happy with the texture of the vest. The chain was a little heavier than I was picturing but I was also doing this in record time so I didn't really beat myself up over it.
The finished Sam...
I has some leftover fondant so I threw together a couple of Christmas trees for a background. I wish they had been darker.
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| The "green" |
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| The "brown trunks" and some quick decorations |
The final product:
Total sculpting time was about three hours. As I was finishing these guys up the radio started to play Burl Ives' Holly Jolly Christmas. A fitting song seeing how he was the one who voiced Sam and gave life to this handsome snowman almost a half of a century ago.
Thanks Burl.
