Attack of the Giant Ants!

Polymer picnic ants! I was inspired by RAZ Imports' tablecloth weights (the large, shiny, wrought iron ants).

They keep the tablecloth from flying away and they're adorable. I wanted to vary the sizes and also to see if I could make one or two from polymer. They turned out great.

To make an ant, I rolled 4 balls, strung them on a wire, attached them to each other by smoothing the joins, inserted the antenna and baked them. Then I took the lino cutter and carved 3 channels for the 3 wires on the ant's underside.

After cutting the 3 lengths of wire for the legs, I filed the ends to remove the sharp edges. Glued the wires onto the polymer, let dry, then applied liquid clay and secured the wires with a circle of polymer. Smoothed everything and then baked again. I carefully bent the wires into the leg shapes I wanted and then painted the wires.