Sugar Cookie Dog Hearts

How to Make Sugar Cookie Dog Hearts

 

                             

I wanted a different look for these hearts, and in the process of playing around, I discovered that this technique helps hold the pups in place during firing! This was a huge bonus since with this many pieces, some are bound to jump around. With this firing of 12 hearts, not one moved.

In your heart mold of choice, make sue the Zyp is smooth and fully covering the mold. If not, give it a light spray and let dry. I chose three different shades of blue, and two different greens. You can do whatever color combos you want, just be sure they won’t react with each other. With a paper dixie cup, I start with the sky / top part of the hearts first. The bottom one in the picture are done. As you can see, I left a spot near the bottom for the grass color. I use medium frit for these.

 

After doing the sky, I fill the grass in. Then I go back over the spot where the colors meet with the sky color to even out the line where they meet. These are only filed to the height of the mold, don’t overfill. The idea is for them to fuse down quote a bit so the next layer will fit.

 

 The entire mold has been filled, and it’s ready to fire. I raise the mold on thin tiles for even heat distribution. For this step, I go 9999/1380/15, 9999/1500/10, 9999/900/30.

 

 Your hearts should come out like the picture, below.

Take them out of the mold and wash all the extra Zyp off. They should be smooth on the top, and fairly smooth on the bottom. Check your mold, and if necessary, give it another light coat of Zyp.

      

Using your glue of choice (I use straight cyanoacrylate), fix the dogs in place on the hearts. Instead of using stringers for the tails, nip an ear rod at an angle and use these instead. This is because the next step would cover stringers. After the dogs are glued, pop the hearts back in the mold, and carefully spoon clear medium frit around them. Make sure it’s level with the top of the hearts. Make sure no clear covers any dog parts.

 

Ready to fire again. For this step, I go 250/350/0, 350/550/0, 9999/1430/0, 9999/900/60. This is for a JenKen fiber kiln... be sure to adjust the top temp for YOUR kiln! Peek when it gets close, all you want a soft contour fuse. 

Although I didn’t take pictures, if you’re going to add dog bones from Eleven11Glass, you can lay them on top of the clear frit. They will sink down slightly when firing.

 

This is such a cool look! Let cool and clean off again. You now have some really cute dog hearts with all the pieces perfectly in place 😊 You can download a PDF copy here.