A while ago, I was asked by one of my students if I could help her make a couple of figurines for her niece's birthday. I jumped at the challenge to make Angelina and Tinkerbell and I was really happy that she liked them. Angelina was pretty easy to do, but Tinkerbell was a challenge. I guess it's harder to try to sculpt a 'human' face than a cartoon (for me anyway) and it was my first time doing both. I was really pleased with how Angelina turned out and Tinkerbell came out alright as well I guess.
I used a long bamboo skewer as a head to toe support for both figurines as well as thin florist wires to help hold the arms and legs up. If you've ever watched Cake Boss, you will see they do something similar so I was trying to go with that in mind. I think they use modelling chocolate for their figurines as it is easier to sculpt with and perhaps even more forgiving, but I used fondant. Certainly something to try in the future with modelling chocolate. I started of making the wings for Tinkerbell with gelatine but they didnt turn out too well (too many bubbles) so I will have to work on that. As they did not have to be edible, I finally went with plastic transparency and I painted them with silver dust.
For a basic tutorial on how to make a simple fondant figurine, please click here.
Happy decorating! :)
