Tetris silverware: Classy.

[safetyscissors]

TETRIS SILVERWARE

Last year in my art class, we had to make inexcusably dorky silverware in the style of some artist. I chose Roy Lichtenstein, and pumped out these classy gems.




It's snowing in Seattle and I'm too sick to go out and rendezvous, so instead I decided it would be an excellent idea to recreate the pure, unadulterated beauty of my original set with something I loved even more: Tetris.

You will need:[/b]
•White Sculpey clay
•Acrylic paint
•Silverware
•Something to cut clay with (a razor works best)
•An oven
•Mod Podge sealer (optional, only if you're feeling fancy)

For now, I just made a Tetris fork.

1. Grab your eating utensil and a hunk of the clay. Cover the handle of the silverware completely, and then smooth it out and make it even.






2. Once that is complete (it takes some time to make it just right), take some clay, flatten it out a little bit and cut your shape with a razor. I used my Lichtenstein butter knife, putting it to good use. It worked fine.



3. Attach your shapes by gently pressing down pieces onto handle.



4. Shove the sucker into the oven on an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet. The directions on the package of Sculpey says to bake at 275-degrees (130C) for 15 minutes per 6mm. I put it in for 10 minutes and it came out just fine.

5. Wait for it to cool, obviously, and then whip out your acrylics and paint. My L-shape got detached, so I'll add it after everything else is painted.




6. Don't let your cat/dog/household pet near uncooked Sculpey, or his/her hair gets all up in it.



7. After I finished painting, I waited for it to dry and then I covered it in Mod Podge, just to give it that glossy shine I have come to know and love.




Wasn't that EASY? Of course, you can do anything your young heart desires, not just Tetris. They are more for beauty than practicality, and I wouldn't reccomend sending them through a dish washer (however, I haven't tried).

You can totally impress your easily-impressed friends.

[Amara]

That is TEH AWESOME. I'm trying to think of what else I can do that to, instead of just silverware.

Great idea.

[MargiePoo]

that is flippin sweet.  I gotta try. I wonder how they would hold up in water if you washed them in the sink.  I just love Roy Lichtenstein.

[krys]

Very cool.

[themoonisout]

this is TOTALLY awesome. amazing.

[eidnarb]

CLASSIC! great job and great shots!

[thriftjunkie]

jesus H this is so good. (*this rocks!!*) i love the lichenstein ones, i may have to make a couple of my own.

[corpsetlames]

Hello to one of the best ideas ever!!!
When I grow up and live with my boyfriend, I want to make my own special cutlery like that! Only, I don't think it will last long in the dishes. Does it?

[Diane B.]

I don't think it will last long in the dishes. Does it?

Clay-covered handles for silverware wash fine, even in the dishwasher.
 
Glossy acrylic paint or clear acrylic finishes used on top of the clay may get a little less shiny from the detergents though, or if banged around with other pieces, in a dishwasher.

It wouldn't be a good idea to use Sculpey** clay (or possibily FimoSoft) though for this application because it's brittle after baking in any thin or projecting areas and can therefore more easily break or chip than Premo, FimoClassic, Kato Polyclay, or Cernit, etc.
**original Sculpey, SuperSculpey-flesh, Sculpey III

Btw, if you want to cover a *bare wood* kitchen tool, be sure and seal the wood well (or dry thoroughly and seal) before adding the clay because wood can swell from remaining moisture in it when heated, but the clay can't accommodate the expansion underneath so it can crack.

There are some lessons and examples of making polymer handles for silverware or tools, etc., on these pages if you want to check them out (for most, the color is in the clay used though... they're not painted over):

http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/covering.htm
(... click on Various Metal Objects (silverware, etc.) under Metal...)

http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/tools_Dremels_worksurfaces.htm
(... click on Handles...)

(and here's a page on clear finishes that can be used with polymer clay instead of ModPodge, if you're interested... none of the acrylics are completely and totally waterproof, particularly if soaked, but ModPodge is a little less water-resistant than some of the others that can be used as sealers or glossers on polymer clay:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/finishes.htm )


Have fun with them!

Diane B.

[safetyscissors]

Thanks, Diane B. I'm new to everything polymer, so tips and advice are always appreciated.

This is another spoon I made today. It's easy to get addicted.


Thank you for the compliments, everyone.

[owalkerjillo]

these are awesome! My boyfriend is making me dinner for our anniversary... I'm thinking these would make awesome gifts thanks!

[krys]

That is so awesome.  I remember Pac-Man.  Now you need to do a Donkey Kong spoon. 

[Diane B.]

I'm new to everything polymer, so tips and advice are always appreciated.

Oh, safetyscissors, I'm glad you weren't offended.  I meant just to be answering the question that corpsetlames asked (but couldn't remember her exact screen name). 
Then afterward when I reread her question, I wasn't even sure if I'd addressed what she asked!


Diane B.

[zombiekilla]

so there safe to eat with Im guessing??

[safetyscissors]

so there safe to eat with Im guessing??

Totally. They are just like normal silverware, except the handle is different.

[kitschkween]

why have i never thought to do this? cool kiddy utensils are so expensive. your silverware is cool!

[something_wierd]

Ah!  I love the Pan Man spoon!  I know what I'm doing to my cheapo silverware when I move out again.

[Sarie23]

So cool!! I wanna make some! 
The Pac-Man one is my favorite.

[Nuhbe]

LOL  That's so cool!!!

[kishcrafts]

very creative!

[gilgamesh]

it's incredible the types of silly projects you get set in art classes. One year, we had to draw teabags for weeks. The next, we had to decorate fake cardboard cakes. Mine was a pool table. That said, your spoons and such are way cooler! They can actually be useful!! And Tetris rocks. 

[tailsy]

Those are fantastic!!

I have to try this.

[sarahspunda]

Ah... Tetris, my nemesis!  Love it, love it, love it.  I'm thinkin' Frogger would be fun too (but a bit more organic?). The original ones for class are GREAT!  Not an easy artist to simplify down to a few utensils!

With the Modge Podge coverings, does the silverware hold up OK with handwashing?  I'm thinking if I would just use it for special events and handwash afterwards it would be OK? 
 
Danke, Sarah

[ihateranch]

so there safe to eat with Im guessing??

Totally. They are just like normal silverware, except the handle is different.

That's odd because I've read you're not even supposed to use the baking pan you bake the clay on for food, even if it's washed really well. something about the toxic fumes it makes when it's baked or something, but to be totally honest I have no idea where I heard that from or if it's true...

[kneat]

agh! i love!!!

housewarming gifts for sure!

[urban_albino]

OMG - I know this is kind of old, but I found this and I LOVE IT.

[Jillie]

Aw, what a great idea!

I already have some fun plastic-handled silverware... but I might get some cheap metal stuff and make dinner more crafty!

[Miss World]

oh my! these are wonderful!!

[isolda]

Oh wow! I love the pacman one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what a great idea! these woul dmake great gifts!!

[arwena]

whoo hoo, i love tetris!

[fabricfightsfire]

those are great!!! It's a shame you can't eat with them
but they rock 

[nureintier]

awesome! I totally want to try this now. ^_^

[Redd]

holy crap, you are so cool.
i also totally heart the pacman one

[karwash]

i love the unexpected. i'm inspired to make some of my own and then throw a dinner party. kudos to rad silverware.

[maytel]

This is such a great idea!!
I love the pacman spoon

and the fact that you can wash it is even cooler

[Hydrosk]

That is so cool!
Yay for retro gaming 

[AnnieInLondon]

I found this thread through google as I was looking for something else. I think the Tetris spoons are ultra cool! However, I was really alarmed that people are using them for actual food.  This is totally not safe!

I saw these links:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NH3JNtmRmoYC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=polymer+clay+utensil+handles+safety&source=bl&ots=VEX7c-y0K0&sig=gknqtPgJtL6UpnGZUUpaA4a7Eyg&hl=en&ei=Jkz9Srq-E6LLjAebncSbCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

And this one:
http://www.helium.com/items/616710-polymer-clay-safety

Both which say do not use polymer clay to make useable utensils.   Google 'polymer clay safety' to read up on it yourself.

Peace out x

[Diane B.]

I was really alarmed that people are using them for actual food.  This is totally not safe!
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NH3JNtmRmoYC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=polymer+clay+utensil+handles+safety&source=bl&ots=VEX7c-y0K0&sig=gknqtPgJtL6UpnGZUUpaA4a7Eyg&hl=en&ei=Jkz9Srq-E6LLjAebncSbCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false
http://www.helium.com/items/616710-polymer-clay-safety
Both which say do not use polymer clay to make useable utensils.

Actually, it is perfectly fine to use polymer clay "on utensils" (or to cover pens which would be similar, for example, or to cover the handles of tools, etc) where the clay won't be put into the mouth --and it wouldn't be with these "utensils".

It's also usually advised to keep food and drink from being in direct contact with the clay, particularly for long periods of time and particularly for acidic foods.
These are all ways of being uber-safe though (except for the acidic foods), and shouldn't be a problem with fully polymerized polymer clay any more than it would be for other kinds of plastic.
On the chance that someone didn't fully polymerize their clay, etc., though it's just usually a good thing to do to not ingest baked clay or raw clay (dogs do eat raw clay all the time though, with no probs).

Btw, what Marie Browning says in her book is not to use polymer clay "to hold food or drink" which these utensils wouldn't be doing.

The person in the other link says mostly the same things, but adds the part about never-ever-ever using a kitchen tool for cooking or eating after it's been used for raw clay.  This is really not true since anything metal, for example, that's smooth can be cleaned thoroughly.  What would not be okay would be items which have lots of tiny crevices which are hard to clean out (like pasta machines), and anything made from a porous or an unsmooth material (like bare wood) which also would be hard to clean.  

She also says "Don't eat with polymer clay plates, utensils, or vessels. Baked polymer clay is a porous plastic, and you won't be able to clean it well enough to prevent harmful bacteria from growing and contaminating food."  That's really stretching the facts past truth though because cured polymer clay is not porous (it's quite waterproof, though if it's totally submerged in a liquid for six months or more, some brands may be porous enough to absorb a tiny bit of that liquid... which would certainly be different than using the clay for eating foods touching it for a short time, and only doing that periodically).  She could also be talking about not being able to clean porous items of any bacterial contamination they may have gotten, as with wooden spatulas etc.

Some people do get really worried about anything polymer clay ever touches though and treat it more like a toxin than something you just don't want to load your body up with over a lifetime.  You'll notice that clayers vary widely in the "warnings" they give about this topic if you read very much polymer clay info, even from "experts." (Although in books, etc., publishers always want authors to say the strictest thing possible to avoid even the slightest potential for lawsuits--frivolous or not-- so they use an over-abundance of caution).

 

 Google 'polymer clay safety' to read up on it yourself.

You might want to read some of the things at my site about the safety of food and drink used with polymer clay:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/safety_health_cleaning.htm
(...click on Food & Drink)
And there's more on covering drinkware and silverware, plates, etc, here:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/covering.htm
(...click on Other Glass & Ceramic Items, and on Other Metal Objects)
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/vessels.htm
(...click on Bowls, Plates, etc > Made by Covering)

Note that these are different issues than the "safety" concerns about any burning fumes from polymer clay, or skin allergies that some people have to raw plasticizers.  Those are discussed separately on the page of that first link.


Diane B.

[Riechan]

next time I go to the 2nd hand store I grab a whole lot of silverware!
Eating with the kind of fork you made adds just that spice to boring dorm food ^^

[seraangel9654]

Awesome! I can buy new sets at the Dollar store down the street! Thank you for the inspiration!!

[starbelly3]

  YAY!!! Now I know what I am going to do with some of my Sculpey Scraps!! This is soooo COOL!

[laurenrox]

Okay, so I pretty much thought this was awesome, but the safety warnings got me thinking. I talked to my scientific-type family, and they were able to verify that Sculpey Polymer Clay will leach into silverware over time -- a warning found here http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:G3jTrLxQo9MJ:www.jaedworks.com/clayspot/polyclay-faq/basics.html+polymer+clay+leach&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

The argument made a few posts (and years!) back was that you weren't eating directly off of the clay, true, but baked substances can make their way into silveware.

It's probably not going to make anyone drop dead, but, yeah...these may be best as decoration only.

I don't want to kill anyone's buzz, though, because they're totally beautiful and amazing!

[Diane B.]

but the safety warnings got me thinking. I talked to my scientific-type family, and they were able to verify that Sculpey Polymer Clay will leach into silverware over time -- a warning found here http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:G3jTrLxQo9MJ:www.jaedworks.com/clayspot/polyclay-faq/basics.html+polymer+clay+leach&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
The argument made a few posts (and years!) back was that you weren't eating directly off of the clay, true, but baked substances can make their way into silveware.

Actually, all I could find that Jeanne wrote on that page are the following things in purple. . . keep in mind too that Jeanne wrote this page a looooong time ago:

(Because the plasticizer in polymer clay may leach out even after it's fired, polymer clay is not suitable for objects in direct contact with food.)

Is polymer clay safe to use?
    Polymer clay is, generally speaking, not dangerous at all for ordinary use.
There are a few basic safety rules you should keep in mind to avoid any problems: don't accidentally eat bits of the clay, be careful not to let the plasticizer in the clay get into food, and don't burn or scorch the clay during firing.

Can I use my kitchen utensils with both clay and food?
    This isn't a good idea.  It's difficult or impossible to remove all the clay particles from some utensils (such as the pasta machine), and the plasticizer in the clay may remain on or in surfaces, particularly porous ones such as plastic.  To be safe, don't use utensils for food again once you've used them with clay.  (You may even want to label your clay utensils to make sure no one accidentally uses them in the kitchen.)

Can I use polymer clay to decorate food-serving pieces?
    Residual plasticizer can remain in the clay after firing, and this plasticizer might leach out into food that touches even the fired clay, so it may not be safe to use polymer clay on surfaces that will be in contact with food.
    This shouldn't be a problem for pieces that don't touch food directly, such as napkin rings. If you want to use polymer clay for a serving dish, consider sandwiching your clay design between two pieces of glass - that way it can be seen without touching the food on the dish.


What Jeanne is actually saying is that raw plasticizer isn't something you particularly want to ingest (whether the plasticizer is a bit that remained in the clay if the clay hadn't been thoroughly baked and polymerized, or the plasticizer is from raw clay that's touched your hands or anything else you've touched or worked with).  Dogs apparently down hunks of it all the time though with no problems other than technicolor poop.

(The potential for problems is pretty low anyway though--and polymer clay is rated as NonToxic by the board that regulates art/craft materials-- but many clayers just use an excess of caution, especially when talking to newbies.  Keep in mind that we all breathe in, ingest, etc., many many less-than-wonderful things over our lifetimes by just living in an industrialized country, so it's the total body load over a lifetime that counts.  This is also the reason why all the plasticizers had to be changed recently for all brands because polymer clay is still categorized as a "childrens' toy" and has to go by the very strict new EU laws for the under-3 crowd, even though most still felt even that was overkill).

To get back to the main point though, plasticizers cannot "make their way into silverware" or into any hard smooth surfaces like metal, glass, ceramic, etc, at all.  Those materials are completely non-porous.
 
Now if raw clay had touched a piece of metal, it might have left a slight film (just like it would on your hands, etc), but that's easily cleaned off before putting hands in mouth or on food, etc.  
The problems occur when those very smooth non-porous materials like metal/ceramic/glass are not flat so they're harder to clean from bits of clay (like the working interior parts of a pasta machine, or any metal that's just not easily reachable with a brush or soap and water, or a wiping of alcohol, or rubbed-on hand lotion that's then been wiped off, etc.), and may get trapped in those places and be "touched" later.

By far, the largest problem and no-no for polymer clay is anything it touches which has a porous surface ...like bare wood, paper, fabric, etc.  

As for plastics, most would fall into the metal-glass category since they're not porous, BUT some plastics could be scratched up enough or have lots of corners and crevices so require pretty thorough cleaning, and *some kinds* of plastics can be eaten into by the plasticizers in polymer clay if left in continuous contact with them a long time.  
(Polymer clay is itself a plastic and is actually a teeny-tiny bit porous but only after being in contact with a liquid for a very long time like 6 months or more, and also while completely submerged or in total contact for all that time.)

Diane B.

P.S.  If you know of any evidence I can check out that polymer clay actually "will leach into silverware over time," please let me know because I'd like to research it further and put any results at my polymer clay "encyclopedia" site with the other info on safety ...and also let other long-term polymer clayers know since the consensus of their opinions is that it doesn't happen.