Polymer clay is a PVC based clay that hardens using a conventional oven. It's available in most craft stores and comes in many colors and effects (translucent, glitters, glow in the dark, etc).

This tutorial will help you sculpt a basic pony using simple shapes. You can get creative with the colors, shapes and even add a horn and make him into a unicorn. They are so adorable and make unique and cute gifts for friends and family.

Step 1: Materials

Polymer Clay - I used Fimo Soft in Ruby Red, Glitter Blue and Peppermint, but feel free to use different brands and colors.
Aluminum foil
Wire
Acrylic paints - gold, white
Tools - Acrylic roller( rolling out the clay to the desired thickness), Exacto knife, ball stylus, silicone shaper, needle tool, wire cutter

Step 2: Make an Armature

A foil armature will keep the sculpture light, use less clay and will prevent under baking.

Shape the foil into a tear drop shape and lift the tapered end up. Poke the tapered end with a needle tool and insert a wire.

This armature is the body of the pony.

Step 3: Sculpting the Body

Cover the armature with rolled out clay keeping the thickness no less than 1/4 of an inch thick and no thicker than 1 inch. This will prevent cracking and under baking the clay.

Once covered with clay, you want to blend the seams and smooth out the clay with your thumbs and silicone shaper.

Step 4: Head

For the head, make an oval shape and using a silicone shaper, make an indent to delineate the forehead from the snout.

Use a ball tool for the eye sockets. We will add the eyes and features later on to prevent it from deforming.

Attach the head to the neck.

Step 5: Limbs and Ears

For the limbs, make elongated shapes and shape them as shown in the second picture.

Try to blend the seams as smooth as possible.

Now he can stand on his own.

Then for the ears, make a triangular shape. Use a ball stylus to make a triangular indent and blend it to the side of the head.

Step 6: Pony's Mane and Tail

With this step you can get creative. You can make the hair spiky, curly and go whatever direction you want. I made my pony's hair with long elogated shapes and curl the ends and attach them to the pony in layers.

For the tail, I used 3 elongated shapes and pinch one end. I then indented the bottom of the pony, shown in the last image and attached the pinched end of the tail on the indent.

Step 7: Face & Painting

For the eyes, I added 2 balls of blue clay and gently pressed that on the sockets. I also added in nostrils using a ball stylus and the mouth using a needle tool.

At this point, bake the figurine according to the instruction of the polymer clay brand you used. For my piece, I baked it at 110 degrees celsius for 45 minutes.

When the pony is baked and cooIed down to room temperature, I used white acrylic paint to add highlights to the eyes and gold paint for the hooves.

When the paint is dry, I glazed the eyes and hooves with a glossy varnish to protect the paint and make them shiny.

Your cute pony is now complete for you to display or give as a gift. ^_^