Polymer clay is a popular medium for dollhouse miniatures, and it can mimic the look of many opaque houseware materials. To make realistic polymer clay wood grain, however, you need to imitate the intermingled shades of brown seen in real wood. You can achieve this affect by using multiple colors of clay and a layering technique to blend them.
Instructions
1. Soften about two tablespoons of tan clay and about half a tablespoon of light brown clay by kneading with your hands. Adjust this quantity depending on how much wood grain you need, but keep the ratio as one part light brown to four parts tan.
2. Form each portion of clay into a ball; this will help you roll it out more evenly.
3. Roll each ball of clay into a sheet with a clay rolling pin. Make the light brown clay 1/8-inch thick and the tan clay 1/2-inch thick.
4. Lay the brown sheet of clay on top of the tan sheet.
5. Slice the stacked sheets of clay in half down the middle using a clay knife. Make another cut perpendicular to this to divide the sheets in quarters. Stack all four quarters on top of one another, creating layers of alternating color.
6. Knead and pull the stacked clay so that the brown and tan lines create a marbling affect. This will start to resemble wood grain. Continue kneading and mixing until the lines of the two colors are just starting to blur into one another, but are still distinct.
7. Leave the clay untouched in a room-temperature (or cooler) area for at least 15 minutes to let it firm up again; this will help keep it from smearing too much when you start to model with it.
8. Build your "wood" item.
