Bottlecap Pies

These cute little pies are great to have on hand for last minute gifts. They are wonderful to glue to picture frames, on top of ingredient jars, place on nature tables, and wonderful in doll houses. The ideas are endless.I will show you how to make a "cherry pie" but the basic instructions can be used for any type of pie, cake, pot pie, shepherds pie and so forth that you can think of.
To start you will need bottle-caps, clay tools (my favorite tool is a silver nut pick), polymer clay, and an imagination.
Roll small pieces of red polymer clay in your fingers till you've made several round balls. Fill the bottle cap with them till the bottom of the cap is covered and there is a slight dome above the cap. Then press down slightly on the balls so that they all stick together. This will help keep them together once the finished pie is fired. Then take a piece of "pie crust" colored clay and roll it like you are making a snake.Cut the clay snake into several pieces and flatten them slightly. The next part is a bit tricky. Carefully weave the pieces together. You can start to see how this will look like a pie.
Cut off the overhanging clay and take a small length of the clay snake, wrap it around the outer edge of the bottle cap. Make small indentations around the around the rim. I used my nut pick but you can use anything, a side of a metal file, a safety pin, the edge of a butter knife, a toothpick (you get the idea). When it is complete fire it in your oven at 275 for 20 minutes. When you remove the pie from the oven it will be brittle while it is still hot. If it still feels a little spongy after it cools you can put it back into the oven for a little longer. Use your imagination and see what you can come up with and Have fun!