Baby Dragon in a Walnut Shell

Watch the build video HERE!

Here's a walnut shell craft for the dragon fans! Baby dragons are some of the most enchanting and delightful creatures in all of fantasy. With their tiny wings, scaly bodies, and playful personalities, they capture our imaginations and steal our hearts. I like to imagine that this miniature dragon is just starting his life and building his hoard inside this walnut shell.

This is an easy beginner friendly sculpt that you can make for yourself or as a handmade gift for the fantasy genre fan in your life. You can make this cute fantasy baby dragon using a DIY wire hinge and a perfectly split walnut (I show you how to do both here!)  This is a beginner-friendly polymer clay craft that you can make with one colour of polymer clay in under an hour. The baby dragon's tiny hoard of a single gem and his  moss bedding are optional but also very affordable. I bought both from my local dollar/ discount store.
 

There's a full step-by-step breakdown on my YouTube channel of how to make this DIY polymer clay mini dragon. You'll find it with 4 other walnut miniature projects you might like here! The steps are also summarized in the following photo tutorial.

The dragon body starts as this elongated teardrop shape. Press and roll the shape to define the dragon's neck.

I use some black glass-head sewing pins for eyes. If you can't find these pins, glass beads will also work. Or you can just sculpt some.

The ear is a little leaf shape of clay that is pinched on the bottom. The upper eyelids are two tiny sausages of clay.

Gently push his body into the shell and add some scales down his back. Make these by gently squishing tiny balls of clay under your thumb and cut them in half.

Use a tool to indent the wing then squish it closed from the top corner.

Optional: After curing the dragon according to your polymer clay manufacturer's directions, decorate his shell with some preserved moss.

The dragon is going to be curled up in his tiny shell. Gently curl the body around so that his head is resting on the base of his tail.

Use a sculpting tool or a toothpick to define the nostrils and beak of the dragon. Don't get too fussy here!

I wanted to give him a scaly texture, so I gently uncurled his body and rolled the handle of this sculpting tool onto the clay.

One thing that makes this sculpture easy is that you can't see his arms or legs, and only one folded wing is visible. Start the wing by cutting a rough kite shape from a flattened bit of clay.

Secure the wing to the dragon's shoulder area by blending some clay into the body with a tool.

Optional: glue a plastic "gem" into the roof of the dragon's shell to help him get his hoard started!

If you want to see this tutorial in a more detailed video format, this project is featured in my 5 Walnut Miniatures video! There's a miniature apothecary, a tiny bigfoot forest, a walnut engagement ring box, and a whimsical Alice in Walnutland wonderland diorama! If you need to learn how to split a walnut perfectly in half and DIY a mini hinge to get yourself started with a walnut box, I have a video on that too!