Lil' Peanut Christmas Ornaments

This year we were doubly blessed with another set of boy/girl twins in the family! Mommy calls them her ' lil' peanuts' which inspired me to make these ceramic ornaments for their very first Christmas.

I made the peanut shape approximately actual size. I used a variety of textural tools to get the impressions, then added the smooth oval face and hat with textured trim. I inserted a high temp. wire loop while the clay was still soft. The babies names are incised on the back of the hats.
After bisque firing I painted on one coat of yellow underglaze on the body and pink or blue underglaze on the hats. I left the white trim un-glazed. I fired again then added another coat of a darker brownish yellow and another coat on hats. After the third firing I applied a coat of dark blackish/brown underglaze and wiped it off with a soft sponge so it remained only in the crevices. Then I coated the entire peanut with clear glaze and fired one more time.