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Ganesh Chaturthi, a very famous festival celebrated in my home country - India. Having moved to Florida, I didn't want to miss the celebration without traditional clay Ganesha. I remember watching making of mini-Ganesh in the streets back at home. So here is what I tried to replicate. I really enjoyed making this and it was one of the best Ganesh Chaturthi i ever celebrated. I hope you will enjoy too! Happy crafting!

Construction time - 60 to 90 mins

SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED:
• Clay
• Toothpick
• Acrylic paint

Step 1: DIVIDE YOUR CLAY TO FORM THE VARIOUS BODY PARTS

Divide the clay in proportion as shown in the image.

Step 2: MAKING OF STOMACH AND BASE

Flatten the base pedestal clay (like the way you would flatten roti dough). Flatten it in such a way that it has space to hold stomach and legs.
Insert a small piece of toothpick into one end of the base and fix the stomach onto that. This way these parts will stay together even after drying.
Use water when required to brush at places that are dry.
Roll out the leg portions as shown in the picture.

Step 3: MAKING OF LEGS

Press on top and bottom, and bend to form shape of the leg.

Step 4: MAKING OF HANDS

Fix the legs to the stomach and base pedestal, reinforce it with toothpicks. Press the joints of leg and stomach at the back, so that they become one and joints are not seen.
Roll out the hands in the same way as legs and bend them to form the shape of hands as shown in the image.

Step 5: FIXING HANDS

Fix the hands and gently press them to join it with the stomach.

Step 6: FIXING HEAD TO THE BODY

Insert a toothpick into the body and fix the head to it.

Step 7: FIXING EARS AND TRUNK

Similarly fix the ears.
Roll out the trunk (similar to legs and hands). Bend it and fix it to the head as shown in the image.

Step 8: ATTAINING BASIC FORM OF GANESH

Gently press the years and flatten them.
Make eyes, tusk and 3 tiers of head crown.

Step 9: ORNAMENTING

To make the back crown, first roll and press the clay like roti dough (about 6cm in diameter). Then use tools like bottle/mason jar lid, pen refill, pen cap to do the ornamentation.
Allow this to dry a bit and gently fix it to the body by using more wet clay.

Step 10: MAKING AND FIXING UMBRELLA

Kindly check the below link for making of umbrella.

https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Paper-umbrella...

Fix the umbrella skewer to body of Ganesh using clay.

Step 11: CUTE LITTLE BAL GANESH AT HOME

Leave it to dry for couple of days and paint them.
To make the elevated pedestal, I have used a square thermocol piece (3"L x 3"B x 1"H) and wrapped it with 1" blue satin ribbon.

Introduction: DIY - Making of Lord Ganesha at Home