Altered Precious Moments FAQ

We put together this page to answer the frequently asked questions you've sent us.

If you have more questions, DM us @chicaandjo on all the socials or email us at chicaandjo@chicaandjo.com.

Altered Moments Frequently Asked Questions:

• What paint and sealers do you use?
• What clay do you use?
• What tools do you recommend?
• How do I get started making my own?
• Where can I see your work?
• Do you have a community for AM artists?
• How can I support you?
• Do you sell your pieces?
• Can you make me another one?
• Where do you get the figurines?
• Do you do custom pieces?
• Do you want to buy my PM collection?
• Don't you know these are valuable?

Our absolutely favorite paints and varnishes to use are from DecoArt.

Their multi-surface acrylic paint sticks beautifully to the porcelain with no primer needed and the satin finish looks great and actually helps make painting easier. (See our painting tips video to learn why!)

And the brush-on varnishes allow for excellent control and come in a variety of sheens. (See our sheen test video to see 6 DuraClear formulas in action!)

These are our favorite paints and sealers:

• Americana Multi-Surface Satin Paint is available at DecoArt, Amazon, and Walmart.
• DuraClear Varnishes are available at DecoArt, Amazon, and Walmart.
• Americana Decor Varnishes are available at DecoArt, Amazon, and Walmart.

For one-stop shopping, you can find all our recommended supplies linked in our Amazon storefront and in our Walmart storefront.

NEW: We now have custom kits!

We have curated two custom kits to help you get started without having to do lots of shopping.

We use a two different air-dry clays, depending on the application. (See more in our clay comparison video!)

Sculpey Air-Dry is our favorite, because it's easy to work with, very affordable, dries rock hard, and is easy to sand and shape after drying. You can find it here at Walmart and here at Amazon.

Sculpey Air-Dry Porcelain is a variation that dries even harder and is much more resistant to cracking. It costs more and is harder to shape after drying, but it's great for tiny, fragile bits or for applications that encase the figurines. You can find it here at Walmart and here at Amazon.

Having the right tools makes all the difference with Altered Moments!

You can find our favorite supplies linked in our Walmart storefront and in our Amazon storefront. (Canadian friends, visit our amazon.ca storefront)

For help using these supplies and tools, be sure to check out our complete How to Get Started video.

We love nothing more than hearing about people trying this hobby for the first time! We created a special video that gives you all the info you need to get started, including supplies, tips, and techniques.

When you're ready for more detailed help, we have tons more content available in our Patreon community!

You can watch these free tutorial videos that go into more detail on various techniques and supplies.

• The Best Air Dry Clay for Altered Precious Moments
• What Paint Works Best? Let's Test 10!
• Painting Tips and Tricks for Altered Moments
• 3 Techniques for Cutting Precious Moments
• Advanced Techniques for Cutting Precious Moments
• Demo of SIX Cutting Examples on Altered Moments
• How to Make a Precious Moments Bald
• How to Add Waterslide Decals to Altered Moments
• Testing Varnish Sheens
• Air-Dry vs Polymer Clay for Sculpting
• How to Watermark Images
• How to Make Tiny Eyeglasses
• How to Add a Sand Base
• How to Paint Wood Grain

Ready for even MORE help with advanced topics? Consider upgrading your Patreon membership for access to benefits like these:

• Exclusive technique videos and tips
• Community chats
• Access to Chica's digital JPG and SVG files
• Checklists, worksheets, and outlines
• Video Q&A calls with Chica
• Exposure and mentorship

Here are some of the bonus tutorial videos available in our Patreon community!

• How to Make Curly Hair
• How to Make a Baseball Cap
• Sheen Test with 6 DuraClear Varnishes
• Gluing Broken Figurines

We share our painted Precious Moments figurines on all our social media channels as they are completed. Be sure to follow us @chicaandjo on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

To see the transformations in action, check out this Facebook Reels playlist.

We also have a great round-up post here on our blog that features a bunch of Painted Precious Moments by us and other artists.

Actually, we have two!

First, we have developed a huge community of Altered Moments fans and artists in our Altered Moments Facebook Group. Our members include established artists, newbie alterers, and vicarious onlookers who just like to see everyone share their work. Join us if you'd like to share your work or see what others have created!

Second, we have a new Altered Moments Patreon community for dedicated artists who are looking for more of our technique videos, digital content, mentorship, and advice about creating and selling. Our Patrons can get access to exclusive bonus content that's not shared anywhere else!

Aww, you're so sweet to ask! It does take quite a bit of work to manage and maintain our Facebook groups, and the more support we get the more time we are able to devote to interacting with our community.

You can show your support with a base-level "For Funsies" membership in our Patreon community. Or you can join at a higher level and get tons of exclusive bonus content to help you create!

Sometimes we do sell our pieces, if there is enough interest.

Keep an eye out for listing announcements on our TikTok account and our Altered Moments Market Facebook Group.

Whenever a piece is available for purchase, you'll find it listed in our eBay store (#ad). Hit the "Save Seller" button to make it easy to find us again.

All our pieces are one of a kind, and we only create a single copy of each altered work. We found that doing the same thing over and over to create more copies takes all the joy out of it, and makes it seem too much like work, so we do not create duplicates.

If you want to be sure you get a chance at purchasing one of our pieces, all announcements will be made in our TikTok account and in our Altered Moments Market Facebook Group and then listed in our eBay store (#ad).

We source most of our pieces from thrift stores, where they sit on shelves, just waiting for someone to give them a new life and love.

We occasionally receive gifted collections from friends and followers, and sometimes we hit up eBay when we need that perfect piece to complete an idea.

We do not have the budget for purchasing complete collections at this time, but we do occasionally need individual pieces. We post our needs on our Altered Moments Market Facebook Group, so if you have items to sell, keep an eye out there for any announcements.

We also accept donations if you would like to send us your collection. If you want your pieces to go to a good home rather than the landfill, you can send them to us at:

Chica and Jo
PO Box 188
Bryantsville, KY 40410

At this time we aren't able to create custom pieces or take custom orders. This includes personalized pieces (to match you) or duplicates of pieces we have already created and sold.

We understand that Precious Moments are emotionally very valuable to dedicated collectors, but most pieces — certainly the ones we alter — are not worth very much money at this time. The Precious Moments market was flooded in the 90s and most of the individual pieces have greatly reduced in value.

We do research every piece we receive before altering it, to be sure it is not highly valuable. We rarely pay more than $10 for a figurine and would not alter a piece that is rare or worth a lot.