Showing posts with label craft with clay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label craft with clay. Show all posts

Friday, March 19, 2010

Clay Cherry Blossom in a Vase


Bring spring in your home with this beautiful cherry blossom in a vase. This flower arrangement can be put as a centerpiece on a dining table or can beautify your corner lamp stand or may be an end table. Wherever you keep this handmade cherry blossom it is definitely going to make the space the center of attraction. This classy arrangement is something you can make yourself with a little effort.
Refer picture below for a closer look.


Supplies you need:
- Air dry clay- white and red
- Pollens
- Bamboo skewer
- Floral wire
- Brown floral tape
- Vase
- Dry stems from your backyard


Follow the above picture for the step wise instructions to create this beautiful cherry blossom in clay. To begin with you need to mix the white air dry clay with a pinch of red. Mix well. Try to reach the desired shade of pink. Once you get the desired shade keep the clay covered as it dries really quickly.
-Take a small tear drop of clay as in the picture above.
-Holding the tear drop in your hand, put the bamboo skewer at the center and start rotating both the clay and the skewer. Keep rotating till you get the thickness like of petals as shown.
-Flatten it and cut petals as shown using pointed scissors.
-Using your fingers fold the edges of the petals downward as shown.
-Use skewers to highlight the center of the cherry blossom.
-Insert pollens at the center
-Insert wire and let the flower dry for few hours or may be overnight.
-To make buds you can use the tear drop shape.
-Complete by covering the floral wire using brown tape.
-Arrange the flowers the way you like.
This is how I arranged it. For making the below arrangement you will need about 40 flowers. Have fun creating this handmade clay cherry blossom flower arrangement this spring.


Tips: Air dry clay is available in craft stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby.
You can also order them online from Amazon or similar websites.
We recommend using Delight or Deco clay for this project.
Instead of red clay you can also use acrylic paint.
It is a good idea to prepare the clay all at once to make sure you get the same shade in all flowers.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Kitty Cat Refrigerator Magnet


Today was like one of those days when I end up making a quick and cute craft with my daughter with no previous plan. In fact I must say she was the one who inspired me for this craft. She has a Hello Kitty purse and said draw Kitty cat. She was not impressed by my drawing of it on Doodle Pro. She then said make Kitty cat.
Just like a flash I got an idea of creating a Refrigerator Magnet of Kitty cat inspired from the cute face of famous Hello Kitty series. This is how I made this craft with my 23 month old daughter.

Supplies you will need:
-Air dry clay white
-Acrylic Paint: Red, White, Yellow and Black
-Painting bush
-Craft Glue
-Magnetic strip
-Craft knife or Scissors
I used one pack of Crayola Model Magic Single packs. Just follow the illustrations to make this project. It is that simple. Detailed step wise instructions to make Kitty cat craft :Just in case you need them.
Use the existing width of the clay pack (roughly 1 ½”) cut a length of about 1”. Use the existing thickness of the clay (roughly 1/3”). If there are cracks use little water to moisten it and then you might want to roll it to a rectangle of 1 ½” by 1” and thickness of 1/3”.
To make two ears take around 1/4 inch diameter ball of Crayola Model Magic clay and then shape it like a pointed triangle. Use the rest of the clay to make the bow. Add two drops of acrylic clay to make it pink. Mix it well. Bow is made by sticking 3 pieces together. To a small ball of clay attach two ends of flattened clay as shown in the picture. The completed bow measures around 1”. Glue the ears and bow to the face. When dried (about 1 hour or so), paint the bow in any color you like. Paint the eyes, nose and the whiskers. You can make this completed Kitty cat face as a Christmas tree ornament using a hook or a refrigerator magnet by sticking the magnetic strip piece on the back. Voila! the cute Kitty Cat craft is ready for your toddler to enjoy.


Tips- With a little adult supervision Toddlers can enjoy this craft. It is okay if they smudge the paint a little. Idea is they have fun.
- If you do not have magnetic strip you can use the back of any other magnetic sample credit card or business card you get in ad mail. I used the back of a Subway Sandwich address card. Just peel the ad part with craft knife and what you get is self sticking magnetic strip.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Refrigerator Magnet : Clay craft for kids


I like to collect refrigerator magnets from various places I visit and got inspired to make one myself.Kids love to play with clay and this is an easy and fun craft idea using clay. Attaching a magnetic backing makes it easy to display their craft work.

I used the following supplies :
- Air dry clay ( you can use any clay..i prefer air dry as you need not bake it)
- Acrylic roller pin to roll the clay ( Any thick marker will work too)
- Rubber stamp for the design
- Acrylic paint
- Magnetic sheet with adhesive back
- Wax paper or parchment paper



Make a clay ball of approx 2-3 inches diameter. Put it on wax paper and roll it into a sheet 1/4 inch ( approx) thick. Gently press the rubber stamp on the clay sheet. Do not press the stamp too hard as clay is very soft.Lift the stamp gently.

You can make the magnet in any shape you want. I used a glass tumbler to get the circular shape. Cookie cutters can also be used to get the shape you wish to make. Infact if you have cookie cutters in shape of animals you don't have to use rubber stamp either. Just cutout the animal shape using the cookie cutter and let kids have fun painting their favorite animal. Here is a pic with all the steps. Click on the image for larger size.


Let the clay dry for 24 hrs. Paint the design with your choice of colors and let it dry. You can use any water based paint. Cut out the magnetic sheet in the shape of your magnet.Remove the adhesive backing and attach the clay piece. The magnet is ready to be displayed.

If you are not able to get a magnetic sheet , you can also punch a hole in the clay piece ( before it dries) and attach a ribbon through it. That way it can be used as an ornament for Christmas tree or hung on a wall. Happy crafting :)!