During our clay modeling class, a couple of weeks back, one of my students was working with air dry clay. Usually, we use plasticine clay for our classes, but that week we decided to use some air dry clay. My daughter too wanted to experiment with air dry clay saying that she wanted to make something to gift to her friends. I suggested why not make some Christmas trinkets to gift to your friends since Christmas is just nearby and she could gift them to her friends before the school closes for Christmas break. She dug out some plastic clay molds from her treasure of clay modeling tools and began her play with the clay!
This is how we went about making the clay trinkets...
She used a circular mold to cut out some circles. Thereafter, she used some molds to just press onto the clay surface and created an impression of a flower, a Christmas tree and so on. For adding more details on the outlines made, she used a toothpick. I helped her to make some holes with a toothpick so that we could pass a ribbon or a string through the trinket. I also added some text message using the same toothpick. What started as an experiment actually ended up with some beautiful results. Sometimes, the kids bring out the best in you!
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| Air Dry Clay Trinkets left to dry |
Thereafter, we put these clay trinkets to dry for about 48 hours. Later, we applied some acrylic colors to the surface. We were very pleased with the results indeed.
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| Air dry clay trinkets painted with Acrylic colors |
Encouraged by the outcome, I made a few more clay trinkets and painted them with acrylic colors. I used some golden strings and some ribbons to pass through these trinkets so that they could either be used as decorations that can be hung on the Christmas tree or use them as gift tags also.
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| Air Dry Clay Trinkets |
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| Air Dry Clay Trinkets |
All the above clay trinkets are made from air dry clay, which takes around 48 hours to dry further. Also, after applying acrylic paints, I waited for another 24 hours for the paint to dry and then only passed the strings/ribbons.
Each of these clay trinkets measures about 2" or 4cm in diameter. For making the holes while they were wet, I used toothpicks so that I could pass a string through it later. Carving anything on it for the text or even the designs that you see on them with toothpicks requires a lot of patience. Hence, if you wish to try making them keep a lot of time and patience in store with you. You will also need to make the carvings or the designs on it immediately as you cut out the circular shapes since the clay starts drying being exposed to the air. Hence, each piece requires to be completed first before you start rolling out a new one, otherwise adding details to each becomes difficult later.
These clay trinkets can be used as Christmas decorations to hang on the Christmas trees or they can be used as gift tags to be tied with the gifts or you can also use them just to gift it to your friends. After all handmade gifts are loved and appreciated by all, and when they are so beautiful who would not love them!
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