Okay, so these are more like little jewelry or coin dishes as opposed to catch-alls (you really can’t fit a whole lot in them) … but they are hand-made and they are clay. And they’re air-dry clay at that – no oven required. Hopefully that excites you as much as it did me. I’ve had the urge to work with clay for a while now so I thought I’d start by making these cute little dishes and refrigerator magnets. My crafting time is limited these days but I managed to knock out a few dishes over the weekend. Magnets to come at some point. Maybe.
materials
- air-dry clay
- rolling pin
- bowls
- fine sandpaper
- acrylic paint
- paint brushes
- mod podge
- patterned paper or napkins
- scissors
step 1
roll the air-dry clay out on a smooth surface (the thickness is up to you, but it may not dry properly if too thick and it may be fragile if too thin). I rolled mine out to about 1/4 inch.
step 2
press an upside-down bowl into the clay to cut out your circular pattern (or use any circular object as your “cutter”).
step 3
place cut-out clay inside bowl and press it down until it touches the bottom and sides of the bowl. I used several different sized bowls because I wanted a variety of dish sizes. be sure to smooth out the clay once you’ve pressed it down so you don’t end up with bubbles or fingernail marks (I may have failed in this area). let the clay dry overnight.
step 4
when clay is completely dry, pop out of bowl and sand the edges.
step 5
now the fun part – paint your dish! I chose to paint the rims of each dish, and also the backs, using different colors of acrylic paints (teal, gold, coral). you can keep it simple or paint a design along the rim (like I did with the coral).
step 6
cut out designs from your paper or napkin (if using a napkin, only use the top layer) and apply them to your dish using mod podge (or any other glue). make sure paint is completely dry before doing this! luckily acrylics dry fast 🙂
step 7
use a paint brush and apply mod podge (or any other clear sealer) all over the dish. this helps hold the cut-out design in place and protects the paint.
step 8
marvel at the hand-made beauties you just made!
These are so unique and so easy and I personally think they would make great gifts. I mean, let’s be honest, who doesn’t need a little help in the organization department every now and then? I need to make a more masculine one for my husband so he doesn’t spend 10 minutes looking for his keys every morning 🙂
L Claire Designs 