clay owls

M had her first ever sleepover at a friend's last night- she had a great time and was pretty exhausted by this afternoon- a perfect opportunity for all of us to have some quiet time ( and because I love it x).

I found the instructions for these here and bought air drying clay off trade me.

I love how each owl came out different. Some we'll paint and others we'll leave plain- most are planned as gifts.

loooove air drying clay

We had family here for the day yesterday. We had a wee bit of air dry clay left over and H was particularly keen to use it. I love this stuff, if you haven't used it with your kids before you should!

 I loved listening to their talk around it,

" I'm making a smiley hedgehog"
" I've got enough to make some spots"
"Mine looks like a penguin"
"What are you making?"
" My butterfly needs antene"
" I'm going to paint mine when it's dry"

I also love this picture, all happily creating.

das

This stuff is awesome. You mold it like you would plasticine or clay but it air dries white and can be painted. It's pretty inexpensive at about $9 for 500g. We haven't painted all of our creations yet but T has finished his elephant, I love it : )

snake and elephant

m's duck!

m's butterfly

jewelery holder for Julie

 a 'porky-pine' by t

  

better than salt dough Christmas decos

I came across this recipe here : http://woodsidekitchen.blogspot.co.nz/2010/11/clay-christmas-decorations.html

We've just made them, it's so much nice to work with than salt dough, stays white when hardening in the oven ands only takes an hour. We're going to keep ours simple with some gold and red paint ( I was feeling very christmasy I bought some gold nail polish we might use too). I'll add another post when we paint ours up.

NOTE- We doubled the recipe and used every piece of it. Cornstarch is the same thing as cornflour. The recipe says 175 degrees but that's F, put them in an 80 C oven.

Use a REALLY clean pot, some tiny bits of black stuff came off our pot - from all the stirring. The husband assures me that you can hardly see them- but I can and it bothers me a bit. I'll be covering those bits with paint ; )

Dust your work surface and rolling pin with cornflour.

I got the cornflour and baking soda from New World, both were in big packets- for less than $3.

Woodside kitchen's photo:

Clay Christmas Decorations

1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup baking soda
3/4 cup water

Making Clay

In a medium sized pot combine the cornstarch, baking soda, and water. With an adults help the kids can stir this mixture over medium-low heat. After a couple of minutes, the mixture will begin to thicken. When it looks like smooth, mashed potatoes, remove the pot from the heat. Spoon the ball of dough into a bowl and cover it with a damp cloth until it's cool. When it's cool, knead it on a smooth surface, adding a little more cornstarch if it feels sticky.

Rolling, cutting, and baking

Preheat oven to 175 degrees ( 80 C) . Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out clay to 1/4 inch thick on a surface lightly dusted with cornstarch. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Transfer shapes to the prepared baking sheet. Use a straw to poke a hole in the center top of each decoration, then get the kids to blow out the small piece of clay. They love this task! Place them in the oven at 175 degrees for about an hour, turning them over halfway through cooking.


Paint or decorate them and thread a piece of ribbon, twine or yarn through the holes.

M loving using the rolling pin

Joining in with http://www.verydarkhorse.blogspot.co.nz/ Christmas tradition linky : )