Fingerprint Tree Ornaments

Jessica and I had a load of air drying clay left lying around, slowly drying out without use so I thought I'd try out something new. We rolled it out reasonably thin and used a cookie cutter to cut out trees. The hole was punched using a straw and then they were left to dry for a few days. Unfortunately they seem to have a tendency to curl up slightly and whilst this adds to the charm it does also make them more vulnerable to breaking when decorating. 

Once completely dry, we tried a couple of different ideas for decorating them but this one is my favourite, Jessica used ink pads to decorate the tree with her fingerprints. It's vibrant and beautiful and I'm excited to hang it up when Christmas finally arrives.

Air Drying Clay Bowl

The second gift for Vicky's birthday was entirely handmade. We wrapped cling film around a bowl and then layered thin circles of air drying clay on top to form a flower shaped bowl. We had used this type of clay once before at a group we used to attend at Fingringhoe Wick but never to make something functional. Once dry, Jess painted it with acrylic paints. We only painted the inside so that the clay can continue to breath and dry in case it wasn't completely dry. I didn't like the idea of trapping moisture in the clay, which would eventually go moldy. With hindsight I think we should have used thicker circles of clay because I think it's probably very fragile and brittle but that's not my problem now that we've given it away!!! ;-)