Making brilliant beads

Little Miss 4 and I continued our creativeness using air-dry clay and made some beads!

Materials

• Air-drying clay - we bought three different colours to mix, green, blue and yellow. 
• Knife
• Toothpicks
• Thin elastic thread or a thin piece of leather
• Darning needle (you might need a needle to thread the beads onto the elastic or leather, but we didn't)

I bought our air-drying clay on-line from Eckersleys and it was delivered in two days (shopping on-line is easier at the moment with a 5 week old).

1. Roll the three (or however many) colours of clay into sausages and put them side by side.
   
   


2. Use a knife to cut sections of the same size through all three lengths together.
   
   


3. Take a section of all three (or however many) colours and roll it into a ball between your palms until the colours are mixed together. Repeat until you have created all the balls.


4. Using the toothpicks to make holes through the centre of the balls to make beads.
   
   


5. Leave the toothpicks in the beads while they dry overnight (it may take longer than overnight).


6. When the beads are dry, thread them onto the elastic or leather to make a bracelet or necklace.

Do you have a favourite craft project with your kids?

Making clay egg cups

Little Miss 4 and I have been making!

She asked if we could make something with clay - so our first project was to make some air-drying clay egg cups.

Materials

• Air-drying clay - any amount, depends on how big you want your egg cup.
• Knife
• Egg
• Acrylic paints - any colour you want
• Paintbrush
• Water

I bought our air-drying clay and acrylic paints on-line from Eckersleys and it was delivered in two days (shopping on-line is easier at the moment with a 5 week old).

1. Cut about a quarter of the clay off and put it to one side. You will use this later to make the feet/shoes.


2. Roll the remaining clay into a ball and use your thumbs to work it into a bowl shape. Check the bowl with an egg, working on the shape until the egg sits snugly.
   
   
3. Divide the remaining clay (the quarter that you put aside in the beginning) into two equal pieces. 


4. Make a foot/shoe shape out of each piece.
   
   
   
5. Turn the bowl piece upside down and score with a knife where you want to place the feet/shoes. Wet each foot/shoe piece to help them stick, then attach them to the base of the egg cup piece.
   
   
   
6. Turn the egg cup the right way up and adjust the feet/shoes until the cup stands on a surface without wobbling.


7. Leave to dry overnight (it might actually take longer than overnight).
   
   
   
8. When fully dry, paint the egg cup and feet/shoes any colour you like.
   
   

Top tip - Don't put the egg cup in the dishwasher. Wash it quickly and carefully by hand to keep it looking good as new.

Have you used air-drying clay with your kids?