With air dry clay, you have a significant advantage over traditional molding dough as you can make it, dry and harden it, and make shapes, decorations, ornaments, pots, vases, coasters, candlestick holders, and much more.
While you might be brimming with ideas, the first step is to make the clay so when it dries, it doesn’t crack and stays thoroughly dried and cured, and this can take some practice to get the timings right, but it’s possible.
To find out how to make your clay and how you can make it durable, read on.
Ingredients For Air Dry Clay
There are many ways you can make this clay, but the most commonplace items are:
- One cup of cornstarch
- Two cups baking soda
- One and a half cups of water, or you can use one cup of white craft glue
- One tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar as a preservative
- One tablespoon of mineral oil to improve texture (optional)
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Instructions
Time needed: 15 minutes.
How to Make Air Dry Clay
- Mix ingredients
In a bowl, mix the cornstarch and baking soda, where you can add the water until the mixture is completely blended. Then you can put this in an oven pot and cook over medium heat while stirring continuously for around 10-15 minutes.
- Stir it
Once the clay has begun to form, you can remove it from the heat and continue stirring until the mixture becomes sticky but soft. Then you can let it cool to the touch and place the dough on a surface covered with cornstarch.
- Knead the clay
Here, you can knead the clay and add more cornstarch until it becomes smooth and the tacky feeling has gone, and here you can add mineral oil to make the texture softer and easier to work with. You can store it by wrapping it in plastic wrap inside an airtight container.
- Let it dry
Now, you’re free to use it however you like, so when you finish making your shapes, you can place them on a drying rack and flip them over to ensure even drying.
It can take up to 3 days to completely dry, depending on what you make and the thickness.
What Can I Make With Air-Dry Clay?
With the clay at your disposal, you might be thinking about what to make, as you can create items for decoration, utility, or as a bit of fun, and the best part is that this activity is excellent for the whole family, where you can make some pretty unique items.
Plant Potters
This is a fun way to create plant pots that have some personality in them, as you can roll your clay around a pot and smooth the edges where the roll meets, then you can add some textures so you can make them around a theme, so it fits into your home decor.
You can use the tip of a knife to add marks and add some spray varnish for a glazed finish, which you can let dry and give your plants a new home, and when you need to add water, the pot inside can keep the clay dry.
Keychains
For something to go with your keys or as a decoration, you can use cookie cutters with some rolled-out clay which you can emboss, paint, or pattern press for the best results. You can wait up to 2 days to dry.
You can even make these into plaques, where you can press flowers into the clay, so when it dries, you have a nice decorative item, where you can add some white paint on a sponge and watch as this adds age to the design, so there are many options for you here.
Stamped Bowls
If you want to make something practical, you can make bowls that don’t need any baking or firing, and you can use these for jewelry, keys, or decoration, and all you need is a bowl of your choice as a mold.
You can use stamps, an ink pad, a craft knife, and sandpaper to get your bowl looking the way you want where you start by marking the center, then wrapping it in a solid bowl so you can remove any rough edges and varnish to complete.
Sculptures
With the right equipment, you can make practically any type of sculpture you wish, with some people turning them into key holders, and with this clay, you can focus on details such as contours, textures, and even fur.
You can start by making a wire frame for a reference point, then you can bulk out and layer as you choose, but some use different types of clay that allow the sculpture to dry quicker as they need to have more layers added to them.
How To Prevent Your Clay From Cracking
This happens because the clay doesn’t dry out evenly, which can create weaknesses that are prone to cracks or warps, so you want to wrap any leftovers and store them in an airtight container.
If it takes more than a day to dry, you can mist it slightly to keep it soft, where it doesn’t dry out too much and become harder to work with. With completed projects, you want to dry them on a rack or screen and rotate them regularly.
If you store the leftovers right, you should be able to use them at any time, so glue and mineral oil allow the clay to hold its consistency better, where the surface won’t feel rough or leathery.
The Bottom Line
With this in mind, you can now make anything sure to look nice in your home, but when making the clay, you want to add the cornstarch to make it smooth enough.
From here it should begin to take shape as you dry it before use, so you can make quite a lot to see you through your next brilliant creation.