Arts & Crafts

Day 22: Make White Clay Cutout Christmas Ornaments

It’s already Day 22 of 25 Creative Days of Christmas and it’s my turn again to share a creative Christmas project.

This Christmas, the children and I are making white clay Christmas tree ornaments as gifts for family. I’m so excited that Alec and Louis are big enough to make gifts now, and I think making gifts is a great way for them to understand the concept of giving. I love the conversations we have while we’re crafting, about giving and about the people we are making gifts for and why we love them so much.

When making gifts with smaller children, it’s a good idea to not make the gifts to long before the actual giving. We made our ornaments over the weekend and will be gifting them on Christmas Eve. I find that longer waits make it harder for small children to make the connection between making something and gifting it.

These white clay ornaments are a fun project to do with kids because you can make a simpler version – like the plain hearts – for small children to decorate, while older children can make more intricate designs – like the cutout ornaments. I found the white clay to be a little challenging to work with as it crumbled quite easily, but it dried hard and strong and the pure white colour is lovely for Christmas ornaments. Click past the break for all the how-tos!

 

WHITE CLAY ORNAMENTS

  • 1 cup baking soda
  • 1/2 cup corn starch
  • 1/2 cup water
  1. Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and stir over low-medium heat until it comes together into a dough.
  2. Let the dough ball roll into a mixing bowl and let it cool with a damp towel over it.
  3. Knead the dough into it’s soft and pliable – add more water, a few drops at a time, if the dough is too crumbly.
  4. Roll the dough out as thin as you like on a cutting board – or for thinner ornaments, roll them out directly on parchment paper. Use a drinking straw to punch out a small hole to hang your ribbon through.
  5. Ornaments can be left to air-dry overnight, or bake them at 100°c, keeping a close eye on them so they don’t start to brown. Mine were only in for around 15 minutes.
  6. Glaze the ornaments if you wish, or leave them unglazed and pain them with acrylic paints. 
  7. String ribbon through the hole and enjoy!

I used a drinking straw that I had first pressed closed to make the drop-shaped cutouts. You could also use stamps (inked or dry), lace fabric, or other textures to make designs in your ornaments. 

Yesterday Hildas Hem showed us how to make candied almonds with licorice and tomorrow is mormorsglamour‘s turn to share a project. Make sure to follow The Creative Collective on Facebook so you don’t miss a thing!

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  5. Hej!
    Jag hittade precis hit när jag sökte efter nya bloggar att följa. Bloggar som inspirerar och ger vardagen extra guldkant. Självklart ska jag följa dig, fantastiskt arbete du gör med bloggen! Jag är själv en person som pysslar massor, inreder och tycker om att ha vackert omkring mig så den här bloggen passar mig perfekt. Älskar dina pyssel/DIY-inlägg, hade gärna sett mycket sådant det här året! Gott nytt år! <3 Linda, http://www.underbarasaker.blogg.se

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