All right, finally, I had another one of those “ Nailed it ” moments. You know those moments when we attempt something and it just doesn’t work. Well this is one of those projects. I picked up a bag of party favors from our dollar store and thought they would make perfect molds.

So I bought some clay and went home to try to make some little clay critters. Well as you can imagine, it didn’t work out the way I thought. The molds are too small and the clay is too soft…whatever, it just didn’t work.

My daughter came in and asked what I was up too and got really excited (she has always liked clay) “ Hey whatcha doing mom?” and I just started laughing. I had my little pile of critters on the table, trying to make something that resembles anything. I am not good at everything when it comes to crafting, wish I could sculpt, but I can’t.

My daughter started looking over everything I had finished, asking questions.

“ Oh, is that a dog?”

“No, it’s a pig” I answered

“ What about this, is it a cat?”

“No, that is a little lamb”

Then there were things she just couldn’t figure out like these frogs and turtles that I tried to make from the molds. She couldn’t stop laughing at these. All they needed was a little paint.

But she did guess right on this turtle and snake. At least I am good at the reptiles.

Then she sat down with me, grabbed a handful of clay and we both laughed at our silly little creations we made together. So even though we can’t sculpt (although her bunnies are adorable) we had fun making fun of our creations.

For anyone out there looking to laugh, create and just be silly then here are the supplies you will need

Clay, all types, all colors

Paints

Embellishments

A sense of humor

glue

This is one of those stuck inside on the weekends because it is too hot outside to do anything and your sick of streaming movies, so do crafts instead days. Have the kids knead the clay for a while. Just squishing it and rolling with your hands is very therapeutic and great for sensory play for any children with Autistic spectrum disorders. Tactile play can be very calming for some children with ASD. After the kids have kneaded the clay for a while have them push them into molds, just not the molds I bought. Candy molds work great.

Tips on clay fun- I like the self-drying clays and prefer white clays so I can paint over them later. The oven-baked clays are easier to work with and are extra soft but the watercolor paints that I prefer using don’t work well on oven-baked clays. You can use acrylic paints for oven-baked. I also like to coat all my pieces with Glossy Mod Podge.

When I am out junk shopping at second hand shops, estate sales, and church sales I am always on the hunt for unique and vintage molds. Molds are great for those of us that cannot sculpt. I will have to needle felt some ears for these cows I made from an old vintage mold. Check out the main photo, and you will see how small this cow is, there is a penny somewhere in the photo to help give you an idea of the sizes of these tiny sculptures.

When adding details I will use beads, threads, fabric, tiny paint brushes and toothpicks for the details. I also use wires to joint some of my pieces like dolls with arms and legs and little teddy bears. It isn’t about perfection, it’s about having fun and being creative, so don’t worry about how silly your pieces look, once painted they will have a whole new look about them.

You can even use leaves from your garden to create with. Roll out clay, then press leaves in and cut around them, then peel away leaf carefully. It should leave an imprint. Then bake and paint. I made these leaf ornaments from our Jasmine plant out in my garden.

As always, remember to include everyone, all levels and all ages. Sit down together and spend some quality time together having fun and being creative. Happy crafting everyone.

 

“ Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new’

Albert Einstein.

 

For even more clay fun check out Bedtimes and broomsticks post on clay miniatures  she made some really adorable little clay pieces herself.