I’ve been messing around a lot with the oven-bake craft clay I used for the woodland animal pin’s from the Camp Baby Shower. It may be my new fav craft supply. I love how quick it takes to bake and how easy it is to manipulate into any shape. The baked clay looks so similar to ceramic, which is another new fav obsession of mine.

For this little candle wrap project, I rolled out the clay as thin as could be and placed it around a glass cylinder to bake. You could smooth a bottom section onto this project, but I left mine as a wrap sleeve. The candle light looks so pretty shining through the super thin clay. Just as if it were real ceramic. Love.

SUPPLIES

bake (or air dry) modeling clay in white

embroidery floss + needle + scissors

glass cylinder (needs to be okay to bake in the oven)

roller (I used a really large gage knitting needle)

xacto knife

hole poker (I used a large yarn needle but toothpick or a skewer would work well)

straight edge

wax paper or other grease proof paper + cutting mat

TO MAKE

Pre heat your oven following the directions on the clay.

Prep your cutting mat by taping it off with the wax paper so you don’t have bits of clay forever on your work surface.

Roll your clay into a ribbon long enough to surround the glass cylinder + 2 cm / 1”. You want the clay as thin as it can be but you should still be able to pick it up without it tearing. Remove any air bubbles by slitting the clay and smoothing with a tiny bit of water and your fingers or roller.

Cut the ribbon straight with the xacto + straight edge. I made my wrap about 7 cm / 2 3/4” tall. Fold back clay 1 cm / 1/2” on each end. Poke the folded edges with an even number of holes spaced to align and 0.5 cm / 1/4” apart.

Wrap the ribbon (fold side in) around the cylinder and bake following the directions on the clay. Carefully remove the clay from the cylinder just after they come out of the oven when the clay is still somewhat pliable. Let harden.

Sew up the candle wrap with embroidery thread and cut the knotted ends close to the inside. Pop your little creation over a lit tea light.

 

My desk is covered in crafting supplies right now. It makes the creative side of me so happy and the neat and organized side of me crazy to CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!

I’m working my way through all the craft projects for the Hazelnut’s baby shower, which is super fun and also masquerades as productivity. It’s got me in a camp-y crafting mood. So this DIY turned out a bit camp-y craft-y (look at me just make up words!). You know, like arts and crafts done in the fresh mountain air while sitting on a hard splinter ridden bench. What do you call that?

I think I’m loving it, though. It’s feeding my organizational side. Now my earrings aren’t in a clump in a bowl where it is impossible to find a matching pair. See, organized side? I’m getting things cleaned up!

MATERIALS

16” of 1-1/2” (approx. 41 cm of 4 cm) cotton twill tape 

black embroidery floss + needle

large paper clip

needle nose pliers

scissors

(I’m not sure how the paint brush got in the photo. Like I said, my desk is a crafting mess!)

TO MAKE

Fold the paperclip into an equilateral 1-1/2” (4 cm) triangle (with overlap). I mushed my corners around so they looked more sharp and less paperclip-like.

Fold the cotton twill tape end over on itself twice and press it down with the heat of your hand (I love cotton twill tape. No iron required!). Slip the overlapped edge of the paper clip into the fold of your cotton twill tape end. Hand stitch the end closed. Fold the other end of the cotton twill tape over on itself twice and stitch in the same way. Hang from a nail.

One of my (too many?) new year’s resolutions was to try not to use gold/copper/something shiny in every craft project. In an attempt to curb my obsession I’ve been looking at new trends, like marble. Granted, my inspiration for this DIY was Julia Kostreva’s gold flecked marble iPhone case, but I still feel it was the right direction!

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Nail polish marbling takes a couple tries to get perfected, but once you get the hang of it, it’s difficult to resist dipping EVERYTHING in.

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SUPPLIES

clear phone case

nail polish (I used essie in blanc)

warm water

shallow disposable container

mixing stick (like a chopstick or a toothpick)

helpful holding suction cup tool (the one I used was borrowed from our shower caddy)

nail polish remover (for corrections)

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TO MAKE

Fill the container with enough water to allow the case to submerge. You want the water slightly warmer than room temp so the nail polish doesn’t dry too fast. Secure your helpful suction cup tool to the case and get ready to work quickly.

Pour a small bit of the polish in. It will dissipate into a film. Then add more polish on top of the film in a swirl. Working quickly, stir the polish with your mixing stick into a marble swirl pattern. Submerge the case into the pattern. I felt that about a ‘half way up the side of the case’ submersion was ideal for keeping the paint out of the inside of the case while still maintaining full coverage on the back of the case. Remove and let the case dry.

Use the nail polish remover to touch up your design or remove the pattern completely and start over till your happy with the design.

EDIT: After some in-the-field testing, I realized that, of course, a protective coat is necessary to keep your final design pristine. I applied a few coats of gloss Mod Podge spray but clear Minwax or Krylon Crystal Clear would work, too. Alternatively, you could create your design on the inside of the case. Happy crafting!

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