What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Clay Leaf Bowl Project


Fall wouldn't be Fall without a leaf project (or several).

The best kind of projects are ones that start with a treasure hunt: art class lasts all days in instances like that. The treasure? Leaves.

I also love a good project that can serve as homemade holiday decorations-and these stand up to the challenge.

You'll need:

Sculpey Clay in leaf colors
a sharp knife
a toothpick
aluminum foil
Leaves

First step: gather leaves. Make sure they are still flexible and choose ones that are not terribly big. Maple leaves leave a great impression (ha. Get it? Impression!)


Step 2: Warm Sculpey clay in your hand and roll out to desired thickness. Make sure you use a mat of some sort beccause unbaked clay can stain furniture. The thicker you would like it, the longer it will take to bake and the less flexible the bowl will be. Lay your leaf on top and cut around it with a sharp knife, getting as close to the edge as possible.


Step 3: Using a toothpick, either trace the leaf vein indentations or draw your own onto the clay leaf.


Step 4: Create aluminum foil "donuts" and shape your leaf into a bowl, then place unbaked bowls onto of "donuts" and those, on top of a cookie sheet. Bake according to the package directions.



Step 5: Let cool and admire. If you so choose, you can modpodge them for a shinier affect. Or not. (We didn't.)


These would be fabulous placecards at a Thanksgiving table, how cute would they be each holding an after dinner mint?! Or you can use them to dress up a sad, flowerless table alonside some garden grown orbs of orange.

7 comments:

Teresa said...

so cute!! thanks for sharing! Where do you find the time with all your kiddos??

Bonnie said...

Rebecca, these are great! Tucking this away for future use.

Tracy said...

I remember making those very same things in 6th grade art class. Yours are very pretty!

stephaniegiese said...

Those are adorable!! I wish my oldest was into crafts, but he couldn't care less. I can't wait for my 18-month-old to get a little bigger so I can do this kind of thing with her.

Pam said...

These are lovely. A wonderful inspiration. I definitely would love to try it or something very like.
My daughter Elizabeth (asailingjourney.blogspot.com) introduced me to your blog. It a wonderful blog.
Also those bunnies (previous post are amazing and adorable.
Many Blessings,
Pam

Upholster said...

They look really nice and super decorative! :) I happen to work at a place that sells Sculpey clay, Modge Podge, and the like. One thing I feel inclined to say is this: try not to do too much bakeable clay in your home oven (the same one you use to cook foods in), because the fumes I hear, can be VERY toxic. You might try getting a clay oven?... In conclusion, Rebecca, I don't like to be a party poop or a rainer-on-parades, but I felt the burden to say it. There I said it. In the meantime, cheers! Excellent project, and I hear there's a few good ideas on google, and michaels.com. Enjoy! :) - From your once-in-a-blue-moon-reader :)

Leah said...

You and your crafts always convict me of not being a funner mom.