clay Archives – A Small Life

For Valentine’s Day I like to add a little something-something to my outfits. This year, I thought a hair accessory would be just the thing.

For this project, you’ll need polymer clay, bobby pins and a tiny bit of cloth. I used leather, but felt will work well too.

I had a little extra polymer clay left over from my For the Makers project. So I thought hey, why not add a little food coloring to it?! This dummie got red food coloring all over her hands and went around with pink hands for two days. Make sure if you decide to color the clay with food coloring, use gloves! Or just buy pink clay. So much easier and so much less embarrassing.

I fashioned the clay into hearts. Then, to bake the clay, I placed the hearts on a cookie sheet. Bake according to the manufacturer’s directions. After the clay cooled, I broke out my trusty hot glue gun, cut a few pieces of leather, secured the bobby pin between the leather and glued it to the clay.

Where’s the easy button? ‘Cuz this project was eeeeeezzzzzz.

love,
melanie

For Christmas my sister gave me a subscription to the craft subscription service, For the Makers. I’m so jealous of my sister’s ability to give just the right gift. Last week, I got my first box of craft projects in the mail. Each box contains four small crafts.

Here’s the pros and cons of the service.
Pro:

All crafts are simple and small. Great for people that don’t have much space (like moi!).
No craft is overly time-consuming. Most will take under an hour.
Crafts come four to a box, so there is plenty of crafting to be done.
Crafts could be made as directed or used in different ways.
A box arrives at your doorstep each month, so there is no excuse not to make things!

Con:

The materials were of fairly high quality, but my large bead for a statement necklace arrived with a crack in it. Bummer.
The service is a bit pricey ($29) per box.
You have to visit their website for the DIY directions.
Although they make an effort to include things like a needle, not all materials are included in the box. You still may need things like rolling pin or a sewing machine to make projects look more professional.

The first project I tried out of the box was a polymer clay bowl. I used the directions found here. It turned out fairly cute and I think I’ll put it on my desk at work for paperclips and little miscellaneous objects.

Overall, I love this service as a gift. It’s novel, it’s easy and it arrives right at my doorstep. Have you ever tried a craft subscription service? Let me know in the comments!

love,
melanie