Homemade Clay Recipe + DIY Jewellery Holder

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A few months ago I shared a DIY tutorial for some cute pencil toppers. The best part of making that post was trying out a homemade clay recipe for the very first time.

The fact that I can just make whatever whenever I like, without having to go out to the store to get supplies or wait foooreeever for my order to arrive, that is – without a doubt – the best part of making your own clay.

To make this tutorial you only need a few common household ingredients AND with this clay recipe you don’t have to wait for your design to bake!

Contents hide

1 Homemade Clay Recipe:

2 How to make this recipe:

3 How to turn your air dry clay into a Unicorn Jewellery Holder:

4 Air Dry Clay Recipe + Steps

Homemade Clay Recipe:

What I used:

1 cup baking soda – Get it here*
1/2 cup corn starch – Get it here*
3/4 cup water

That’s it!

How to make this recipe:

Put all of the ingredients in a cooking pot or sauce pan. Put the pot on low to medium heat. Stir the mixture to combine all of the ingredients and keep stirring regularly as the mixture heats up. The mixture will start to clump together. Keep stirring to smooth it out.

After a while (at least 10 minutes) the mixture will start to look like a solid dough, a lot like cookie dough.

Transfer the clay dough to a bowl and give the mixture time to cool. Once the mixture feels cool to the touch, knead it like you would knead a bread dough until you have a smooth round ball.

Store the homemade clay in an airtight container until you’re ready to use it. My clay was still soft after keeping it in the container for several weeks!

How to turn your air dry clay into a Unicorn Jewellery Holder:

Since unicorns are everywhere right now, I wanted to see if could turn this clay recipe into something inspired by my favorite magical animal. The idea of making a unicorn jewellery holder came to mind. You can stack rings on top of the horn. And the ears are perfect to dangle bracelets from!

I made the horn first by twisting 2 pieces of clay around each other, a lot like braiding but with 2 only strands.

Next up were the ears. I started by making 2 round patches. Then I folded them in half and pinched them at both ends to make them pointy.

For the roses I started by rolling a strip of clay for the centre. The petals are actually 3 round patches I folded around the roses’ centre.

This jewellery holder is made from different, seperate parts so make sure all of the seams are blended together. You can use something like a popsicle stick or even a tooth pick to really smooth out all of the edges. If the pieces still fall apart after your design has dried, you can re-attach them by using a fresh ‘wet’ piece of clay.

Once the clay has completely air dried (I let mine dry overnight), you can easily paint your design. I first painted the horn yellow, but then decided to go over it with a layer of gold to really turn it into a magical unicorn. I colored the inside of the ears pink and the petals of the flowers in shades of blue, purple and pink.

*This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase via one of those links, I get a small commision. And the best part: it doesn’t cost you a thing! With your support I can make many more DIY tutorials to share on this blog. Thanks for your support!

1 1/2 cups air dry clay

Air Dry Clay Recipe + Steps

Active Time: 15 minutes

Additional Time: 1 day

Total Time: 1 day 15 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Cost: 1 US dollar

Make your own Air Dry Clay with this simple homemade recipe. All you need is a few household ingredients and you can start making your own clay creations. from scratch!

This is a perfect kid's activity craft idea to keep them entertained for hours and let their creativity run wild.

Materials

1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup corn starch
3/4 cup water

Tools

Cooking pot
Spatula
Stove

Instructions

Measure the baking soda, corn starch and water, and pour them together in a cooking pot or sauce pan. Place the pot or pan on the stove over medium heat.
Stir the mixture to combine all of the ingredients and keep stirring regularly as the mixture heats up. The consistency will start to thicken as you stir.
At this point the mixture will start to clump together. Keep stirring to smooth it out and make sure no lumps are left.
After a while (at least 10 minutes) the mixture will start to look like a solid dough, a lot like cookie dough.
Next, transfer the clay dough to a bowl. Give the mixture time to cool to room temperature. Once the mixture feels cool to the touch, knead it like you would knead a bread dough until you have a smooth round ball.
Keep kneading until the dough no longer sticks to your fingers. If it still feels sticky you can add some corn starch.
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin or pinch a piece off and start creating! Let your creativity run wild as the possibilities are endless. Keep kneading the dough with your fingers and in the palm of your hand to keep it soft and moldable. As soon as you're happy with what you've created, you can set it aside and let it air dry. The clay will have hardened considerably after 2 hours already. And your design will be fully dry in 24 hours. Once dry you can paint the outside with acrylic paint, permanent markers (like Sharpies) or porcelain markers. Finish with a coat of varnish and your design will last forever!