Happy Friday Friends!!!
Gosh, I feel like this week has flown by. Have you? It’s crazy how time flies during the lead up to Christmas. I know it’s a couple of months away but it will go quick and before we know it the big guy will be visiting. I plan on starting preparations early this year unlike previous years where I’m shopping the day before for presents! We’re having guests over this year. My mother and father in law so I want to make it very special for them and the boys.
Anyway, I’m soon to start on some Christmas projects once I’m done with a couple of projects for my guest bedroom!
We moved in to the house we are living in ten months ago (you can view the home tour here) and I’m slowly decorating and buying furniture for it. It’s a lot larger than what we’re used to. It’s a rental so there are a lot of limitations when it comes to the changes I can make but hey, one can work with a rental, you just need imagination and a love for accessorizing your rooms. Best way to decorate when you can’t change wall colors or add permanent changes to the home is to add pretty decorative items, wall hangings and even change light fixtures and curtains.
Since my in laws are coming to visit I want to make the best bedroom inviting and warm for them to enjoy a couple of weeks of winter with us. They are coming from Australia and it will be Summer over there so it’s going to be a HUGE change in weather for them. I don’t have much in the room. It’s bare really. I recently gave some boring lamps a makeover to add as little features to the room and I also changed up some Ikea Stools to use as temporary side tables while I hunt for the perfect tables to go into the room.
In order to bring the room together a little more I’m putting lots of pretty accessories in the room to brighten it, give it texture and get a pretty color palette going.
I decided I wanted to make some cute DIY Air Dry Clay Jewellery Bowls for the room as I want my mother in law and other female guests to have a safe place to put their jewellery when they visit our home. I think this is a very welcoming and thoughtful little item to have in any guest bedroom. It also adds an instant pop of colour.
The best thing about this little project is how easy it is to make and it’s a lot of fun too!
To recreate these DIY Air Dry Clay Jewellery Bowls you will need:
Materials
Air dry clay
3 x Bowls (of assorted sizes and shapes if you wish)
Watercolour paints and guache (colors of your choice. I used yellow and blue watercolour paints and gold guache paint. You can use all guache or all watercolours. Up to you on the look you are going for)
Fine grit sand paper
Craft glue/modge podge or a gloss finish paint
Instructions
1. Roll your air dry clay with a rolling pin to the thickness you desire your jewellery bowls to be. I wanted them thin so I rolled the clay pretty thin.
2. Once you have rolled out the clay, place your bowls upside down on to the clay and press down firmly to cut the bowls shape into the clay.
3. Place your bowls back upright and begin to press the clay circles you have just cut into the base of the bowl following the shape of the bowl. I didn’t want mine to be perfect, I wanted them to be a little distorted so I played around a little.
4. Once you have repeated step 3 on all three bowls, leave to dry as per the recommended drying time on the packaging of your air dry clay. I left mine to dry for two days but it was ready after 24 hours.
5. Remove your clay bowls gently out of your other bowls and begin to sand back your bowls to give them a nice texture and finish. I warn you this gets messy so I suggest you do this step outside and wear clothes you don’t mind getting messy.
6. Once you have sanded your bowls back inside, dust them off really well and wipe them down with a dry cloth.
7. Start to paint each with your desired colours. For the yellow watercolour bowl I used the watercolour paints fairly thick because I wanted a vibrant yellow. The blue bowl I added extra water to get it a little lighter. I added a mix of dark and light blue and roughly blended them in together. I then wiped the inside with a dry cloth to remove excess paint to give it a bit of texture. The gold guache paint I used on its own without water.
8. Allow paint to dry.
9. Give your bowls one coat of gloss by using craft glue, modge podge or whatever other gloss medium you have at home.
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I’m pretty happy with how they turned out and was happy with how easy the whole project was to make.
Now I can tell my mother in law where to put all of her jewellery and I know she will love the little handmade touch. I’m going to try and make a couple of more things for the guest bedroom before my in-laws arrive but only available time will tell!
Have you ever made clay jewellery bowls? What projects have you made with air dry clay?
*Linking up with Remodelaholic
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These look great Maria! I like the cheery colours you chose. I’ve been thinking about using clay for ages. Am feeling inspired 🙂
You totally should Jelica! I enjoyed working with clay and will do up a couple of more projects soon hopefully! 🙂 x
These are gorgeous! My ring box that my engagement box came in 6 years ago finally broke today, so I think this might have to be what I do now!
oh no to the broken ring box but I’m sure it was looking well past it’s due date Chelsea! Haha. Show me on my Facebook page or tag me in your post if you make something, even if it’s totally different! Would love to see 🙂
Maria, this is such a beautifully done project. Simple but with major impact. Especially because you chose those lovely colors to give it a pop.
Thank you Mary! 🙂 The colours are nice and bright indeed 🙂
I love these! Pinning. My kids were just asking for air clay the other day. I think I’ll get some and do this while they’re making their projects. So nice to meet you on Sundays Down Under and heading over to follow on IG…
Thanks Meredith. They are so fun and easy to make! Thanks for following on Insta! xx
I just LOVE these, Maria! So absolutely gorgeous and can I just say that your photography is AMAZING?? Nice work 🙂
Thanks lovely!! My photos don’t always turn out the way I want them to or intend because I am a true novice but hey… one can only try 😛 haha. I was happy with how these ones turned out though! xxx
Such a cute project! Good luck getting the room ready for your in-laws. Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty – hope to see you again this weekend!
Thanks Chelsea. Hope to have it in decent condition by the time they get here 🙂
Good Evening Maria!! Just popping in to let you know your post has been picked as a feature at the Welcome Home Wednesday Link Party! Stop by tomorrow morning to see your feature and link up! Don’t forget to grab your “Featured Button” too!
Thanks so much for the feature Lisa, will head over and check it out! 🙂
Beautiful colors, wonderful result. I absolutely love your creations. Voted as my favorite for this weeks Turn It Up Tuesday party. http://www.thehappycreations.co.uk/turn-it-up-tuesday-10-11-15.php
Thanks so much for sharing your creativity with us. Have a great day:)
I love the colors you chose and I think it is a nice touch for a guest room!
Thanks Beth. They feel like nice welcoming colours 🙂
These are so pretty and would make excellent holiday gifts!
I stopped by from Thursday Favorite Things!
Thanks Jessy. They really would and with festive colours and patters would be even cuter this Christmas!
These turned put beautifully! I love the colors you chose as well!
Thank you so much Jessica!
I must get some air drying clay for Dora to play with. I think you’re so creative.
Thanks so much Kaz! What a lovely compliment. I try to be. I love making things 🙂 Makes me so happy. Enjoy playing with it!! x
Just a friendly note that this fun project was featured today on my post “10 DIY Last Minute Christmas Gifts”. Hope you’ll swing by and check it out. Merry Christmas!
http://www.thejohnsonsplusdog.com/2015/12/16/diy-last-minute-christmas-gifts/
I am used to hanging my necklaces on a DIY wooden hanger but this really bought in another idea. And you have made it look soo simple to make. It stands out and I think I am going to try it out one of this days. Thanks for sharing the DIY.
Cindy
Thanks Cindy! That’s one of my next projects is a hanger for my jewellery! Hope you make the, so simple!
These are beautiful! I can think of so many ways to use bright colored clay bowls. And I love the look of the watercolor paint on them. Pinned!
I love those! Yes! What a great idea for houseguests. I love it. So, I have a question,…what brand air-dry clay did you use?( I’d love it if you could let me know– gigi@awarmhello.com) Thank you so much!
I just love these! There’d be so many great uses for them. Pinned, tweeted, and shared. Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday, hope to see you again next week!
Wow, at first I thought those were like seashells – beautiful!! Thank you for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty
Nope, just clay Jamie 🙂 x
I made some similar little bowls over a year ago now and I use one every day for my rings. They are such a great idea. I love the bright colours you chose, just perfect for making your guests feel welcome.
Glad to hear you made some also Julie. Yes, they are great so guests don’t misplace their valuable jewellery!