It’s spring time, and per usual, I’m all about any little project that feels like a sweet jolt of color and freshness. And we’re definitely all about baby succulents, any time of the year. I’ve been looking to add a few babies we’ve sprouted to their own little containers for now, and when I saw these little guys, I knew it would be fun to add a little custom color to some containers we had.
The possibilities are endless, and these would make the cutest customized handmade gifts.
Our kiddos even made some for their own rooms.
They make such a sweet little cluster with plants all around!
I also had the very best models to show them off when we were done.
Wanna make some?
Here’s what you’ll need:
• Ceramic containers {This is important, because we’ll be baking them} – small + smaller
• Sculpey Clay
• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters
• Baking sheet + access to an oven
For the marbleized look, we simply took multiple colors, and rolled them into tiny snakes.
If you want your colors to be lighter, definitely incorporate white.
When they were all twisted together, we rolled them into one big snake. Then because it was longer, we simply turned the snake into a “U” and twisted it again.
Then we rolled it back into another snake.
We simply repeated, until we were happy with the marbleized outcome, and then rolled it into a ball.
From there, we were ready to roll it out with a rolling pin until it was at a workable thickness.
And we cut it out with any cookie cutter of our choice.
For the scallops you see in the designs above, we cut them out with two sizes of round cutters, then split the circles in two.
We gently placed them on the edge of a planter, and when it was complete {we alternated the two smallest sizes, finding that six original circles of each worked perfectly for this size container all the way around} we started the next color.
We simply built up each color, pressing the first into the last, until it was finished.
Here’s an example of the same design, just applied in a different way.
The beauty is that you can just press it into the ceramic, and it stays put until ready to bake.
Again I simply worked my way around until the shape is complete.
The same here, except with a star shape.
When your designs are ready to go, bake them in the oven at 275 for 15 minutes. Definitely check after that time, as you may need to add a couple of minutes.
I learned the hard way once not to let your designs burn – that’s a lot of lost work!
Once they were cooled, we added our baby cacti and their cute little wooden trays.
Tada! They’re ready to go. The cutest little ‘just because’ gift we ever did see! If we do say so ourselves.
Or, keep it for yourself, we won’t judge.
As always, let us know if you make it! We’d love to hear.
Have an inspired day!
Sheila says
Do you bake the clay while on the pots?
ashley @ the handmade home says
Hey! Yes. Just press the clay firmly and make sure you’re working with ceramic. ;}