There’s something about a little handmade jewelry dish that makes a bedside table feel instantly more put together. I’ve made plenty of plain clay dishes over the years, but the ones I keep reaching for are the ones with a little detail pressed into the surface. This leaf imprint jewelry dish is one of my…
I’ve made a lot of last-minute gifts over the years, and the ones that actually got kept, displayed, or used were almost never the store-bought ones. They were the small, slightly imperfect handmade pieces, which is really what sent me down the air dry clay rabbit hole in the first place. Once I had a…
If you have a jar of leftover coffee grounds sitting in your kitchen, don’t throw them away just yet. I started experimenting with coffee clay because I wanted a simple way to turn something I would normally toss into a small handmade project, without needing glue, complicated ingredients, or a kiln. The finished clay has…
Monstera leaves have to be one of the most recognizable shapes in home decor right now, and it turns out that iconic silhouette translates beautifully into a small clay catch-all dish. If you’re completely new to air dry clay, it’s worth starting with my beginner’s guide to air dry clay ornaments before jumping into this…
A candle holder felt like a natural project once I’d gotten comfortable with basic shaping, since it uses a lot of the same draping technique from flatter pieces, just built around a taller form instead. If you’re brand new to air dry clay entirely, my air dry clay ornaments guide is a good place to…
Making small charms felt like a natural next step once I’d gotten comfortable with basic shaping, since the scale keeps things forgiving while still teaching real technique. If you’re brand new to this material entirely, it’s worth starting with my air dry clay ornaments guide first, since it covers the fundamentals this project builds on….
My kitchen counter was covered in cornstarch dust for a solid week the first time I tried this project, because I didn’t yet know that air dry clay hates humidity and will crack on you out of spite if you rush the drying time. A few batches later, and after ruining exactly one very cute…
After my air dry clay ornaments turned out better than expected, I wanted to try something a little more functional, and a trinket dish felt like the natural next step. Something to actually hold rings, earrings, and the random small things that pile up on a nightstand, rather than just a decorative object for once…
One of the first things I wondered after making my first air dry clay project was how people managed to get that smooth, glossy ceramic look. My early creations definitely looked handmade, but not in the polished, boutique-style way I was hoping for. They had fingerprints, rough edges, and a chalky finish that made them…
I picked up air dry clay on a whim one weekend, mostly because I wanted a handmade ornament for the tree that didn’t look like every other polymer clay tutorial I’d seen online, and ended up genuinely surprised by how forgiving the material actually is. No kiln, no oven curing, no special equipment. Just clay,…
