Our poor dad’s sometimes get a rough deal year after year with an endless cycle of socks and jocks for Father’s Day. We decided to create a DIY that is embarrassingly simple, but also quite useful. Our DIY Air Dry Clay Dish is perfect as a bedside table throw dish for coins, keys or cufflinks – the possibilities are endless. Better still, we used an Alphabet Stamp Set (you can buy these at
missbunting.com) to personalize our dish with a song my Dad used to whistle relentlessly. Personalise yours with a quote, a song you both love or even your favourite Dad joke he does – the more personal, the more special it is.
You’ll need:
- Das Air Dry Modeling Clay
- Saucer or small plate
- Rolling Pin
- Sharpe knife
- Fine Grit Sand Paper
- Alphabet Stamp Set
- Sharpie (or paint)
- Varnish Spray or Quick Dry Multi purpose enamel spray
Method:
Break off some clay and using the rolling pin roll the clay out until it’s about 4mm thick. Don’t be fussy with the shape because you will cut it to shape later. Place clay on top of saucer and gently mould into shape. Now for the tricky bit (hardly) - place the saucer at the edge of a table and cut vertically rather than horizontally so that you get a clean edge.
Let dry overnight (might take a bit longer depending on thickness, place on a window ledge to speed up the process). Use sand paper to go around the edge and to smooth over any bits you aren’t happy with.
Now to decorate - Go nuts! I used the Alphabet Stamp Set to print out ‘Rider’s on the Storm’ a song my dad would whistle all the time! Then I used a Sharpie to draw on my lines and finished with Vanish Spray. If you have time, get creative with paints – some geometric colour blocking would look ace!
Remember, using this method you can create darling jewellery bowls for your self, or using a skewer, poke two hole and loop some ribbon through for a wedding ring dish for you special day. Pop the date on with stamps, use a doily to impress a pattern into the clay or write something meaningful – there’s loads you can do!
Contributed by Miss Bunting
