I saw this interesting looking project over at the Crafty Crow last week, so we made some for our craft today.
Instead of using sculpey (fumes make me sick), we used a no bake Lyra Keramiplast Modeling Clay, which worked great. The boys love modeling clay and did it all themselves - cutting off a piece, rolling and molding the base shape, rolling and imprinting the texture, stamping, painting...a few times G got overly enthusiastic and rolled his into a paper thin wafer, but he easily scooped it up and started over. We used collected herb leaves, shells, twigs, acorn caps, feathers, pine cones and some letter stamps.
We added an extra step, and after they had a little time to dry, the boys painted the pieces with some watercolor paint, and then rubbed it off with a damp cloth, leaving behind some color in the deeper spots. A wants to attach them to something to make a sculpture, so we will be on the lookout for a piece of wood or bark to mount them on. Fun!
WOW...this looks like lotso' fun...a good SPRING project! I agree Sculpey like Playdough has a smell that gives me quite a headache...like the idea of using Lyra modeling clay.
ReplyDeleteOh your boys' are creative little creatures! LOVE IT!!
This is great! I like the water color mobiles too. I will have to buy some of the Lyra clay, Its hard to get Amelia involved in a craft that doesn't involve the sewing machine these days.
ReplyDeleteThese look like fun- I've been meaning to give this a try with Owen. I'm glad you found an alternative to the Sculpey- I only notice a faint smell, but it does leave a greasy residue on the table- yuck.
ReplyDeletePainting them brings out the delicate designs- nice work boys!
Great project! We just love air dry clay. It's prefect when working with kids. Less toxic for sure.
ReplyDeleteThe sculpey is supposedly non-toxic, but I have so many allergies and am sensitive to smells. When sculpey is being molded it is not *too* bad and I only get a mild reaction, but when it is baked, the fumes from the oven are horrible and it makes me pretty sick. SO, the one we used doesn't have any fumes and doesn't need to be baked!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this great idea. I've never used Lyra clay before- is it easier than beeswax to model with?
ReplyDeleteThese are so lovely!
ReplyDeleteI am brand new here and I'm so happy to have found your blog (via where you found me, on Flickr). You have such beautiful little boys and are providing them with a wonderful experience! You're bookmarked and I'll be keeping up with you guys :)
Steph
I always been sort of hesitant with Polymer clay. What exactly ARE those fumes that are filling up my oven?
ReplyDeleteOn an Etsy shop recently, a woman claimed to have developed serious health issues after using polymer clay for an extended period of time. No doubt left in my mind of whether to get rid of ours or not.
We have some white paper-based clay that we'll be trying this with!
Oh, fantastic. We'll do this too! For sure.
ReplyDeleteoh, i love it, love it, love it. sounds like a great idea for the next botany block... hmmmm...... :-) thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou have absolutely the BEST craft ideas. What a great artist you are.
ReplyDeleteOh these are WONDERFUL! We'll have to try making some. :)
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm gonna do this with the girls with paper clay. We can't take anything from our nature basket back to oz with us ( which is breaking my heart!) so this could be a great way to record what we have! Thanks for the reminder...Xxx
ReplyDeleteThose turned out beautifully!
ReplyDeleteglad to have found you!
ReplyDeleteAs always, a great idea for something to do with the kids, but my first thought was to do this with my women's group! We retreat to a lovely place in SW Wisconsin (Sinsinawa? You been?) and we take long, lazy walks and often grab things for our altar. (I even have some four o'clocks seeds I nabbed from our last retreat in October!) This would be a fun, tactile way to extend our collecting activity. Thanks!
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