ornaments

This was suppose to be on here last week so you could run out and buy some air drying clay and get busy before Christmas.
My computer has been acting funky and I just haven't had daylight (because I don't like flash photography at all) to take a photo of the little ornaments I made this year.

Many years ago someone suggested that I send my godchildren Christmas tree ornaments each year at Christmas. And I started the tradition. In the beginning (1996) I made all of them each year. Some years when life was a bit more chaotic, I purchased them. This year, with Pinterest as my fount of ideas, I made them again.

If your household hasn't opened their gift yet ... oops! Stop reading or move away from the kiddo!

I purchased a good size hunk of air drying clay at my favorite Hobby Lobby. I was going to just make a few and tuck the clay away. Then I thought, "why?" Do them and be done with them. So I made a pile of them. Most were left without the year stamped on them, but all of them were imprinted with some type of design.

To begin with, I just rolled out the clay (trying first to do them on parchment paper and finally opting for the counter top itself). Then I added texture to the rolled out piece of clay. Finally, a cookie cutter met the clay. A straw was used to punch holes for hanging. The ornaments sat on cookie sheets drying for a day or two and were then ready.

For this one I used a scrapbooking stamp. The stamp itself it just a single piece of stamp so it was stamped numerous times across the piece of clay.

The same with this one. Criss-cross designs out of another single strand stamp.

This one was a piece of burlap. Lay the burlap on top of the clay and take the rolling pin to the top of it. Lightly press the design into the clay. The edges of this one could use a bit of touching up.

This one might just be one of my favorites. I used a doily to imprint the design in this one. Maybe I like it because it looks a bit more feminine than the others. Depending on which part of the doily hit the piece of clay and where the cookie cutter eventually cut determined what the final ornament would look like.

The year stamp was made with rubber number stamps. Although I really like the white, I wanted some color. I happen to have these metallic brush pens that were handy and didn't require a trip to the craft store, so I used them. Which then required me to make a trip to pick up ribbon to match. Silver would have looked good too, but I've obviously had a fondness for the silver pen ... it had run dry.

For a kiddo project ... empty out all of those cookie cutters and just let the kids have at it.
Let them roll designs into the clay or leave them plain.
Add paint or leave them white.
There are some seriously fun cookie cutters out there.
Or, stamp the children's hands onto them.
Make jewelry with fingerprints or simple messages.
Fun stuff!