Handmade ceramics are hot property right now (just look at The Great Pottery Throwdown's success!) and the good news is you don’t have to be a master potter to get the look.
Roll up your sleeves and get stuck in with air dry clay with this lovely project by Lucy Davidson. You'll also be embracing your inner artist and decorating your creations with splashy, painterly patterns.
Lucy's pottery painting ideas will give your pots an artisanal look that will make them appear professional and beautiful. We’ll be filling ours with pens, knitting needles, or dried blooms, arranging them just so to show off our handiwork.
Air dry clay is a fantastic medium to use for making pots, vases and bowls as it's easy to work with, cheap to buy and can be painted with acrylic paints.
Bear in mind, however, air dry clay isn’t watertight, so pop any live plants into jars before placing them in your fancy new pots.
You will need:
- Two packs of air-dry clay
- Clay tool
- Rolling pin
- Craft knife
- Masking tape
- Chopping board
- Greaseproof paper
- Glass jar, 7.5cm (3") diameter
- Glass jar, 9cm (35/8") diameter
- Sandpaper
- Plain paper
- Dust mask
- Acrylic craft paint
- Metallic craft paint
- Paint brushes
- Varnish
If you're new to the world of pottery don't worry! We've got an air dry clay guide which runs through loads of pottery techniques.
Start by rolling out the air-dry clay on the chopping board. Roll it out to roughly 0.5cm (1⁄4") thick, then cut a 25 x 10cm (97/8 x 4") rectangle to make the smaller pot.
To make a base for the pot, roll another piece of clay out, roughly the same thickness and slightly bigger than the base of the jar. Trim the base into a circle.
