Handmade Clay Tags or Ornaments

Learn how to make beautiful one of a kind ornaments with this step by step tutorial using air dry clay.

I was strolling through the craft store the other day with the children in tow. I was looking for some activities that would keep them entertained during the longer days of the upcoming months.

With darkness rolling in around 5:30, the days can feel long and dreary and it can be hard to keep children entertained for long hours.

Air dry clay is a wonderful craft item for children to use. They can create for hours and this craft is sure to be one they will love.

Unique and one of kind clay tags or even ornaments were the perfect craft to work on with the children. With just a few simple supplies you can easily make these as well. 

Supplies:
White air dry clay
Skewer or something else that you can use to poke a hole in the clay
Canning jar ring or other shape to cut out the clay
Dried leaves, wildflowers, stamps or even cookie cutters – whatever you can dream up to create a design.
Small rolling pin
Craft paint

Start with a clump of air dry clay and begin to flatten it out with a little rolling pin. I suggest that you work to make your clay about 1/4 inch thick. If you roll it out really thin it is much more fragile. 

Then, use a canning jar ring to cut out the circle but you can also choose any shape that you like. 

Then simply peel away the excess clay and put it back in the container to keep it from drying out. Your now ready to work with your clay piece.

Using a skewer or other object, make a small hole in the clay piece. This is what you will use to thread the twine or ribbon through to hang your clay tag or ornament.

Next, choose your object to create a design. You can get as creative as you like with this step. Stamps, dried flowers, cookie cutter shapes, etc are just a few ideas. I chose to use dried wildflowers.

Once you decide what to use, gently imprint the clay with your object. You are just imprinting, you don’t want to go all the way through the clay.

The last step is to allow the clay to air dry. This can take 2-3 days. 

You can choose to leave the ornament plain or you can paint it. I chose to paint mine by taking a tiny bit of craft paint and mix it with water.

I used a 50/50 ratio of paint and water. I painted it on and then immediately wiped off the excess. This allowed the paint to get down into the grooves and leave a darker impression on the details. 

The paint will dry very quickly and your newly made piece is ready to enjoy.

If the edges of your piece are rough, take a finger nail file and lightly file the edges to make them smooth.

The paint will dry very quickly and your newly made piece is ready to enjoy.

This is a very simple project that has a wide variety of possibilities. These would make the perfect homemade Christmas ornament.

Have a question? Leave it in the comments and I will be sure to answer. 

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