Makin’s Clay® Woven Gift Box
Designed by Candice Windham
Summer celebrations can run the gamut from weddings to birthdays to graduations and beyond. All of the occasions call for gifts, and what better way to present a gift than in a gift in itself?
Dress up an ordinary paper mache box with the beautiful art of Makin’s No Bake Polymer Clay, and you’ll have a gift that will be remembered. This clay remains flexible when dried in thinner pieces, so you can bend it around the lid to get this great effect.
Here’s how to do it:
Supplies:
- Roller and Cutters Set
- Texture Sheets, Honeycomb and Weave, 38003 Set C
- Ultimate Clay Machine™
- Work Mat
Paper mache box with lid, 6” x 6” x 5”
Strong adhesive (E 6000)
Spray Adhesive (3m Super 77)
Printed paper (Affinity Slab, Paper Studio)
Viva Décor Inka Gold, Lime, Violet, Rose Quartz, Blue
Viva Décor Pearl Pens, Violet, Copper, Blue
Navy Blue Craft Paint (Deco Art Crafter’s Acrylics)
Scissors, craft knife, brush
Instructions:
Use ¾ of the package of blue clay and the entire package of terra cotta clay.
Condition the clay by rolling it through the Makin’s Ultimate Clay Machine™ several times on setting one, then setting two.
Place the clay on the work mat and roll again with the clay roller to smooth out any raised areas. It should be approximately 8 ½” x 6”. Place the honeycomb texture plate on the blue clay, roll with the roller, line it up again and complete texturizing the entire sheet. Cut the clay into six 8 ½” x 1” strips.
Repeat this step with the terra cotta clay, rolling it out to 8 ½” x 9”, using the weave texture plate and cutting nine 8 ½” x 1” strips. Set all clay aside to dry overnight, turning upside down occasionally to allow even drying.
Tip: I used some of the remaining clay scraps to blend together to make a nice warm brown, then rolled it out, pressed with the honeycomb texture plate and added it to a formica sample from the hardware store. If you ask, they often have outdated samples that they will give you. No need to raid their sample shelves. I used the remaining excess clay to press into a mold to make seashells that I will use on a later project.
Paint the box with inside and out with two coats of navy blue paint.
When clay has dried, lightly rub Viva Décor Inka Gold over the
strips, blending the colors.
Weave six blue and six terra cotta strips together, then turn it upside down on your work surface.
Place the box lid upside down on the woven strips to make sure you have the weave tight enough to border the edges of the top. Apply E6000 to the entire lid, then place it down on the back of the woven strips. Place a heavy object such as a book on top until it dries.
Flip the box lid over and wrap the two corner pieces across each other, trimming to fit the lid edge. Don’t worry if this isn’t perfect. It will be covered with the final strips of terra cotta clay.
Fold every other remaining strip down and adhere to the box edge with E6000. Use clothes pins to clip the pieces in place until the glue dries.
Allow the adhesive to dry. Once the adhesive is dry, remove the pins and attach the remaining strips around the outside edge, beginning and ending each strip at a point where one of the remaining strips from the top will cover the seam. Clip the strip in place with clothes pins as you go.
When all of the side strips are in place, fold the remaining strips down over the edge, adhere in place and clip with clothes pins.
Remove the pins and use a craft knife to trim the excess clay from the box edge.
Cut two strips of paper to fit the box bottom, coat evenly with spray adhesive and attach to the box.
Use the Viva Décor Pearl Pens to highlight the paper pattern, but don’t add any within the top 1 ½” of the box lid line so that the lid still fits properly.
Now, just add a little tissue and tuck your gift inside. That’s it. Easy peasy, and the recipient will not only be overjoyed at your thoughtfulness, they will be amazed when you say, “I made this just for you.”
Makin's Clay® is a sponsor of the When Creativity Knocks All-Star Designers Summer Series! We can't wait to see what creative projects Jonathan Fong, Mark Montano, Judi Watanabe, Ana Araujo and Cindi Bisson share in the coming weeks. This week, Jonathan Fong shares a very fun idea for creating Totem Pole Cans with die cut Makin's Clay®.
NOTE: Having the right of amount of clay for the mold work better than trying to add large amount of clay and trim away. So, use Mixing Ruler for measuring. How to use this great tool you can find out HERE, and also if you check other April's projects made by Makin’s Clay® Design Team.
STEP 3.
During the winding, periodically press threads with fingers for better adhesion and to prevent visibility of metal as much as possible. At the end of winding, apply a thin layer of Beacon’s™ Quick Grip near the bottom of can, cut the rope with sharp scissors and place end of rope on glue. Leave aside for few minutes to dry.
In the bowl mix 4 to 5 tablespoons of water with 1 tablespoon of Beacon’s™ Premium Tacky Glue. Dip brush in the mixture and apply it on rope. The mixture is quite liquid, so be careful that there is no uncontrolled leakage. Also, be sure that you smeared all surface of rope and that mixture is entered between the threads. Leave aside for about 10 to 15 minutes to dry. This way rope will stick to the can and will get a nice, subtle sheen.
There is still time to add some patriotic decorations to your home - like those created by Design Team here on her blog recently along with instructions.
Condition the clay by rolling it through the Makin’s Ultimate Clay Machine™ several times on setting one, then setting two.
Tip: I used some of the remaining clay scraps to blend together to make a nice warm brown, then rolled it out, pressed with the honeycomb texture plate and added it to a formica sample from the hardware store. If you ask, they often have outdated samples that they will give you. No need to raid their sample shelves. I used the remaining excess clay to press into a mold to make seashells that I will use on a later project.
When clay has dried, lightly rub Viva Décor Inka Gold over the
Place the box lid upside down on the woven strips to make sure you have the weave tight enough to border the edges of the top. Apply E6000 to the entire lid, then place it down on the back of the woven strips. Place a heavy object such as a book on top until it dries.
Cut two strips of paper to fit the box bottom, coat evenly with spray adhesive and attach to the box. 
1. Use Light Adobe clay from Earth tones set with Cobblestone texture sheet from the Summer Time set. Then texture additional Adobe clay with the Sand texture sheet. If you have an issue with your fresh clay sticking to your texture sheets, try applying a small amount of corn starch to the texture sheet before applying your clay. Excess corn starch can be wiped from the clay after texturing. Let the clay dry after and then tear them and arrange one over another as stones and sand on the beach. 
2. For the next step mix a lot of white or natural clay with Adobe Brown and Persimmon colors and make a few sea shell shapes using the Sea Shell push mold. The colors may vary and can be totally mixed or partially mixed as it is with nature. Release the pieces and let them dry.
3. Mix about 1/2 of a small white clay package with just a bit of blue clay. Don't mix it to the light blue color, but make this marble look with a partial mixing only. On the back, INSIDE of the canvas, arrange a big "ocean and sky" clay piece and cover it on the bottom with your "stones and sand" pieces. Make the arrangement random. Later I decided to add some wavy texture with another Texture Sheet and just re-arranged some small blue clay pieces. Take the clay landscape out of the canvas and let it dry 24 hours.
4. In the meantime paint the inside of your canvas. I used a couple of Chalk It Up ESF paints and even made some splashes with water mist over the dirty paint brush. Anyway, most of the painted space will be covered by clay arrangement, so don't try to be a great painter.
I added some color splashes over the shapes with ESF Ann Butler's Iridescents powders in a couple of shades. A couple of cardstock and cork sea stickers were added over and inside the frame. The sand on the bottom was made with ESF Varnish and a mix of golden micro beads. And now is was a time to add the stamped sentiment. Makin's Clay® can be rubber stamped with permanent inks, however; if you have trouble getting your stamped sentiment to be clear on the clay, stamp over white tissue. Bingo! It's the best way as you can't even say where the tissue begins and where it ends. I used ESF Gel medium under and over the tissue and the piece was almost done. Not yet! I few teal mists over the piece were added and I was happy with the final result.
This is a fun technique that can be used with many of Makin’s Clay® push molds!
Makin’s Clay® and I made sure it was as flat as possible on the back and I trimmed any access away with an exacto blade while clay was still soft. You will need to do this step 2 times. 
Step 3 After the piece is fully cured, usually overnight: it is the best to assure it is completely cured. You can now trim to your desired shape. Keep in mind they are to be glued together so you want the sides even. Just trim with a sharp Exacto knife. You also want to clean up any edges at this time with the Exacto blade. 
Step 4 Sanding… You want to further clean up any edges and make sure the black of the piece is as flat as possible. (See how I’m messing up the mica!) 
Step 5 Glueing: Lightly coat each side with Beacon Tacky glue let it rest for a few minutes before joining the sides together. Note I placed the Head pin WITH the large bottom stone in place before
