Day of the Dead Decorative Mirror by Cindi McGee

Cindi McGee recently shared this Day of the Dead Decorative Mirror project featuring an etched sugar skull and hand made roses made with Makin's Clay®.  Find her instructions here on her blog.

Gothic/Day of the Dead Skull Keychain by Cindi McGee

One Skull - Two Ways!  

Makin’s Clay® is a great medium for making keychains - it’s lightweight and flexible after drying so you dont’ have to worry about pieces breaking off your finished piece.    This  Skull Keychain is a fun option for anyone who loves the Gothic style.  Add some colorful accents and you've got a great Day of the Dead Sugar Skull.   It would also be fun, either way, as a large pendant!   

Materials: 

Makin’s Clay® - Black, White 

                - Clay Roller 

                - 4 Piece Cutter Set - Circles 

                - Cutting Mat 

                        - Professional™ Clay Tools 

                - Clay Roller - Squares 

DecoArt® - Americana Decor™ Deep Brown          

                   Creme Wax

                 - Glass Paint Markers™ 

Skull cutter (thanks to my Fairy Craftmother for this awesome skull cutter!) 

Straw 

Keychain 

Plastic wrap, paper towels 

Instructions: 

Roll black Makin's Clay® with Squares clay roller to a little less than 1/4”.  Place plastic wrap over rolled clay, cut with smallest circle from 4 piece Circle cutter set.  (Plastic wrap makes it easy to remove clay from cutters.) 

Roll white Makin's Clay® with clay roller to approximately 1/8” thick.  Place plastic wrap over rolled white clay and cut with skull cutter (this one was made with a 3-D printer - isn’t it awesome!?!)   

Mount skull over black clay circle.  

Use tool from tool kit to create grooves for teeth on skull.  

Use straw to make hole through both skull and base piece for key chain.  Let dry 24 hours. 

Apply DecoArt® Creme Wax with paper towel, then remove excess so wax stains the skull slightly and accents the detailed areas.  Let dry.  

For the Day of the Dead Sugar Skull version - use DecoArt® Glass Paint Markers™ to add accents to the skull.  Let dry thoroughly.  (You could use permanent markers, but I like the slightly glossy effect that Glass Paint Markers create on the clay.)

Add keychain, or leather cording, and it’s ready to go!

Haunted Mausoleum Birdhouse by Cindi McGee

Cindi McGee recently shared this Haunted Mausoleum Birdhouse here on When Creativity Knocks.   She used Makin's Clay® to create her roof, skull, cross and sign for her mausoleum!

Work Hard, Nap Hard Card by Cindi McGee

Cindi McGee recently shared this masculine card project featuring a Makin's Clay® hammer embellishment!  Makin's Clay® is perfect for creating accents for cards and scrapbook pages as it is lightweight and flexible.  Our Tools push mold is perfect for masculine projects!

Candy Corn Bottle of "Boo-s" by Cindi McGee

Halloween is almost here!  The fun act of “Boo-ing” – leaving treats at a neighbors door anonymously – is becoming more and more popular. While normally a surprise for children, why not share some of the Halloween cheer with adults too?  This Candy Corn themed Bottle of “Boo-s” is a fun way to bring a smile to the face of a co-worker, friend, or family member young or old. And, the fact that it’s made with a up-cycled bottle that used to contain real “booze” makes the play on words even more fun…Cindi McGee recently shared this project with  it's fun Makin's Clay® accents.  Find the full instructions here at WhenCreativityKnocks.com

Witch's Apothecary by Cindi McGee

Witch's Apothecary

Designed by Cindi McGee

I love Halloween!  I love the silly, spooky fun, the costumes, and the creepy decorations.  A friend had given me some of his mother's perfume bottles after she passed away, and I thought they'd be perfect to alter and transform to help decorate for Halloween!   With the help of Makin's Clay®, and etchall® etching cream, those bottles, and a couple of empty medication bottles, came together to create this Witch's Apothecary complete with a bat display tray!   

Materials:

Makin’s Clay® - Green, Olive, Black, White, Merlot, Neon Green

                        - Professional® Ultimate Clay Extruder™

                - Texture Sheets Set D

                - Cutting Mat

                - Clay Tools 

DecoArt® -  Metallic Lustre™ - Gold Rush 

        - Americana Decor® Chalky Finish Paint - Relic, Carbon 

Glass perfume bottles

etchall® Etching Cream 

Black permanent marker 

JudiKins™ Diamond Glaze™ 

Blumenthal Lansing™ spider button 

Beacon® Tacky Glue, 3-in-1 Adhesive 

Tim Holtz® Idea-ology® letters 

Unfinished Wood Company™ wooden bat 

Loew-Cornell™ Simply Art paint brush

Jute twine

Instructions:

Frog Eyes

Roll Green clay using clay roller until about 1/8” thick.  Place bottle on side on rolled clay, use tool to cut around bottle.  Repeat for reverse side.  

Apply small amount of Beacon® 3-in-1 Adhesive over sides and apply clay.  

Use fingers to gently transfer texture from cobblestone texture sheet to clay.

Use fingers to gently blend and smooth textured clay.  The finished result is just a touch of texturing, to more closely mimic frog skin. 

Cut jute twin strips and use 3-in-1 to glue to sides of bottle. 

Wrap jute twine around top of bottle using 3-in-1 to hold in place.  

Mix small amount of neon green clay with green clay to create marbled green.  Roll into ball and flatten to make disc about 1/2"across.  

Use black permanentt marker to make pupil in eye. 

Glue eye to center of bottle using 3-in-1.  

Coat clay surfaces of bottle with JudiKins™ Diamond Glaze™.

Grave Dirt

Remove lid from medicine bottle.  Apply black clay directly to bottle with fingers for an uneven effect.  

Impress plastic lettering into fresh clay to spell out “grave dirt”.  Let dry 24 hours.  (Thanks to my “Fairy Craftmother” for sending me these letters in a recent surprise box…. you know who you are…!) 

Randomly apply “Relic” Chalky Finish paint to surface with paper towel - do not cover entire surface.  While paint is still wet, rub to remove in some areas.  Let dry. 

Apply small amount of cocoa brown Americana® Multi-Surface Satin™ paint over surface and around letters with a paper towel.  While wet, rub to remove most of paint and just leave a touch in grooves around letters, 

etc.  Let dry. 

Trace top of bottle onto cork sheets.  Cut enough cork circles to stack and create faux “stopper” for bottle.  Use 3-in-1 to attach layers of cork and then attach to top of bottle. 

  

Spider Legs

Remove lid from medicine bottle.  Mix small amount of black clay with white clay to create grey.  Cover bottle with clay with fingers for an uneven effect.

Impress spider button onto fresh clay to make spider image.  Remove button. 

Use clay tool to write “spider legs” in fresh clay. 

Cover lid of bottle with clay, create small clay “rock” and add to top of lid.   Let dry 24 hours. 

Use paper towel to apply small amount of  Carbon Chalky Finish™ Paint to bottle.  While wet, use paper towel tor remove some of the paint, allowing it to remain in the impressed areas and on some areas of the surface.  

Snake Oil

Remove cover from bottle.  Apply etchall® cream and let set 15 minutes.  Return cream to bottle and rinse to clean.  Let dry. 

Paint lid with Relic Chalky Finish paint. Let dry.  (This bottle had a row of crystals on the bottle itself, I also painted those).  

Mix equal parts Green and Olive clay together.   Insert into Ultimate Clay Extruder™ and extrude using  Disc #40 (oval) from Ultimate Extruder Discs Set B. 

Wrap around bottle, coiling so head and top of body cover the crystals on the bottle.  Use Tacky Glue to hold in place.  

While clay is still fresh, use scales texture sheet to texture snake. 

Create tongue with Merlot clay, add to snake.   Let dry 24 hours.  

Use fingers to gently add a touch of Gold Rush Metallic Lustre to snake. 

Use permanent marker to add eyes to snake.

Dragon Tears

Use black permanent marker to write “DRAGON TEARS” on bottle.  

Apply etchall® cream.  Let set 15 minutes, return cream to bottle and rinse to clean. Rub at the marker lettering tor remove it from the bottle.  Let dry.  

Use JudiKins™ Diamond Glaze™ to make teardrops on sides of bottle around writing.  (Tip - Lay bottle on the side, and apply tears a few at a time to prevent running while drying.)

This bottle had a big gold plastic bow on the cover - which just would not work for the finished project.  I used pliers to gently break away the plastic bow from the cover. 

Mix equal parts Green and Olive clay.  

Use fingers to apply clay to cover of bottle. 

Use scale texture sheet to texture clay. 

Using Disc #31, extude strip of green clay and wrap around stem/top of bottle.   Use fingers to apply light coat of Gold Rush Metallic Lustre™ to cover and clay on rim of bottle.   

Bat Tray 

 

To create bat try to display your bottles, paint unfinished wooden bat with Carbon Chalky Finish™ paint and let dry. 

Make 4 small balls of black Makin's Clay® about 3/4" across.   

Use 3-in-1 adhesive to to mount balls to back of tray to create feet for tray to stand on.  

Candy Corn Frame by Cindi McGee

Candy Corn Frame 
Designed by Cindi McGee 

Create a fun Candy Corn Frame for your seasonal photos for display on a scrapbook page or in your home.

Materials:

• Chipboard

• Makin’s Clay® - White 

- Clay cutter - water drop from Geo Set  

• Plaid® Yellow and Pumpkin Orange Apple Barrel acrylic paint 

• Beacon™ Tacky Glue 

• JudiKins Diamond Glaze™ 

• Westcott® Trim Air paper trimmer 

• Halloween themed patterned paper

• Paintbrush

Instructions:

Determine the finished size of frame. Cut chipboard desired size, cut opening in center to create display area. For this project, finished frame opening is 3 1/2” x 5”.

Roll clay to approximately 1/8” thickness.

Cut with water drop clay cutter, cut off rounded end to form candy corn shape. Repeat until necessary number of candy corns to cover entire border of frame are made.  Let dry 24 hours.

Once dry, arrange clay pieces around border of frame.  Mount with Beacon Tacky Glue.

Use yellow paint to paint bottom third of each piece.  Let dry.  Paint center area with orange paint.  Let dry. 

Apply layer of JudiKins Diamond Glaze over each candy corn.  Let dry.

If you want to create a standing home-decor style frame rather than a flat frame for a scrapbook page, cut backing piece of chipboard. Measure and cut patterned paper 1/4” larger on all sides than backing chipboard. Cover backing piece,
wrapping edges over to front and mount. Cut piece of patterned paper to fit on front face of frame, mount. Mount finished frame front to back piece applying adhesive only on left and right sides, and bottom. Measure and cut a piece of sturdy chipboard to make stand for frame, cover with patterned paper, mount to frame.

Embellished Easter Egg

This embellished porcelain egg was one of our make & take projects at the recent CHA trade show in Anaheim, CA.   Today we are sharing the instructions to recreate this project for your Easter decorating.

 A plain ceramic egg is transformed into a decorative piece to display to celebrate Easter with festive Makin’s Clay® accents.

Materials:

Ceramic egg 

Makin’s Clay® (www.makins-usa.com)

   - Brights Multi-Pack, Brown, White Clay 60g

   - Ultimate Clay Machine®

   - Easter Clay Cutter Set

   - Texture Sheets 

Mica powder - white pearlescent 

Beacon® Tacky Glue (www.beaconadhesives.com) 

Fine paint brush

Designed By Cindi Bisson - Behind These Eyes™

www.fatcatcreations.blogspot.com

Instructions: 

1) To create pastel shades of clay, mix white with red, blue, yellow, and green clay until desired shade is achieved.  

2) Roll clay with Ultimate Clay Machine® to setting number 3; or hand roll until approximately 1/8” thick. 

3) Place texture sheets onto rolled clay, press gently to transfer texture to clay.   For added interest, use different texture sheets for each color of clay.  

4) Use Easter clay cutters to cut shapes.  Apply tiny balls of clay  for eyes on bunnies and chicks.  To create tiny hearts, cut small petals from pink clay, use clay tool to create indentation at top. 

5) Apply small amount of tacky glue to back of each shape, mount to egg to create desired pattern.  Pattern shown is:

• Two flowers, layered, on bottom of egg  with rolled balls flattened as center. 
• 3 bunnies equally spaced at base of egg.
• 3 small pink hearts, 1 placed between each bunny.
• 3 chicks equally spaced. 
• 3 leaves between, 1 placed between each chick. 
• Two flowers, layered, on top of egg with rolled balls flattened as center.  

Lightly dust clay shapes with white pearlescent mica powder.   

Optional -  Experiment by adding strips and coils of clay extruded with the Ultimate Clay Extruder®; seal clay pieces with a resin type finish such as JudiKins Diamond Glaze. 

Valentine Treat Mason Jars DIY Video featuring Makin's Clay®

Learn to make 3 different versions of these Valentine Treat Mason Jars all with unique Makin's
Clay® accents in this episode of When Creativity Knocks All-Star Designers Winter Series!

Key to My Heart Card

Makin's Clay® is perfect for making embellishments for cards and scrapbooks.  Whether you use a push mold, clay cutters, rubber stamps, or die cut the embellishments like the key & lock on this Valentine from our Pinterest Board - there are many options for crafting with Makin's®!

Super Bowl Party! DIY Video Featuring Makin's Clay®

Makin's Clay® is a sponsor of the When Creativity Knocks All-Star Designers Winter Series!  The first episode of this series is now live and features two projects made with Makin's Clay®!   View the video here - http://youtu.be/V3ZVolCIuIc

Valentine Treat Mason Jar

This Valentine Treat Mason Jar was one of our make & take projects featured at CHA in Anaheim.   Today we are sharing the instructions for making the jar.

Create a unique Valentine keepsake treat jar for  someone special this year with Makin’s Clay® & Buckle Boutique Rhinestone accents.

Materials:

Mason jar 

Makin’s Clay® - Brights Multi-Pack, White Clay 120g (www.makins-usa.com) 

                    - Ultimate Clay Machine® 

                         - Ultimate Clay Extuder®

                         - Hearts Push Mold

                         - Crinkle Cutter Set 

                 - Texture Sheets 

                 - Professional Clay Tools

The Buckle Boutique™ Self-Adhesive Rhinestones (www.thebuckleboutique.com) 

Beacon® Tacky Glue (www.beaconadhesives.com) 

JudiKins™ Script Rubber Stamp (www.judikins.com) 

Clearsnap® Crafter’s Ink - Red (www.clearsnap.com) 

Designed by Cindi Bisson - Behind These Eyes™

www.fatcatcreations.blogspot.com 

Instructions:

1. Mix small amount of red clay (approximately 1/4” ball) with enough white clay to cover jar lid  (approximately 1/4 of 120g package) to create pink.
2. Roll pink clay in Ultimate Clay Machine™ to #3 setting. 
3. Ink script stamp with red permanent ink - stamp into rolled pink clay. 
4. Using jar lid as a template, use clay tool to cut circle from stamped clay.
5. Place tacky glue on top of lid, apply stamped clay, pressing gently to adhere.
6. Roll small amount of red clay to setting #4 on clay machine.
7. Texture rolled red clay, cut with heart crinkle cutter. Use tacky glue to mount heart to center of lid. 
8. To create push molded heart shown, place green clay in leaf areas, red in roses, white in bottom of heart and pink in top of heart as shown.  
9. Mount molded heart to center of red heart. 
10. Cut self-adhesive rhinestones and mount around outside of jar lid.
11. Extrude white clay into fine strands.  Twist strands and use tacky glue to mount to outside edge of jar lid. 
12. Add two rhinestone accents to center of roses, using tacky glue to hold in place. 
13. Cut strip of self-adhesive rhinestones and mount around outside of jar lid.

Fill with candy, cookies, flavored coffees, a small stuffed animal, or another special treat and present it to someone special! 

"Marsala" Necklace & Earrings - How-to Video

Cindi Bisson shares a two piece jewelry set featuring twisted Makin's Clay® beads in Pantone's 2015 Color of the Year - Merlot!  Find out how in episode of Creatively Crafty with Cindi Bisson -