How to Make an Air Plant Holder With Creative Paperclay

 Hello everyone, today I am going to show you how I made this air plant holder. I will 

walk you through the steps to either leave it as is, or cover it with concrete patch to 

protect it from water if you are a person who sprays your air plants while it's in it's holder.

You will need the following materials

Supplies: 

Air plant
Creative Paperclay®

Masking tape
Scrap Paper,Cardboard or foil
Sand paper

Thompson's WaterSeal (optional)

Concrete patch repair (optional)

Protective gloves

Begin by choosing your air plant and try to figure out what type of holder 

you would like to create. I went with the larger of the three and decided that

I wanted the holder to be a tall cylindrical shape for the plant.

I began working on the base by taking your paper foil or what ever you 

would like to use as the filler and wrap it with masking tape.

Begin adding clay on top of the masking tape when you are finished putting

it together. Make sure that you create the opening for the plant while the clay

is still pliable. I built around a tube of glitter and took it out once I 

felt comfortable with the size of the opening for the plant to go into.

When you are done creating the opening, make sure that it is the right size for your

plant. Quickly check the fitting of the plant in the opening while it is still moist. 

Remove the plant and make adjustments to if you need to while the clay is still moist.

Sit the piece aside and allow it to dry when you have the basic shape worked out.

Once the piece is dry, begin to work on the second layer. I decided to create a head 

so that the plant would look like hair. Once you are satisfied with the way that this layer

 comes out, set the piece aside to dry so that it could be sanded down.

Sand your piece down with sand paper until you achieve the level of smoothness 

that you would like the piece to have. Don't worry about smoothness at this step if 

you plan to cover your piece with cement as I ended up doing.

I really like the simplicity of this piece. I usually run my air plants under water for a few seconds and then let them air dry out in the window before I put it back in the plant holder. This way works great if you are concerned about damaging your sculpture with water. When 

paper clay gets wet, it begins to get soft again so you must make sure that your plant is

dry before placing it back in your sculpture. To be on the safe side, I suggest using some 

type of water proof coating like Thompson's WaterSeal to add a layer of protection 

to your piece. I would still use caution to not deliberately get your sculpture wet. 

Extra Credit: I am a hoarder by nature, so I had concrete patch under my sink. I smoothed a thin layer over my sculpture to add a layer of protection for when I don't want to wait for the plant to dry before placing it back in the holder. If the concrete patch doesn't stick to your piece, try adding a drop of water to get it to adhere to the clay. Make sure you wear gloves to protect your hands from the concrete! Set the piece aside and allow it to dry for at least 24 hours before using.

Thank you all once again for stopping by, and I hope that you enjoyed today's tutorial! You can find Creative Paperclay® at the following retailers Creative Paperclay® Online Store, Michael's, Amazon, Joann's.

See more of my work at Melandolly.com and be sure to catch updates on my Instagram page! 

Color Mixing With PreK!

Color Mixing with PreK!

This is my first year to have PreK as a part of my Art program at school.  At the beginning of the year, I found it to be a bit of a challenge.  But now, I am loving all that they can do as we creep closer to the end of the school year and them graduating to Kindergarten.

One of the things they learn is Primary colors (red, blue, yellow) and how they can mix to create Secondary colors (purple, green, orange).  In the fall we used Delight Air Dry Medium plus red and yellow markers to create pumpkins.  With Spring arriving soon, I thought it was the perfect time to revisit color mixing.  In my mind, I saw leaves of green and flowers of purple and orange.  BUT this is a PreK group with ideas of their own, so may I present Spring color -mixing PreK style 😉

The materials are simple: 

1 package of Delight Air Dry Medium

watercolor markers: red, blue, yellow (I also put out pink & 2 shades of blue)

2 hands (I think everyone has those handy)

I work with 9 students at a time, so I cut the package into 9 pieces and handed each student one piece.  They were directed to break/pull apart the clay into 3 somewhat equal pieces.  I then showed them how to flatten the clay before adding color.  

Each student chose 2 colors to mix and dabbed the color on the clay (one color on each side). 

Once color is applied, the color is mixed in by folding and squishing, folding and squashing until the color is blended in.  The kids were amazed at watching the color changes.  Some were even more excited with the marbelized colors!

A few of the students created flowers.  Many more had other ideas: a one-eyed octopus who's eye was created by pressing the clay with the marker cap, a car (you may need a good imagination to see that one), balls (of course), and a pair of googles!

You have to love the imagination of a child ❤

_____________________________________________________________________

I have to share what was happening in the 4th-grade classroom while I was working with my PreK babies!  The 4th-grade teacher came to me early in the week and asked if I had any kind of clay that she could use with her students to create coiled pots.  I immediately handed her Creative Paperclay and gave her instructions for creating coils, joining them together (dip a finger in water and apply to the clay before joining), and possibly creating lids for the pots.

NOTE:  I also handed her a bottle of "slip" that came in my last box of clay.  I don't know what it is technically called, but here is a photo.  I gave it to her in case anyone had troubles with getting the clay to adhere with only water, knowing that certain "someone" would need a little help 😉

She shared a few photos of what they created.  Once dry, the students will paint them with acrylic paints.