Clay Recipes

Baking Clay #1
Ingredients: – 1 part salt – 2 parts flour – 1 part water	Method: Mix and knead all the ingredients for about 2 minutes. Mold the clay into creations. Place them on a foil-covered cookie sheet, prick larger areas with a fork. Bake at 275 degrees Fahrenheit (140 degrees Celsius) for about 1 hour or until golden and hard. Cool and paint. Preserve by spraying with clear varnish.
Baking Clay #2
Ingredients: – 2 cups plain flour – 1 cup salt – 1 to 1 1/2 cups cold water – 2 tbs. cooking oil	Method: Mix and knead all the ingredients for about 2 minutes. Mold the clay into creations. Place them on a foil-covered cookie sheet, prick larger areas with a fork. Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit (150 degrees Celsius) for about 1 hour or until golden and hard. Cool and paint. Preserve by spraying with clear varnish.
Cornstarch Clay
Ingredients: – 1 cup cornstarch – 1-1/4 cups cold water – 2 cups baking soda – Food coloring	Method: Mix all ingredients except paint in saucepan over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring constantly until thick (like mashed potatoes). Add food coloring to mixture. Remove from heat, turn out onto a plate and cover with a damp cloth until cool. Knead like dough. Store in airtight container.
Bread Dough Clay
Ingredients: – 6 pieces of day-old, white bread – 3 Teaspoons white glue – 2 Teaspoons Water – parchment Paper	Method: Remove crusts from bread, and cut into small pieces. In a large mixing bowl, add water and glue to the bread pieces. Mix with your hands until a dough forms. When it’s ready, the mixture should be the consistency of pie dough. Roll out or pat out until flat on parchment paper. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters and set on a drying rack or roll into beads.
Sand Clay
Ingredients: – 1 cup clean sand – 1/2 cup cornstarch – 1/2 tsp. alum (find in spice section of your grocery store) – 1/2 cup water	Method: Pour the sand into an old cooking pot. Add cornstarch, water and alum. Stir. Place on stove and cook at medium heat. Stir constantly. As it gets warm it begins to liquefy. In 2-3 minutes it will get thicker. As it stiffens and clumps like stiff cookie dough, remove from the heat and keep stirring for a few more seconds as it cools down. Put it onto a cutting board or tough surface, spread it slightly for further cooling. When comfortable to touch begin creating.
Apple Cinnamon Clay
Ingredients: – 1 part cinnamon – 1 part store bought applesauce	Method: Stir together cinnamon and applesauce with a spoon until the dough becomes stiff, then use your hands to create a ball of dough. Place the ball of dough on a sheet of waxed paper, flatten slightly with your fingers. Place a second sheet of waxed paper over the top of the dough and roll out dough to about 1/8 inch thick. Use cookie cutters or your own template shapes. Air dry creations on a waxed paper-covered cookie sheet or a cooling rack for at least 24 hours until they are completely hard. Paint.
Coffee Clay
Ingredients: – 4 cups flour – 1 cup salt – 1/4 cup instant coffee – 1-1/2 c warm water	Method: Dissolve the coffee in the warm water. In another bowl, mix the flour and the salt. Make a hole in this and add 1 cup of the coffee water into it. Mix with a fork or hands until smooth. Add more coffee water if needed. Form into creations and bake in 300 degree oven for 1 hour or until hard.
Sawdust Clay
Ingredients: – 1 cup fine sawdust – food coloring – old newspaper – Shellac or Varnish – 1 cup thin paste	Method: If you would like the clay to be coloured dye the sawdust with food colouring, drain and spread it on newspaper to dry before using. Mix sawdust and paste to a thick dough like consistency. Knead until thoroughly mixed. Add more paste if necessary. Can dry creations in air, or in a 200 degree oven for 1 to 2 hours.
Crepe Paper Clay
Ingredients: – 1 cup tiny pieces of crepe paper (one colour) – 1 cup warm water – 1/2 to 2/3 cup non-self rising wheat flour	Method: Place tiny pieces of crepe paper into a bowl and pour the warm water over it. Let sit for several hours until soft and pliable. Pour off excess water. Add 1/2 cup of flour and stir until mixed thoroughly. Pour out onto a floured surface and knead. Add enough flour to make a piecrust-like dough. This clay will adhere to glass and it can also be used to sculpt over wire.
Rose Petal Clay
Ingredients: – 1/3 cup non-self rising wheat flour – 1 tablespoon salt – 2 tablespoons water – 3 cups of rose petals	Method: Mix flour, salt, and water to make a stiff dough. Cut rose petals into tiny pieces and then crush by rolling them between your palms. Knead enough petals to the dough without making it crumbly.
Mock Marble (casting compound)
Ingredients: – 2 teaspoons white glue – 1/2 cup water – plaster of Paris – tempera paint	Method: Mix glue and water. Stir in enough plaster of Paris until the mixture looks like thick frosting. Pour the mixture into a shallow bowl. Pour a thick layer of tempera paint on top of the mixture. Fold in the color to make marble streaks. Don’t blend. Pour the mixture into a mold.