Making Craft Clays at Home

Recipe 3 on left, recipe 2 on right.

At last! I finally am getting around to posting my experiments with different types of craft clay.  It is easy enough these days to go to the store and purchase clay for a craft.  Easy unless you live a considerable distance from a craft store.  Sometimes it is helpful to have an alternative to a commercial
product.  You may need only a small amount and don't want to spend several dollars for a package that is much larger than you need.  Or maybe you just need a quick activity for the kids on a rainy day.  There are a number of reasons to make your own craft clay.  I decided to experiment with making clay and use it on the head of the figure for this project.  It is worthwhile to post the results so people will have some idea of how recipes played out.

My first experiment was such a mess, that I won't post the recipe.  It is one of those things that it is better to put behind me and not speak of again.  The second and third recipes worked out much better.  They have some different characteristics when dry so it is worthwhile to consider the finished look when choosing a clay.  You can find all sorts of craft clay recipes on the internet.  I chose these two  because I had the ingredients and did not have to purchase anything extra.  Well, maybe not everyone will have Alum in the house but it is easily obtainable at the grocery store.

Recipe 2 Modeling Dough
3/4 cup flour --DO NOT USE SELF-RISING
1/2 cup salt
1 & 1/2 tsp. powdered Alum
1 & 1/2 tsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup boiling water.

Mix the dry ingredients.  Add oil and boiling water and stir until blended.

Note: Alum (powdered aluminum potassium sulfate) is used in pickling spices and baking powder.  In rock form it is used as an underarm deodorant.

The experiment:  A thin layer of the clay was patted smooth and used to cover a Styrofoam ball to check for adhesion and texture.

The results:  The clay dried in about a day and a half.  The surface was fairly smooth. 

Recipe 3  Play Clay
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup cornstarch

Mix the salt and hot water and heat to boiling.  Stir cornstarch into the cold water in a separate bowl.  Add cornstarch to the cold water and then stir the mixture into the boiling water.  Stir the mixture until a stiff dough forms.  Remove the mixture from heat, turn out onto waxed paper and allow to cool.  When cool enough to handle, knead until smooth.

The experiment:  A thin layer of  the clay was patted smooth and used to cover a ball of aluminum foil covered with masking tape to check for adhesion and texture.

The results:  A fun science fact here; cornstarch mixed with water behaves as a Non-Newtonian fluid.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Newtonian_fluid   I added a link to Wikipedia for those who want a more scientific explanation than I am going into here.  A Non-Newtonian fluid can act like a solid rather than a liquid.  If you mix enough cornstarch and water, you can form a liquid that is solid enough to walk across it.  When mixing the cornstarch and water for this project it formed a solid mass around the spoon while I was trying to stir it.  I lifted the spoon from the bowl and the material was rock solid.  Then the mass fell from the spoon.  When the mass hit the counter, the mass turned back to a liquid and ran all over the counter.  So remember to be careful when stirring this mixture.  Once everything was mixed, the craft clay had a very grainy texture.  It felt like coarse sand had been added to the mix.  The clay was patted to the same thickness as the first recipe and applied to a ball of aluminum foil covered with masking tape.  It is not quite dry yet on day three.

All clays have an odor.  Clay used for ceramics smells like moist earth. Commercial clays have a chemical smell.  The clays made with flour have a very distinctive odor.  I can only describe it as funky.  It reminds me of a sourdough starter.  My studio was not the most pleasant place to be for a couple of days.

At this point, I am still waiting for the clay on the head to finish drying.  I am not completely sure that I will use the head on the project.  It may just be easier to start over and do a regular strip  papier mache" head.  Both of these recipes are supposed to be paintable when dry, but I am not sure that the texture is exactly what I want for the project.  I will paint the heads before I make a final decision.  However, either of these recipes would work well for making children's crafts and Christmas ornaments. 

Sunday I will have the latest photos of the anthropomorphic Halloween figure I am making.