Clay crafts are a wonderful way to get senior citizen’s, with limited dexterity, to exercise their fingers and hands.
Below are 3 types of clay you can make. A Cold Porcelain clay, another type of no-bake clay, and also a polymer clay.
Make Homemade Cold Porcelain Sculpting Clay
- does not need to be fired
- can be dyed or painted
- keep clay not being used, in a bag
- air dry clay can begin to dry while being worked with. To help prevent this, wet finger tips now and then if you find it is drying on you while working with it
- as hard (and fragile) as porcelain is when fully dried, seal your sculpture when done, with spray lacquer or dip sealers
Ingredients:
- 3 cups white glue
- 3 cups cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon glycerin
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
Blend these ingredients.
Place in a microwavable container and heat in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes. Check the consistency every half minute or so and more often the last half minute. You want a consistency where the clay is thick and lumpy.
You could heat on a stove, instead of the microwave, for about 15 minutes. When it begins to pull away from the pan and has the thick and lumpy consistency remove from heat.
Don’t cook this too long with either method or it will be too hard to work with.
Knead the dough until you can make shapes with it. It may be best to use cold cream on your hands and be careful if the clay is still warm from cooking.
It would be best to store the clay for a day before using. Be sure to store it in an airtight container.
You can cover Styrofoam, cardboard, wood or any other material with the clay, using the other material as a base to work from.
The thicker an item is, the longer the clay will take to dry. It dries from the outside in.
You can color the clay with acrylic or oil paints. Take the amount of clay you wish to color and making a dent in it, put in the color and then knead the color into the clay using your hands. Work it all the way through so the color is uniform. The more paint you use the more intense the color will be. For pastel shades, use much less paint. Make many different colors and store extra amounts of clay in tightly sealed containers.
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