Supplies:
- Air dry clay. I used Sculpey.
- Rolling pin or something similar.
- 2 paint stir sticks or something similar to help you roll out your clay evenly.
- At least 1 leaf. You can also use flowers and other items as well.
- Exacto knife or something to cut your clay.
- A bowl to shape you leaves as they dry.
- Paint
- Paint brushes.
- Mod Podge or other something to seal your piece.
- Cup with a little water.
Steps:
1. Roll out your air dry clay so it is flat and even. It needs to be as wide as your leaf.
2. Place your leaf on your rolled out clay. Use your rolling pin to lightly roll the leaf into your clay to help the lines of the leaf to transfer into your clay.
3. Carefully trace your leaf with your exacto knife. I did a rough cut. I did not get every detail of the leaf’s edges, but you can if you want.
4. Carefully remove the extra clay, then the leaf.
5. Gently pick up your clay piece and smooth out any rough edges, fingerprints, or imperfects with a little water on your fingers. To much water can cause the details to disappear.
6. Place your clay leaf in your bowl and allow it to dry over night. You will need to flip the clay leaf over once it is mostly dry to allow the bottom side to fully dry. A bigger bowl will cause less bending of the clay pieces, resulting in a more plat like pieces. So, make sure to choose a bowl according to how much you want your leaf to bend up.
7. Once your clay piece is fully dry you can paint it. You may need to apply 2 coats of paint and wait for one side to dry before painting the other side. I recommend painting all sides of your piece. Once my base color was dry I dry brushed some gold metallic paint all over my leaf, then applied a thin coat of my base color over the gold. This added a nice multi color look to my leaf, which made it look more realistic.
8. Finally apply your protective layer. I used both glossy (red leaf) and mat (yellow leaf) mod podge to my leaves. The mat mod podge still had a little gloss to it, but I think I actually liked that finish better personally. You could use other materials to protect your piece. I have used polyacrylate on a previous clay ghost I made a few years ago, and he still looks great today.
These clay leaves make cute trinket dishes to store jewelry or other small items. They are also cute as extra decorations. They could hold a battery operated tea light. I am not sure about using a real candle on them.
They would be really cute on a table as decoration or to hold a name tag. If you make them and use them as a table decoration or to hold a name tag or something for your guest, then you will have to share a picture with me! I love this idea and it makes me want to host a dinner part just to use them for it. Aldi’s had really cute leaf plates that would go perfectly on this table display. I was not able to find any last year, but may this year I will get lucky.
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