Amazing Christmas Gift For a Kid to Make: Clay Bowl

Every year during the holidays I try and find something that my kids can gift to their teachers and Grandparents. I have had them give cookies, drawings, little baskets of snack foods, Christmas tree ornaments, and gift cards.

This year I attended a little craft fair that was aimed toward showing examples of crafts that people could make instead of buying gifts. They wanted to raise awareness about giving in a way that is not as commercialized and then making donations to people that are in a position of greater need than us. The cherish that was holding the craft bazaar was also accepting donations that could go to various charities, they suggested donating to a place that helps create access to clean water for people in Africa and organizations that help stop sex trafficking among others.

One of the crafts, was a Femo marbled bowl, this looked like something I would actually try and the might I thought about it the more I thought the kids could do it. I have also seen this craft following around the internet mostly on Pinterest.

I took my five year old to Michael's craft store and looked at the clay. After picking out a few colors, I was becoming too quiet that this was not something the kids could do because the clay is incredibly hard, and I do not say this lightly, it is like those really old bubble gum balls that just about break your teeth and make your jaw sore after the first ten seconds of chewing.

I was relieved when I found a mixed color package of this stuff called Pluffy by Sculpey. It is so much softer and my kids were totally able to work with. I also bought some of the harder clay for me.
                                     

My kids really wanted to make a video about how to make one so the instructions have those as well. :)

1) choose three or four colors usually having a base color of white or black is nice but it is up to you, we mixed in white but had an equal part of white as each other color.
2) cut off a piece of each color about the size of your thumb

3) sqeeze all the colors together into one "log"
4) twist all asking the log, squash it back together, roll it out, twist again

5) when you like how mixed the colors are, but so they are mostly still individual colors roll it out on a non stick surface like a piece off wax paper with a rolling pin, piece of pvc pipe, or a femo rolling pin, into a circle a quarter of an inch thick

Making a clay bowl with a smiley face.

6) place over an upside down bowl that is oven proof and gently push the edges down, we used silicon cupcake molds.
7) bake according to the package directions each brand is a little different
8) allow to cool and then paint just the edge with gold acrylic paint.

 Here is mine, I made if for my Grandparents that have just moved out of their dream house where they spent years sailing on Seneca lake:

To make mine I used a lightly different kind of Sculpey, which is much harder and my kids did not find plyable enough for their hands, the Pluffey however was perfect for them. Here is the kind I used:

Here is the gold paint I used to edge the bowl:

Full disclosure: if you use the amazon link I will get a small percentage of the cost of what you buy, this goes for the search link on the side bar as well. However the cost to you is the same either way. My kids loved this project and were so excited to make their friends and teachers a gift. My daughter would not even wait to give it to them. I would love to see results of yours if you do make them.