It’s not exactly uncommon knowledge that not every DIY tutorial you find on Pinterest will work out how you expect it to. My goal in all my craft and recipe posts is to help you avoid this because I know there is nothing worse than investing time, effort, and money into something that just does not work.
I know this because I am not immune to it.
This past Sunday, I excitedly woke up early to create some clay heart bunting with paw prints based on a tutorial I found online. That sounds adorable, doesn’t it? Perfect for Valentine’s Day!
The recipe for the clay seemed easy enough and was way cheaper than buying clay from a craft store. It just called for equal parts of corn starch and basic white glue. Well I did that. Or I thought I did that.
How does someone measure equal parts of a solid and liquid anyway?
Instead of getting the easily moldable dough that I was expecting, I got a dough that both crumbled and glued itself to my table when I tried to roll it out. I spent over an hour trying to perfect the amount of the each ingredient in different batches of dough.
My living room became covered in corn starch and all my craft supplies were glued to the table. While my trash can was full, my bunting was not.
I felt pretty defeated because not only did I have clean up this huge mess, I had nothing to show for my hard work. But I wanted a Clay Paw Print Heart and a Clay Paw Print Heart I was going to make!
If you are at all like me you have a stash of craft supplies that you always forget about because your craft area looks like a tornado blew by, so you go and buy new ones all the time anyway. (Oh you aren’t like that?) WELL, because I had a hoard of craft supplies I was able to make this work.
Here is what you need:
1-2 2 oz packages of White Polymer Clay – I like Premo! by Sculpey
Heart shaped cookie cutters – I used this set
Clay Roller
Tooth pick or a Needle tool like the one in this set
Wax paper or a Work’n Bake Clay Mat
Chalk or Soft Pastels
Paint brush
Baking sheet and Oven
Start by working your clay until it can be easily rolled. It may be tough at first by the heat from your hand will soften it. I used 1.25 packages to make one heart from the largest cookie cutter at 1/4″ thick.
Roll your clay out using the clay roller. Roll the clay until it is smooth and 1/4″ thick or your desired thickness. Do this on top of your wax paper or Work’n Bake Clay Mat. I like the clay mat because it grips to the surface you are working on and doesn’t slip as you roll the clay.
Find your dog and ask her to borrow one of her paws. If she obliges, press one of her paws down on top of the clay while telling her how much you love her. Be gentle so as to not hurt your dog, but use enough force to leave an imprint. If you mess up, don’t worry you can always repeat the first three steps and try again.
If your dog is cooperative, you could also try to get her to walk across or stand on the clay.
Luna is not cooperative.
You will get dog hair in the clay, but that just makes it more authentic.
Wipe your dog’s paw off in case the clay left any residue.
Using the biggest heart cookie cutter, cut out a heart shaped piece of clay centered around the imprint. If you would like more than one heart, use a smaller cookie cutter or use more clay.
Rub your needle tool or toothpick on your chalk or soft pastels to shave off some dust. This will act as your paint.
Using the paint brush, paint on the chalk dust to add a bit of festive color. I colored in Luna’s paw print imprint with red and added a red border around the edge of the heart. I also added a pink border inside the red one and slightly blended the two together. You may need to shave off more chalk dust as you paint.
Using your needle tool or toothpick carve in your dog’s name. This came to be because centering the paw print was harder than I thought.
You can also use the tooth pick or needle tool to add holes in the clay if you would like to make garland or an ornament.
Bake according to your polymer clay’s packaging instructions. Keep your heart on the wax paper or Work’n Bake Clay Mat, but move on top of a baking sheet.
Display your beautiful Clay Paw Print Heart for all to see!
I may have not made the bunting or garland I wanted, but I did make my Clay Paw Print Heart and I’m pretty proud of it.
Have you ever had a crafting disaster? Do tell!
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