If you are a long-term reader then you will know that I have a real passion for clay crafts with kids. These DIY festive clay and cork trees are a really simple make and you do not need any special tools to make these. In fact, all you need is a rolling pin, knife and cardboard, which makes then perfect for making with kids or for your first clay project.
DIY Festive Clay and Cork Trees
I adore how tactile and hands-on working with clay is. It appeals to kids of all ages from little ones to older children who really love that they can create lasting items with clay. Over the years we have used different types of clay and love them all and this craft will work with pretty much all of them, from standard air drying clay, through to microwave drying and polymer clay.
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Materials
- Clay
- Cardboard
- Knife
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Corks
- Rolling pin
How to make DIY Festive Clay and Cork Trees
If you have a steady hand and a good eye you can skip the step of making a cardboard template, but my boys wanted to use them.
We used the back of a writing pad as our cardboard, but a cereal packet works just as well. Draw on your triangle templates and cut them out. We cut out three different sized triangles for our trees.
Roll out your clay – we use an icing roller and a silicone mat to around 3/4 mm and place on your cardboard template before cutting around it. I have to say I love using an old-fashioned butter knife for cutting out.
Then lay the trees out to dry depending on the clay instructions and the type of clay you are using.
Once dry you need to cut a slit in the corks the same diameter as the tree. This is a job for an adult or an older child. We used a small kitchen knife, but a craft knife would work too. We also used a little stick to dig out the cork.
We left our trees plain white as we are on a minimalism kick, however, they would look beautiful with lace pressed into them like our clay mittens or even painted like these from Diary of a frugal family.
Do you have a favourite type of clay to use?
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