DIY: Clay Magnets

Have you ever been so consumed by a television show you find yourself thinking about the characters throughout the day? I was recently engrossed by the show Yellowstone, which just ended its third season. Based in Montana, a sixth-generation cattle rancher, John Dutton, fights to keep his ranch from encroaching corporations and Indian Reservation looking to make billions off developing the land. The Yellowstone story line is a mix of love, murder, business deals, and family drama. It’s reminiscent of the story line shown in The Sopranos. I was on a roller-coaster of emotions while I binged watched all three seasons. 

I digress. My review of Yellowstone is not why you’re here (but I do highly recommend it). Moral of this story, I wanted something to do while I watched the show. It’s difficult for me to be a potato on the couch. I typically layer my laziness of binge-watching t.v shows with cooking, cleaning, or in this instance, crafting. Remembering I had Sculpey Oven-Bake Clay leftover from the DIY Cactus Planter, I formed a few shapes, squished them into other shapes, until I had the idea to make a flower and then a rainbow. These elements from nature must have been influenced by the picturesque landscape of Montana.

These flowers were simple to create. First, make the stem of the flower. Roll out a piece of clay into a snake shape and flatten the top. To make the petals, start with a round ball of clay. Flatten it out like pizza dough; careful not to make it too thin. Then cut the circle of clay like a pizza. Each one of the “pizza slices” will become a petal. I separated each piece and flattened it out until it resembled the shape of the petal I wanted. Attach the petal to the stem as desired. 

Lastly, cut the stem of the flower as close to the base as possible; making the base flat so it will sit level while it bakes. 

The rainbow magnets were a little more involved. I started with a circular flatten piece of clay. With a nail, I traced a “C” shape out of the clay. Removing the excess clay, I molded the shape until it was symmetrical and happy with the thickness. With the same nail, I carved two lines across the face to create the separation of color when I paint. I also scored the ends of the rainbow to allow the clouds to bond together when they are attached. 

To make the clouds, I rolled out another piece of clay and used a straw to stamp out circular shapes. Mashing four of the circular shapes together, flatten them, scored the back, and BAM; I’ve got a perfectly cartoon shaped cloud.

My creativity went off the rails when I had the idea of adding dangling raindrops to the bottom of the clouds. I stamped out more circles using the straw and shaped them into a teardrop shape. Using a thumbtack, I carefully punched a hole in both the clouds and each raindrop. Two tips I learned during this process: make more raindrops than you think you’ll need, and don’t punch the holes too close to the edge. 

Placing all of my creation on a pan lined with foil, I followed the baking instructions provided by the Sculpey Oven-Baked Clay. 

Painting and applying the magnets to the flowers and rainbows is the easy part of this DIY. The unforeseen challenge was attaching the raindrops to the clouds. 

Here are the key tips I learned while attaching the raindrops to the clouds. 

• Cut all the wires at once.
• Attach a raindrop to the ends of each wire. Then attach the wire to the cloud. (This will make it easier to determine the length). 
• Use two pliers to twist the wire around to secure. (Your thumbs will thank you)
• Remember the clay is delicate. It will snap if you twist the wire too hard. 

As you can see I made two rainbows. The pink rainbow was my first attempt at attaching the wire. While it looks okay, I worked out the kinks on the blue/green one. 

*Bonus. I made a cat face by accident. It started as a small rainbow and morphed into cat ears. Voila!