Mugs with Mugs

Start by rolling out a slab of clay that is about 10" x 5" long and about 3/8th's of an inch thick.  You can give students a template for cutting out the basic rectangle or let them decide on the size. For this smaller mug, I cut out a rectangle that is about 9 x 4.  The short edges of the rectangle need to be scratched and then it is wrapped up into a cylinder, attaching the edges together.  To create the bottom, you'll need another slab of clay.  If you have enough clay left over from your rectangle, use that, if not re-roll out all of your scrap pieces of clay.  Then take the cylinder and put it on top of the slab of clay and using a pointy tool or a knife, trace around the perimeter of the cylinder to get the exact size needed for the mug.  Once it's cut out, go ahead and scratch-to-attach it on, I find it's easier to do this when the mug is upside down or if you put on hand on the inside of the cylinder and connect it with the other hand on the outside.  HINT: Make sure that you don't leave any holes when your attaching the parts of the cylinder together--your hot chocolate will leak out!!  This creates a basic cup shape which could be used for a variety of projects but since we're making mugs, the next step is to add a handle. 

Using the extra clay that you have, cut out a long thin rectangle, about a inch wide by 4" long.  Fold the top of the rectangle over so that from the side it looks like half of a heart shape.  Scratch-to-attach the top and bottom of the heart shape and the top and bottom of your mug.  Press the handle on using your fingers on the inside and outside of your mug making sure it's secure. (Don't pick it up by the handle until its fired!!)  

Your mug is complete and you're ready to decorate with the faces.  I like to make 6 spheres, flatten them into a pancake shape and scratch-to-attach them onto the mug.  Then using clay tools and some examples of different emotions, I challenge students to come up with 6 different emotions using just dots and lines.  This challenge helps keep the faces simple and helps students focus on just the expression. Sometimes students like to put a face on the inside bottom of their mugs so that when you drink, you get a surprise face at the bottom!   ; ) 

!!! B CR8IV!!!