Textured Box

These sweet and simple boxes are a great way to introduce texture to young artists.  I love using the textured rubbing plates from Dick Blick Art Supplies for this project.

Start by rolling out a flat piece of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick (or about as thick as a pancake), then make sure that the surface is smooth.  Next choose your textured rubbing plate and lay it on top starting at one end of your clay.  Using a rolling pin, roll over the texture plate pushing down evenly as you go.  You can peel up one corner to check if you have pushed hard enough, if not roll some more, if it looks good peel up the rubbing plate.  If your clay is larger than your rubbing plate, you'll need to lay the rubbing plate down again in the blank clay area and roll in the texture again until the entire piece of clay is covered with your texture.

Next have your students cut out one square of clay (you can give paper templates for this if you think they need them).  Once they have one square cut out, have them lay it down on top of their clay in a new area and trace the first square so that the second one is exactly the same size.  Continue doing this until each student has 6 squares. If you run out of room on your clay to continue cutting out squares, squish all the small scrap pieces together, roll it out flat again and put the texture in again.  Now its time to assemble the box.

Pick one square that will be the lid and put it to the side.  Pick the square that will be the bottom and use a scratching tool to scratch all the edges, then scratch 3 sides of the remaining 4 squares.  Now that everything is scratched,  pick the first wall and attach it to the bottom of the box- it may be a little wobbly at first.  Next, attach the second wall to the bottom square and then squeeze the corners together being careful to not smooth out your textures.  Continue until all the walls are up.  Using your extra clay, create a knob for the lid and scratch-to-attach it on top.  You can also cut out a smaller square and attach it to the bottom of your lid so that it won't slid off the box.  These boxes make great gifts and are ready to hold special treasures!

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Mad Hatter Tea Cups

Inspired by Alice in Wonderland's the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, these cups are also a lesson in texture.  Students needed to create 3 different textures one for each of their cups, they could push texture in, add texture on or a combination of both.  I give lots of examples of texture before we start building.  


To make the cups, 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 these smaller cups, I cut out an arced rectangle that is about 8" long on the high side and 6" long on the bottom side x 2" tall.  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 cup.  Once it's cut out, go ahead and scratch-to-attach it on, I find it's easier to do this when the cup 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 tea will leak out!!  This creates a basic cup shape which could be used for a variety of projects but since we're making tea cups, the next step is to add a handle.  

Using the extra clay that you have, roll out a coil of clay that is about as thick as a pencil.  Fold the top of the coil 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 cup.  Press the handle on using your fingers on the inside and outside of your cup making sure it's secure. (Don't pick it up by the handle until its fired!!)   

Your cup is complete and you're ready to decorate with textures.  You can use the extra pieces of clay to create strips or polka dots to add on (remember to scratch-to-attach!) or you can use tools to push in the texture. Be sure to cover the entire surface of your cups.  

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Pouring Vessel

I love to teach my students about the functionality of the things that they make and how a seemingly simple object can also have complex design needs. For this project, we discuss the anatomy of pouring vessel; the body, handle, throat, rim, foot & spout and how each of these parts needs to be assembled well for the vessel to actually pour.  To ensure success for my students, I provide them with two paper templates to make their vessels, one for the body and one for the spout.

Start by rolling out a slab of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick and large enough to accommodate a rectangular paper template that is about 4" x 10" ( you can always make yours smaller or larger as desired!).  Cut out the rectangle and form it into a cylinder, scratch-to-attach the edges together and smooth the seam.  Then place the cylinder on top of a slab of clay and trace around it to create the right size circle for the bottom then scratch-to-attach it on well.  Now using a paper template for the spout, which is basically a triangle with  the bottom side rounded outward, cut out the spout, curve it and scratch-to-attach it onto the side of the cylinder. Then cut away the part of the cylinder where the spout is attached and smooth out the throat of the spout so that it is continuous and the liquid won't hit any bumps on its way out.  Make sure to keep the lip of the spout  straight edged on the end or your liquids will drip down the sides when you pour.  Next cut out a long and thin rectangle that you'll use for the handle, it will need to be about an inch and a half wide by about 8 inches long (if its too long, you can always trim it).  Bend the rectangle into a half heart shape and scratch-to-attach it on opposite the spout.  Now you can decorate your slab built pouring vessel however you like, let it dry and bisque fire it.  Be sure to glaze the entire surface to keep it sealed for liquids, fire it and then see if its functional!

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Textured Box

These sweet and simple boxes are a great way to introduce texture to young artists.  I love using the textured rubbing plates from Dick Blick Art Supplies for this project. 

Start by rolling out a flat piece of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick (or about as thick as a pancake), then make sure that the surface is smooth.  Next choose your textured rubbing plate and lay it on top starting at one end of your clay.  Using a rolling pin, roll over the texture plate pushing down evenly as you go.  You can peel up one corner to check if you have pushed hard enough, if not roll some more, if it looks good peel up the rubbing plate.  If your clay is larger than your rubbing plate, you'll need to lay the rubbing plate down again in the blank clay area and roll in the texture again until the entire piece of clay is covered with your texture. 

Next have your students cut out one square of clay (you can give paper templates for this if you think they need them).  Once they have one square cut out, have them lay it down on top of their clay in a new area and trace the first square so that the second one is exactly the same size.  Continue doing this until each student has 6 squares. If you run out of room on your clay to continue cutting out squares, squish all the small scrap pieces together, roll it out flat again and put the texture in again.  Now its time to assemble the box. 

Pick one square that will be the lid and put it to the side.  Pick the square that will be the bottom and use a scratching tool to scratch all the edges, then scratch 3 sides of the remaining 4 squares.  Now that everything is scratched,  pick the first wall and attach it to the bottom of the box- it may be a little wobbly at first.  Next, attach the second wall to the bottom square and then squeeze the corners together being careful to not smooth out your textures.  Continue until all the walls are up.  Using your extra clay, create a knob for the lid and scratch-to-attach it on top.  You can also cut out a smaller square and attach it to the bottom of your lid so that it won't slid off the box.  These boxes make great gifts and are ready to hold special treasures!

!!!B CR8IV!!!

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!!!