Envirotex Jewelry Clay is very versatile and has a long open time which makes it lovely to work with. I thought it would be a very easy way to add pizazz to my upcycled spoon hooks.
I am still setting up my new craft room and studio and discovered that I didn't have handy hooks for my aprons. What should I buy? Screw-in hooks or adhesive hooks or.....did I say BUY? Do you know how much hooks can cost?
No, no, no! I went to my most favorite thrift store in the world ( in St. Catharines, Ontario) and grabbed some silver souvenir spoons - 10 for $1, and set out to make the prettiest hooks in the room.
Materials:
Tools: craft mat, 2 brushes, wet wipes
Directions:
1. Clean and dry your spoons and lay them out in front of you on a craft mat *Good to Know* - if you are putting clay on the handle, remember to account for the bending of the spoon and how much of the spoon will actually be visible once it has been bent.
2. Mix together equal parts of A + B jewelry clay; blend the two until they have a nice, uniform color (albeit an icky gray). Remember to close your jars once you have taken out all the compound you will need. The amount of clay you use will depend on the size of the spoon, how much surface area you want to cover and how rounded you want it to be. I used about 1" round of each A+B for my project and I may have had some left over.
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| I used ColorBox stamp 'Picnic' for this spoon |
3. To stamp on the clay, I first sprayed my stamp with sealer, and then pressed into the clay. This works great with no bits of clay getting stuck in the stamp!
4. Once you are satisfied with the smoothness of your surface you may begin to place your gems and found objects. Do not press too hard or you will smush the surface and possibly cause clay to develop a 'muffin top'! *Good to Know*- to achieve the lovely rounded sides of clay, I gently rolled a pencil down and along the curve, stopping just below the line where the clay meets the spoon.
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| Brushing on leaf Iridescents |
5. Once you have finished placing your gems, grab some Iridescents on the tip of the bristles of your brush and gently brush the powder onto the clay, sweeping back and forth. Then take a dry brush and remove the excess powder.
6. Take a wet wipe and squeeze out excess water. Wrap the wipe around the tip of your index finger and gently rub over all your gems to remove unwanted clay or powder. Examine the rest of your spoon and do the same. Dry all wet surfaces ( this does not include the clay).
Let the clay dry.
7. Bend your spoon to form a hook
8. Use Velcro to adhere your hook to a wall or shelf.
TIP for PLACING GEMS: If you don't have one of the special pencils that has a sticky 'lead' tip, just place a tiny ball of mixed clay around the tip of a toothpick. You can pick up and place the tiniest of gems this way; gently touch the gem, pick it up and place it exactly where you want to! You're welcome!
Labels: Ann Butler, Clearsnap, EnviroTex Jewelry Clay, Iridescent Powders, Roberta Birnbaum, up-cycling
