The Blue Barn: Homemade White Clay

We've been using this white clay recipe for a long time and have made many projects out of it, from Christmas tree ornaments and gift tags to a model of a land form for a 3rd grade school project. This past week we whipped up a batch on one of our snow days and decided we would make plaques to decorate. It is so quick and easy to make I thought I'd share the recipe and our latest wall hangings with you.

You will need:

Baking Soda

Corn Starch

Water

Step 1

Begin by adding 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup corn starch and one cup of water to a pan (I usually just buy the biggest cheapest box I can find of both items in the supermarket, it makes no difference). Place the pan over a medium heat and stir. It is important that you continue to stir all the ingredients.

Your mixture should go through the following stages:

1) Thick and hard to stir, feels like ooblec if you've ever made that

2) As it heats up it becomes very runny and all ingredients are combined

3) It is ready when it starts to come together again and resemble cottage cheese

Step 2

Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly and knead into a ball, if it is a little dry and crumbly at this point you can always add a small bit of extra water just be careful not to over do. Leave covered with a damp cloth if you are not ready yet to work with it.

Step 3

When you are ready roll out between 2 sheets of wax or freezer paper until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters or a knife. Alternatively you can work it by hand into the shape you require. Place clay on a cookie sheet in oven at 170F for about 2 hours or leave in warm place overnight to dry out. Once it is dry you can decorate it as you choose. Remember make any holes you need in clay before it dries out.

Step 4

Today the kids decided to decorate their clay shapes. Some made name plaques for our pets, E made a wall hanging. They painted them with acrylic paint and used stamps to write things before we hung them.