Category: General Crafts

Difficulty level: Beginner
Time required: 30 minutes, including baking time
Age range: 8 and up with supervision for oven

Things you’ll need:
Two colors of clay (main color and contrasting color)
Clay tools or scissors
Oven and baking sheet
Earring post and clutch set
E6000 glue

Things to do:

1. Pinch off a small amount of the contrasting color of clay. This will be the color that marbles. Here, we used pink. Roll the clay around in your hands to soften it.
   
2. Roll the contrasting clay out into a long skinny tube using the palms of your hands.
   
3. Using scissors or a clay tool, break the contrasting clay off into small pieces. Set those aside for now.
   
4. Pinch off a small amount of the main background color of clay. Here, we used pearl. Roll the clay around to soften it.
   
5. Roll the main color of clay out into a tube, making this tube a bit thicker than the tube in step 2 with the contrasting color.
   
6. Place the bits of contrasting clay on the main color’s tube, making sure you place the contrasting pieces around the entire tube.
   
7. Roll the tube gently using the palms of your hands to flatten out the contrasting pieces of clay.
   
8. Form a ball with the clay, working it until you’re happy with the marbled effect. Try not to overwork the clay; this can blend the colors together to create a new color rather than the contrasting two-color marbling.
   
9. Divide the ball of clay into two equal parts. Roll each equal part into a ball, trying to make the two balls an even size. If one ball looks larger than the other, remove some of the clay and roll it again.
   
10. When you are happy with the size, gently press your thumb down on each ball of clay to flatten it into a disc.
    
11. Place the discs on a baking sheet. Bake them at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool.
    
12. Place a small amount of E6000 glue on each earring post, then center the discs over the posts. Allow the earrings to dry for at least 24 hours before wearing them.
    

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Time required: 1 – 1.5 hours
Age range: 12 and up

Things you’ll need:
10″ wire wreath frame
Super bulky yarns
Scissors
Needlepoint needle (optional)

Things to do:

1. Cut a 2-yard length of yarn.
   
2. If you’re using a needle for your weaving, thread the yarn through. Alternatively, you can also just use your fingers to weave.
   
3. Weave the yarn over the outside wire, under the next wire, and over the third wire. Pull the length of yarn through until you have a 6-8″ tail.
   
4. Making sure the tail is still in place, weave the yarn under the final innermost wire.
   
5. Now you will weave in the opposite direction. Weave the yarn over the first wire, under the next wire, over the next-to-last wire, and under the final wire.
   
6. Pull the yarn through so that’s snug against the innermost wire.
   
7. Continue to weave back and forth, alternating over-under each time you change directions.
   
8. When you reach the end of the 2-yard length, leave 4-6″ of yarn to weave in.
   
9. Flip the wreath over to the wrong side, then weave in the yarn tails on the back of the wreath for an inch or so. You can use your fingers, or use the needle to weave the tails through the center of the yarn strands.
   
10. Trim the tails.
    
11. Repeat steps 1-10 with the second color of yarn. As you weave, push the weaving close together so that there are no gaps.
    
12. Continue weaving, alternating colors as you weave, until the entire wreath form is covered.
    
13. Cut an 8-10″ length of yarn, then knot it around the wreath form to use as a wreath hanger.