Tips and Tricks: Air Dry Clay

Recently on #CraftTok, the biggest craze has been air dry clay. Crafters have been using the medium to make photo holders, jewelry trays, and tic tac toe boards. I decided to try my hand at the medium for Valentine’s Day, and made my boyfriend a custom tic tac toe board as we are both very competitive and love to challenge each other in little games. Here’s some tips, tricks, and observations from my experience to help you!

Handmade tic tac toe board for Valentine's Day

First, A Few Definitions

Before getting into the instructions, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page with terminology. Luckily, there’s not much with air dry clay, just two main words. 

• Scoring: creating small scratch-like marks on the clay, used when wanting to combine two pieces of clay 

• Slip: a combination of water and clay to make a paste that will act as glue that is added onto the scored section to adhere the two pieces together

Now We’re Ready to Roll (the clay)

Now that we know the language, let’s get into basic instructions: 

1. Roll out your clay to your desired thickness, try not to go any thinner than a quarter inch

2. Make your desired shapes, you can either do it with a stencil or eyeball it 

3. Score (aka make scratches on the surface) where you want to adhere two pieces

4. Apply your slip onto the areas you scored

5. Connect the two pieces of clay 

6. Take a wet sponge or wet your fingers and smooth out the surface and round any edges

7. Set away to dry for at least 24 hours, but may be longer depending on the size of your project

8. Optionally, finish it off by painting and sealing it (I recommend just using Mod Podge)

My Tips and Tricks

From my experience, here are some tips and tricks I learned along the way to help save money and stress. 

First, be aware of what surface you are using. When I first worked with air dry clay, it dried to the wood table I left it on. Place your creations on something nonporous, like a  paper towel or plastic. I used an old Ziploc bag! What you are leaving to dry it on will make a huge difference to not harm the project once it’s dried, plus it’ll help contain the mess. If you do accidentally get clay on a surface, add some water to make it moldable again, then scrape off what you can. Repeat until your surface is restored. 

Second, if you watch a tutorial video on YouTube or TikTok, you’ll often see the creators using fancy tools, like this kit from Amazon. But, you don’t need to buy a new kit because a lot of things at home can be used as cheap alternatives. Tools to cut can just be a plastic knife leftover from your takeout, doesn’t need to be a special blade. You can also easily score the clay with that same knife (which I did), a toothpick, or your fingernail. Lastly, to roll out the clay, just use a regular rolling pin or anything cylindrical - I used a mini wooden baseball bat.

Begin the Journey

With all that shared, now it’s your turn to begin your air dry clay journey. Remember, it’s ok to not look perfect after your first try. If you look at the tic tac toe board I made, it is not a perfect circle, the lines aren’t even, and the surface isn’t perfectly flat. That doesn’t matter, though, because I had fun doing it and it was only my first attempt. It functions and my boyfriend loved the gift, so that is a win in my books! 

See if you can figure out some of my design choices based on my introduction blog and drop it in the comments. Or, comment with any questions or tips of your own to share with the Craft Collective community! Happy crafting!