a simple handmade gift from the kids

All throughout December my resident elves will be crafting items to give to their families. We kicked off our crafting season with this simple project. The end result can be modified for a number of uses. We are planning on making magnets with ours. All you will need are small cookie cutters, a rolling pin, some acrylic sealer and some sculpy clay. Depending on what you make with them you'll need other supplies. I have my hot glue gun and magnets for the backs for our magnet project. You can make them into pins, ornaments, pendants...the possibilities are endless.

I start off by breaking small bits of the sculpy clay and kneading them until they are very soft. And when I say small bits, I mean really small bits. We went for lots of colors but you could pick and choose colors to suit your recipient or holiday.

The children can then take the soft bits of clay and mash them together in any way they like. Let them mix, knead and smash the pieces together for as long as they like.

Once the pieces are mixed to their satisfaction hand out the rolling pins and show the kids how to roll over the clay to smooth it all out. I have them roll it out to about a 1/4" thickness.

Now it's time for the cookie cutters. I used a very small heart cookie cutter but you can use whatever size and shape your heart desires. We managed to cut out three small hearts from our little blob of clay and after rerolling it got another bigger heart.

They are now ready to be cooked. They should cook in a 275 degree oven for about 12-14 minutes but I start checking them about 10 minutes in. I also line our cookie sheet with aluminum foil. No need for vegetable spray or anything. I line it because I don't like to mix something I use for food stuff with non edibles. They will continue to harden up as they cool.

Once cooled down I paint them with a layer of acrylic sealer. It really shines them up and makes them look so glossy. Once the sealer is dry I hot glue the magnet to the back and they're finished.