Valentine's Day is Coming: A Galentine's Gift Guide

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and this year I'm excited to treat all of my girlfriends with a special little gift - handmade marbleized clay dishes. These simple yet elegant pieces can add a touch of personality to any dresser or vanity, and they make great gifts for anyone on your list.

To Make Your Own Marbleized Clay Dishes

The first step in making your own marbleized clay dishes is to gather all of the necessary materials. You'll need a self-healing cutting mat, one large block of oven-baked white clay, sorted colors of oven-baked clay, a cereal bowl, small knife, oven-safe ramp, and a small paintbrush with gilding paint. Before you start, make sure to cover your work surface with a piece of parchment or wax paper to prevent sticking.

Choosing the Right Colors

When it comes to choosing the right colors for your marbleized clay dishes, there's no one-size-fits-all answer. However, a good rule of thumb is to choose white as a neutral base color and then add two or three accent colors that you want to feature prominently in your design. This will help create a marbled effect that's both visually interesting and aesthetically pleasing.

Cutting the Clay

Once you've chosen your colors, it's time to cut them up into small pieces. Cut two good chunks of white clay, a medium chunk of silver gray, and a medium chunk of ballet pink - along with smaller chunks of red and neon pink for added visual interest. This will give you enough clay to create multiple designs without having too much of any one color.

Rolling Out the Clay

Now it's time to roll out your clay into thin snakes. To do this, simply take each chunk of clay and start rolling it out between two pieces of parchment paper or a lightly floured surface. Make sure to keep the clay soft and pliable by working quickly and not applying too much pressure.

Creating the Marbleized Effect

To create the marbleized effect in your dish, gather all of the rolled-out clay snakes together and twist them into a big candy cane shape. Then, roll this out into a long snake. This is where the magic happens - as you continue to roll the clay, you'll start to see the different colors blend together and create a beautiful marbled effect.

Adding Additional Colors

If you want to add even more visual interest to your design, now is the time to do it. Simply pick up each chunk of colored clay and sprinkle it onto the rolling pin or glass that you're using as a base. This will help distribute the colors evenly and create a unique marbled effect.

Shaping the Bowl

Once you've achieved the desired marbled effect, it's time to shape your bowl into its final form. Simply place a cereal bowl on top of the clay and use your small knife to trim away any excess clay from around the edges. You can also roll out additional pieces of clay and attach them to the sides of the bowl using a bit of clear glue.

Adding a Personal Touch

To give your marbleized clay dish an extra special touch, you can add some personal details such as glitter or rhinestones. Simply sprinkle these onto the surface of the clay before it sets, or use a small brush to apply a delicate design.

Baking and Finishing Touches

Once you've shaped your bowl into its final form, it's time to bake it in the oven. Place your dish on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and set the temperature to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Let the clay bake for 15 minutes before removing it from the oven.

Finishing the Edges

To add a bit of sparkle to your marbleized clay dish, you can use gilding paint to decorate the edges. Apply a small amount of paint to the edges using a brush, and then let it dry completely. Make sure to work in a well-ventilated area when using this type of paint, as it can be quite strong.

Displaying Your Handiwork

Finally, your marbleized clay dish is complete! Fill it with goodies such as office supplies, jewelry, or candies - the possibilities are endless. With its unique marbled design and personalized touch, this gift is sure to be a hit with anyone on your list. So don't wait - get started on making your own marbleized clay dishes today!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwell guys Valentine's Day is coming up and this year I'm going to treat all of my girlfriends with a little galentine's present I'm making these simple marbleized clay dishes that you can use to dress up a dresser or a vanity and I'm sure just about any lady in your life would love to have one here's what you'll need to make your own a self-healing cutting mat one large block of oven baked white clay a sorted colors of oven baked clay cereal bowl small knife oven safe ramp iin small paintbrush gilding paint enamel paint a drinking glass okay guys before we get started you want to cover your work surface with a piece of parchment or wax paper to prevent sticking and now we're going to cut our clay now I chose a very valentiny palette of shades of red and pink silver and some white But A good rule of thumb is pick white a neutral like our grayish silver and then two or three colors you want twice as as much white as your other colors because that's going to give you a really good marbled effect we'll cut two good chunks of white a medium chunk of the Silvery gray a medium chunk of our ballet pink and then smaller chunks of our accent colors which are red and neon pink now it's time to roll these out we're going to go back to grade school and roll these into nice long snakes you want to make sure to choose a soft oven baked clay so that you don't have to put too much muscle into it to get it rolled out you're going to want to make each snake about 6 to 8 in Long all right once we have all of our little snakes rolled out you're going to gather them all together and twist them into like a big candy cane and then we're going to roll this out into a long snake once you've got that rolled out onto a nice long snake you're going to fold it in half in the middle and twist it around on itself and roll it out again now if you do this four or five times you'll get big bands of color in your marbleized bowl if you do it more than that you'll get denser narrower bands of color good thing is they look great no matter what okay once your colors are looking good and marbly going to take it and W it up into a ball roll that to give it a good smooth surface and now kind of take a look and pick part of the ball that really has like a good representation of all of your colors and you're going to want to put that facing up because that's going to be the inside surface of your bowl so you want it to be the prettiest part now we're going to take a drinking glass or a jar or a rolling pen and roll this out to 1/4 in thickness now I like to use a clear glass for this so I can look through and see the pattern as it develops but a regular old rolling pin will work just fine okay so once you have it rolled out nice and thin you're going to want to take a cereal bowl lay it on top and then use your small knife to trim away the excess now your excess clay you can toss or you can roll into a bead poke a hole and bake it alongside your bowl carefully lift up your piece of clay from the paper and drape across the bottom of your oven safe ramkin making sure that you kind of line it up in the middle now you can kind of play with the edges to flute them you know in kind of a loose organic way you know we don't want anything too perfect and now this is all ready to go on a baking sheet into a 275° oven for 15 minutes so this has had a chance to cool and now we're going to finish by giving the edge a little Sparkle on some of these I painted them with a glossy black enamel but for this one I'm going gold make sure you're in a well ventilated area when you're using this gilding paint because it is pretty stinky and just brush it along the edge of your bowl all right so I'm I'm going to let that dry but these versatile little bowls can be filled with just about anything you want office supplies jewelry wrapped candies you name it I can't wait to fill them with goodies and give them to some of my favorite girls this Valentine's day I'll see you guys next timewell guys Valentine's Day is coming up and this year I'm going to treat all of my girlfriends with a little galentine's present I'm making these simple marbleized clay dishes that you can use to dress up a dresser or a vanity and I'm sure just about any lady in your life would love to have one here's what you'll need to make your own a self-healing cutting mat one large block of oven baked white clay a sorted colors of oven baked clay cereal bowl small knife oven safe ramp iin small paintbrush gilding paint enamel paint a drinking glass okay guys before we get started you want to cover your work surface with a piece of parchment or wax paper to prevent sticking and now we're going to cut our clay now I chose a very valentiny palette of shades of red and pink silver and some white But A good rule of thumb is pick white a neutral like our grayish silver and then two or three colors you want twice as as much white as your other colors because that's going to give you a really good marbled effect we'll cut two good chunks of white a medium chunk of the Silvery gray a medium chunk of our ballet pink and then smaller chunks of our accent colors which are red and neon pink now it's time to roll these out we're going to go back to grade school and roll these into nice long snakes you want to make sure to choose a soft oven baked clay so that you don't have to put too much muscle into it to get it rolled out you're going to want to make each snake about 6 to 8 in Long all right once we have all of our little snakes rolled out you're going to gather them all together and twist them into like a big candy cane and then we're going to roll this out into a long snake once you've got that rolled out onto a nice long snake you're going to fold it in half in the middle and twist it around on itself and roll it out again now if you do this four or five times you'll get big bands of color in your marbleized bowl if you do it more than that you'll get denser narrower bands of color good thing is they look great no matter what okay once your colors are looking good and marbly going to take it and W it up into a ball roll that to give it a good smooth surface and now kind of take a look and pick part of the ball that really has like a good representation of all of your colors and you're going to want to put that facing up because that's going to be the inside surface of your bowl so you want it to be the prettiest part now we're going to take a drinking glass or a jar or a rolling pen and roll this out to 1/4 in thickness now I like to use a clear glass for this so I can look through and see the pattern as it develops but a regular old rolling pin will work just fine okay so once you have it rolled out nice and thin you're going to want to take a cereal bowl lay it on top and then use your small knife to trim away the excess now your excess clay you can toss or you can roll into a bead poke a hole and bake it alongside your bowl carefully lift up your piece of clay from the paper and drape across the bottom of your oven safe ramkin making sure that you kind of line it up in the middle now you can kind of play with the edges to flute them you know in kind of a loose organic way you know we don't want anything too perfect and now this is all ready to go on a baking sheet into a 275° oven for 15 minutes so this has had a chance to cool and now we're going to finish by giving the edge a little Sparkle on some of these I painted them with a glossy black enamel but for this one I'm going gold make sure you're in a well ventilated area when you're using this gilding paint because it is pretty stinky and just brush it along the edge of your bowl all right so I'm I'm going to let that dry but these versatile little bowls can be filled with just about anything you want office supplies jewelry wrapped candies you name it I can't wait to fill them with goodies and give them to some of my favorite girls this Valentine's day I'll see you guys next time\n"