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You’re quite likely to know a bookworm or have one in your family (if you aren’t one yourself)! And what do book worms love, besides books? Why, bookmarks of course! People who love their books can be pretty paranoid about keeping their treasured books in tact, and they consider dog-earing pages sacrilege! So it’s pretty safe to say that one gift they’re sure to love is a bookmark. And when it’s a handmade clay birdhouse bookmark like this one, they’ll love you for it too!

Handmade Clay Birdhouse Bookmark

Materials Required:

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• Homemade Air Dry Clay – Recipe here
• Clay tools (Optional)
• Paper twine
• Petroleum jelly
• Acrylic paints (white, blue ,red green )
• A plastic sheet
• Straw
• Thin painting brush

Directions:

Mix white color in clay and knead well. We’re going to need this clay to make red (for flowers), green (for leaves) and three shades of blue (for the bird and birdhouse), so split the clay accordingly.

The Birdhouse:

1. Divide the clay meant for the birdhouse into 3 parts. Create three different shades of blue by varying the amount of blue color you add to the white clay.

2. Use a roller to flatten out the clay of the lightest shade of blue. With the help of a cutter cut out the shape of a bird house.

3. Make a flat triangle from the medium shade of blue and place it on the light blue for the roof .

4. Take a small ball each of the white clay and the dark blue clay. Roll them into long thin strips and twist them together to get a dual toned ‘rope’. Fix this rope along the border of the birdhouse.

5. Make three small balls of white clay and put them on the birdhouse roof . Flatten the tops slightly and make a hole in the center of each ball with the help of a toothpick.

6. Take another piece of the dark blue clay and roll it into a thick rope. Make a door shape in the front of the house.

7. Make red clay by mixing in some red paint with the white clay. Add just enough red to make it pink if that’s the color you prefer. Make five small balls for petals and stick them in the shape of a flower. Make small grooves with a toothpick.

8. Similarly, make green clay with green paint. Make a few tear drop shapes for leaves and stick them on the house. With the help of a straw, make a hole in the center of the door. Add few more leaves at the base and the birdhouse is ready.

The Bird:

1. To make the bird take a small amount of light blue clay and make a tear drop shape for the bird’s body. Make two of these and place one end of a 12-inch twine between the layers and seal.  Make two small tear drop shapes from the dark blue clay for the wings. Stick each on either side of the bird body with glue. Add a beak with a small amount of red clay.

2. Pass the other end of the twine through the hole in the bird house and knot securely. Add an eye & white dots with oil markers.

This air dry clay takes about 3 – 5 days to dry completely, so give it it’s time! This is a craft that can be done with kids of all ages, though younger kids may need an adult’s help. This is especially if they intend to bake it in the oven to speed up drying time. Kids young and old love working with clay and even though I am all grown up, it is still one of my favorite mediums to work with!

These make lovely gifts for grandparents, teachers, girlfriends and bookworms. You can make the gift more special by inserting a handmade Clay Birdhouse Bookmark into a brand new copy of a book they are dying to read – two birds (pun intended) with one stone!