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Nearly every home with kids in it will have some version of modelling clay, commonly known as play dough or Play Doh. But before it became such a popular kids’ plaything, play dough was actually used to clean wallpaper! Apparently, only off-white was the color initially available when it started out in the thirties, but the range extended to include red, blue and yellow when it was marketed as a toy nearly twenty years later. Yes, it’s been that long!

With September 16 being Play Dough Day, it’s only fitting that we celebrate this universal kiddie favorite with a craft. Today’s craft is not based on play dough, but on porcelain clay, but we assure you you’ll have just as much fun as with play dough!

DIY Clay Sheep Photo Holder

Materials Required:

• Cold Porcelain clay – See our Clay Penguin craft  post for the recipe.
• White and Black Acrylic paints
•  Brush
• Clay modeling tools
• Plastic sheet or non-stick mat
• Wire and wire twisters
• Vaseline or Petroleum Jelly to grease your palms.

Instructions to Make the DIY Clay Sheep Photo Holder:

1. The porcelain clay is translucent when dry, so we need to use white paint. Take a golf-ball sized lump of clay and mix in a few drops of white acrylic paint. Knead will till the entire clay is uniformly white, without any translucent parts.

2. Roll the white clay into a perfect sphere. Set it aside on a plastic sheet or your work mat. This sphere is the base of the sheep’s body.

3. Take another lump of clay and repeat the process of adding white paint and kneading. Take small pieces of this clay and roll into tiny balls. This will serve as the sheep’s wool. Make enough balls to cover the sheep’s body.

4. Take another lump of clay and add some black paint to it. Knead well to get a uniformly black piece of clay.

5. Take a piece of this clay and shape the sheep’s head out of it. Take three tiny pieces of black clay and fashion the sheep’s ears and nose. Make two small circles of white clay for the eyes. Place two smaller black circles on them for pupils. Use modelling tools to draw a smile!

6. Once the body and head are ready, it’s time for the legs. Out of the black clay, roll out four cylinders and fix them to the base of the sheep’s body for legs. Make sure the bottoms of the cylinders are flat so that the sheep will be stable when standing. You can increase the stability by adding a black base under the feet.

7. Your sheep are ready! You can leave them as they are if you like or proceed to make the photo holders. Add a wire holder through the middle of the sheep’s body. Take a long strip of wire and twist it into a coil using some wire pliers.

8. Leave the sheep undisturbed for at least 3 days in a cool dry place, away from humidity & direct sunlight, so that they firm up nice and strong.

How cute are these sheep? They’ll make perfect stocking stuffers or back-to-school gifts for kids. They’re also a great idea for return gifts for a farm-themed birthday party. Go ahead and make more for your own little farm ground!