Decorative Clay Trinket Box

Step-by-step instructions for making your own decorative trinket box.

All About

Product Ideas

Project by Michelle Ross.

Materials:

Kato Polyclay: beige flesh, white, yellow, brown
Y.I. Stamp, Ink! rubber stamp set #001 - discontinued
black & white laser copies
colored pencils
white glue
gel super glue
rubbing alcohol
cotton swabs
baby powder and brush
empty box from bar soap
decorative paper
burnt umber acrylic paint
water
paper towel
paint brush

Steps:

1. Make beige clay by mixing 1 part beige flesh, 1/16th part yellow, 1/16th part brown; then add an equal part of what to that mixture. The clay will be conditioned when the color is blended.

2. On a #3 (Atlas) pasta machine setting, roll a piece of clay slightly larger than your image to transfer.

Figure A

3. Color the image with colored pencils, burnish face down on the clay, and apply alcohol 2 or 3 times (figure A).

Figure B

4. Remove the paper (figure B) and bake the transfer for about 15 minutes at 275 F degrees.

Figure C

5. Cut the soap box to the height you want. Glue the decorative paper to the inside of the box and trim (figure C).

Figure D

6. Roll more clay on a #2 or #3 setting and cover the box sides and bottom (figure D).

Figure E

When covering the sides, wrap the clay slightly over the top to seal the edge (figure E).

7. Roll clay on a #2 setting, stamp the rubber image 4 or 5 times in clay and trim.

Figure F

8. Apply the image transfer to the front of the box and arrange the stamped images around it (figure F).

9. To make the lid, put a #1 and a #3 thickness of clay together, trim to size, and stamp the image.

Figure G

10. Make a ball of clay for a knob, shape and attach (figure G).

11. Powder the inside of the lid and press on the box. Bake as above.

Figure H

12. Shape four small balls of clay to fit inside the lid and bake again (figure H).

Figure I

13. Finish the box using burnt umber acrylic paint to antique it (figure I). If you think the antique coating is too strong, use sandpaper to remove some of the dried paint.

Resources

Products
- Kato Polyclay and clay tools from Prairie Craft Company/ KatoPolyclay
Guests
- Michelle Ross
  Artist
  Jewelry and decorative functional polymer clay art.
  We apologize no contact information is available.