Tutorial Tuesday - Thumbprint Clay Star / Heart Key Ring

Afternoon, how are you all? All fab here - just come back from a long weekend away with hub and the kids, we took them to that good old British Institution - the Holiday Camp (Butlins). We had a super time, it was a total surprise for the kids as we hadn't told them we were going - I have some great shots of the utter joy on the older 2's faces as we drove through the gates!

We watched a few stage shows, (some twice!!!), including Thomas the Tank for middle boy, a Dance Class with Angelina Ballerina for my Daughter and oldest boy had a go at climbing a huuuuge wall and paintball target shooting with Dad. More happy memories for my jar :)

Oh and hub and I had a lovely meal for his birthday, thanks for all the lovely comments! It was nice to get dressed up and pretend to be a grown up for a few hours ;)

Right on to Tutorial Tuesday - I have a lovely one today, inspired by THIS PIN, perfect for Valentines Day or just because - a Thumbprint Clay Star or Heart Key Ring...

You Will Need:

Clay (I used Fimo Oven Bake in Silver),

Small Shaped Cutters (I used a Star and a Heart) -remember that once you have used them for clay don't use them for food - keep them for crafting use only,

Glass bottle (for rolling clay),

A Pin (For making a hole),

3 Jump rings,

Pliers,

5cms of chain,

Key Ring,

Gems (if desired),

Thumbprints of the ones you love ;)

I did try using clay made from flour and water but I couldn't get the consistency right, let me know if it works for you if you try that option!

Step 1:

Take your clay and break off a small piece, start working in in you fingers to make it pliable...

...Flatten it out and roll with a glass bottle or craft rolling pin...

(Mine was about half a cm thick)

Step 2:

Ask your subjects to press their thumbs into the clay (as I wanted to put the 4 kids onto one keyring I used a star cutter so I could have a thumbprint on 4 of the points and use the fifth point as the top.) Make sure the thumbprints are quite close together...

(aaah look how tiny little guys is!)

Step 3:

Place your chosen cutter over the top of the clay, making sure you have a nice portion of each thumbprint...

Step 4:

Take a pin or anything pointy and make a hole through the top of your shape, wiggle a little to make a hole big enough to pass a jump ring through...

...bake according to pack instructions (or leave to air dry if you have that type)...

Step 5:

After baked leave to cool, then glue on gems if desired (I used 3 blue in different sizes and 1 pink to relate to 3 sons and 1 daughter)...

...put a jump ring through the hole. (Now I got a little heavy handed here and the tip of my point broke off - aaargh! So please excuse the look of it as I had to glue it back on oops!)

Step 6:

Take your 5cms of chain and put a jump ring on either end...

...attach one of the jump rings to the one on the clay shape...

Step 7:

Thread the keyring circle through the other jump ring...

...then attach to your key...

...Looks fab with my Cath Kidston starry keyring (a pressie from my 2011 advent swap with Deb @ Bee Happy)

I also made a heart shaped keyring using mine and hubs' thumbprints - awww...

...you can also etch the date into the back before baking :)

Voilà a lovely way to preserve your loved ones thumbprints and keep them with you whilst you are out and about! Forgive me for being sentimental, I am just trying to appreciate what I am lucky to have.

Just noticed that one of the blue gems has dropped off in the last pic - oh well, better re-glue it! It is probably a good idea to coat over them with clear varnish just to make sure they don't pop off!

And if you want to add some definition to the thumbprints, rub over them with a bit of black ink on a cotton bud.

Have a fabby rest of the day and enjoy your pancakes!

Happy Pancake Day!

Back soon,

xx