It’s that time of year to start your Christmas crafting again! I love a rainy afternoon craft and these air dry clay Delft festive stars are a fun, quick project that you can get the whole family involved in.
I love this Delft style pattern on the napkin I’m using. But you can choose any napkin to fit in with your festive theme. Bold colours, stripes of even a tartan pattern for a low cost Ralph Lauren Christmas look that has been trending everywhere this year.
All the links to the materials I’ve used to make these air dry clay Delft festive stars are below. I always like to use DAS air dry clay because there’s less shrinkage that other clay I’ve used, which is especially helpful with this project to stop the napkin from wrinkling or peeling off the clay as it dries. I’ve also added some extra tips at the end of this post to help secure the napkin.
You can watch the quick video on Instagram with full instructions below.
You’ll need:
- Air dry clay
- Napkin
- Star cutter set
- Resin
- Cocktail stick
- UV lamp
Air Dry Clay Delft Festive Star Instructions:
- Roll out your clay until it is around 5mm thick making sure the surface is smooth and has no cracks. I’ve used quite a small amount of clay here as I only have a small board to work on. Depending on your work space and how many stars you want to make you can use more or less clay.
- Peel the patterned section of the napkin from any other layers and place over the rolled out clay. Gently press down with your fingers and use the roller to press the napkin firmly into the clay to secure.
- Press the cutter into the surface of the clay using strong pressure to cleanly cut through both the clay and the napkin. With a cocktail stick make a small hole in the top of the star.
- Clean up the edges with a craft knife and leave to dry. This will usually take around 12-24 hours.
- Cover each star in resin gently spread across the surface with a cocktail stick, bursting any bubbles. Make sure the hole in the clay star is not covered in resin before curing. Place the stars under the UV lamp for 60 seconds. You can use sunlight to cure the resin but this will take roughly a day depending on the weather.
If you don’t want to use resin you can Mod Podge or PVA glue to protect the surface of the star and add a slight sheen. This won’t create the glossy effect of resin but is still a great option, especially if you’re crafting with kids!
If for any reason your napkins are peeling as your clay dried you can secure them down to the wet clay using nail polish remover with acetone. I’m not sure why this works, or if it’s meant to transfer the image rather than secure the napkin. But in the past I’ve gently dabbed the nail polish remover with a cotton pad and it has worked to hold the napkin in place.
If you do make these please do tag me online @fallfordiy on social platforms. I’d love to see them!
