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Clever Clay Keyrings
Clever Clay Keyrings

DIY PROJECT: Clever Clay Keyrings
Tutorial by: Este de Jager

You will need:

  • A photograph (of around 6 cm in height and 5 cm in width)
  • Clever clay
  • 1 A4 sheet of acetate
  • Thin double-sided tape
  • 1 Chenille Stem
  • 1 Keyrong chain
  • Scissors
  • Craft Knife
  • Plastic / non stick surface area to work on

Place your photograph on the acetate and leave a half cm border. Once you are happy with your border and image placement / measurements, stick double sided tape across the entire area.

Once you have stuck the tape down on the acetate and trimmed it to size, remove the protective paper from the other side of the tape. Stick your image down, leaving the half cm border exposed.

Cut to size and place another piece of acetate down over the image and exposed tape border. This will stick your two pieces of acetate together, and leave you with an acetate border.

Cut to size and place another piece of acetate down over the image and exposed tape border. This will stick your two pieces of acetate together, and leave you with an acetate border.

Thread one end of the chenille stem through the bottom most ring/link of the keyring chain and twist the chenille stem closed as shown.

Work on a non stick surface like a plastic table cloth / sheet.

Take two lumps of clever clay and roll them into sausage shapes. Cross the two sausages over one another and gently start to twist them together into a rope.

Continue to twist and or even marble until the desired effect has been achieved.

Divide your marbled clay into two pieces where one is 1/3 in size and the other 2/3 in size of the lump you began with.

The smaller of the two will be used for the back of the frame, while the bigger piece will be used for the decorative part of the frame.

Flatten the smaller piece to measure just a bit larger than your acetate covered image.

Roll the larger piece into a long string / worm shape and fold it over gently to enable you to twist it into a rope shape.

Place your image on the flattened piece of clay you created in step 8, ensuring the clay covers the back of the image entirely. Gently fold and press down the clay around the edges of the front of the image to form a base for your decorative frame.

Gently place your rope around the border of the photograph, sticking it to the folded base you created in the last step.

Next you can add small decorative accents to your frame. This example uses clever clay to create a small shell and seaweed for an ocean theme. You could also glue sequins, buttons or other little accessories onto the frame.

Creating a shell and seaweed for the frame:

Mix / use your desired colour. Here we mixed a small piece of red with a larger piece of yellow clay to create a nice orange.

Roll the clay into a carrot shape and twist / spiral it on itself to create the shell shape.

Next mix your own or use the green clever clay to create three (or more) carrot shapes for your seaweed.

Decorate your frame as you like and leave to dry for at least 8 hours. It is important to wait until it is absolutely dry so that you do not stretch or break it when you remove it from your non - stick plastic surface.

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