Sculpey Air-Dry™ Terra Cottasaurus Dino Planter

Step 1

Surface: For the best results in sculpting and crafting with air dry clay, plan to work with a smooth, well-cleaned, non-porous surface.

Amount: Because the clay is made to air-dry, try to open only what you need at the time and leave the rest still wrapped or sealed and stored. Pinch or cut off the amount you need and take more out as you go, even for larger projects.

Working: Knead your clay before you begin shaping it for your creations. Our polymer clay is already soft and pliable, but warming the clay with your hands is a good practice to spread the substance, condition the material and get a feel for what you’re working with.

Shaping: You can use a combination of your hands, crafting tools and multimedia materials to shape your clay into the design you desire, create unique patterns and textures and incorporate mixed media elements. Remember: you can create anything you can imagine! Just make sure the finished product is exactly what you want before allowing it to dry.

Drying: Lay or stand your air dry clay projects on a nonporous surface with a clean and smooth finish in an area with low humidity. Let the projects remain untouched and undisturbed for about 24 hours to ensure complete hardening.

Step 2

The Dino planter will be worked in lots of various sections. Try to only remove what you need for each part from the package. Wrap extra clay tightly and store in an airtight container or baggie between sections.

You can apply water to the clay with fingertips if needed to help blend rough spots or joint pieces together.

Start by making a ball 1.75” in diameter. This will be formed into the planter part.

Step 3

Poke a deep hole in the middle of the ball and use the 12 mm Ball Tool to keep making the hole larger.

Step 4

Keep working until the planter area has nice tall thin sides.

Step 5

Poke a hole in the bottom of the planter for a drainage hole.

Step 6

Cut a little log of Terra Cotta into four equal sections 1/2” thick and 3/4” tall for the legs.

Step 7

Press the legs onto the bottom of the planter. You can use water to help “glue” the different parts of clay together if you find it helpful.

Step 8

Form a tail that is about 3” long and 1.5” wide in the shape of a triangle. It’s more important that the parts of your dinosaur are in proportion to each other than it is for you to follow my measurements. You will need to continually check to see if the parts go together well or not.

Step 9

Press the short side of the triangle tail onto the side of the planter. Allow the bulk of the tail to rest on the work surface. Once again, you can always use a fingertip of water rubbed between pieces to help the parts bond to each other if needed.

Step 10

Shape the tail as you like. I curled my dino’s tail around to the side to help add balance to the planter.

If at any time you need to work on one area more than another, you can protect previous parts from drying out by draping a baby wipe or even a lightweight wet cloth over parts to keep them from drying out too fast.

Step 11

Roll out a 3” circle of more clay that is at least 1/8” thick. This will be used to make the big neck fin.

Step 12

Use the 12 mm Ball Tool to push five creating scallops along the top edge of the fin.

Step 13

Drag the same ball tool from the scallops down to the center of the circle in radiating lines.

Step 14

Cut away excess clay from the bottom edge with the Clay Blade.

Step 15

Pinch the scallops into points with your fingertips.

Step 16

Form a cone for the head that is proportionate to your fin.

Step 17

Mount the head onto the bottom center of the fin as shown.

Step 18

Form a little neck and press it to the front of the planter.

Step 19

Push the fin and the head onto the neck. Put your fingers inside the planter while you are pushing the head and fin in place so that you can apply pressure from both sides helping the clays to connect together.

If your clay joint is too dry, you can apply some water to the joint area with your fingertips.

Step 20

Use the Pointed Rubber Tool to poke holes into the head for the horns. It may seem backwards to poke holes in when we want to make horns that point out… but doing so creates more surface area for the horns to mount to the head. Make little horns that are tapered on both ends. One end of the horn is going to be completely embedded so make sure that your horns are large enough to account for this.

Step 21

Push one end of the tapered horns into the holes.

Step 22

Keep pushing on the horns to help them fatten out where they touch the surface of the head.

Step 23

It’s time for all the fun details! This is my favorite part!

Step 24

I added very flat stripes of clay that drape over the tail.
I also added divots to the body and tail with the 12 mm Ball Tool.

Step 25

I used the 2 mm Ball Tool to add freckles to the face, cheeks, and forehead.
I used the 2 mm Ball Tool to impress really deep-set eyes.
I used the Flat Chisel Tool to make a kinda cute smile.

Step 26

Once again, I used the 12mm Ball Tool to make divots all over the planter.

It’s time for dino to dry.
You will have to let your dino dry for at least 24 hours before painting him. If there is any space between your dinosaur’s chin and the table top, you can support it with a folded towel or a little stack of note cards.
You can check for dino’s dryness level by carefully touching him to see if he’s cold.
If he is cold to the touch, let him keep resting for a while and then check again.

Step 27

To paint your Terra Cottasaurus, start by painting the horns warm white. The warm white will most likely need to be apply in at least two coats to cover the background color.

Step 28

Paint the details on the tail in Apple Coral.
Add dots to the divots by dipping the end of the paintbrush (non-painting end) into the paint.
You can make really neat dots by using the rounded handle end of the paintbrush instead of the bristles.

Step 29

Dry brush the cheeks and forehead to highlight the freckles.
Fill in the freckles with a fine permanent black marker.