Sculpey Air-Dry™ Stamped Ornament

Getting Started:
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.

Cut off a 1” thick slice from the end of the Air DryTM clay. Seal the remainder of the bar in either clear kitchen wrap or an air tight plastic bag to save for future projects. Whatever extra clay you have from this project can be saved in the wrap or bag as well.

Roll the clay out with the roller to about 1/4” thick. I made my clay fairly thick because I wanted it to be comparable to the thickness of my pom poms. Cut out one circle for each ornament that you want to produce. If you have any issues with wrinkles or seams in the clay, you can smooth these with water on your fingertips.

Poke a hole through the top edge of each circle shape. Make sure the hole is large enough to accommodate the ribbon. Smooth the cut edges of the circles with your fingertips so they are neat.

Make sure the cut out circle(s) lay completely flat so that they dry nicely. Place the side that you would like to stamp after drying, facing up.

Allow the circle(s) to dry completely before stamping them. The drying time may take up to 24 hours.

Lay your stamp with the impression side facing up.

Ink the stamp by blotting the ink pad over the top of the design.

Quickly check to see that the entire design is inked.

Press the inked design flatly and evenly onto the surface of the dried circles. You will have to stamp fairly quickly if you are using permanent alcohol ink because it dries so fast. Re-ink the stamp before each impression if you are making more than one ornament.

Use markers to color in the designs as you like. You can use a fine line permanent marker to help fill in any inconsistencies from the stamp.

Use hot glue in a glue gun to attach the pom poms around the outside edge of the ornament. When the glue is completely cool, thread the ribbon through the hole, tie a knot, and trim with scissors.