Sculpey® III Extruded Vases

Do not use unbaked clay on unprotected furniture or finished surfaces. Start with clean hands and work surface area. Good work surfaces include wax paper, metal baking sheet, or disposable foil. Knead clay until soft and smooth. For best results, clean your hands in between colors. Shape clay, pressing pieces together firmly. Bake on oven-proof glass or metal surface at 275°F (130°C) for 30 minutes per ¼" (6 mm) thickness. For best baking results, use an oven thermometer. DO NOT USE MICROWAVE OVEN. DO NOT EXCEED THE ABOVE TEMPERATURE OR RECOMMENDED BAKING TIME. Wash hands after use. Baking should be completed by an adult. Begin by preheating oven to 275°F (130 °C). Test temperature with oven thermometer for perfectly cured clay. For best results, condition all clay by running it through the clay dedicated pasta machine several passes on the widest setting. Fold the clay in half after each pass and insert the fold side into the rollers first.

You will need to create 3 special blended colors for this project. The ratios for the colors are as follows: Purple Mix:2-Parts Beige1-Part Silver1-Part Gentle PlumBlue Mix:2-Parts Beige1-Part Pearl1-Part TranquilityFlesh Mix:4-Parts Pearl1-Part Tan1-Part Spring LilacTo Create the colors, use the Clay Conditioning Machine to blend the ratios above. Clean your Clay Conditioning Machine in between each color to avoid color transfer.

Determine which color you want to use on each of your vase. Select your first color and load as much as you can into the Clay Extruder. Use the 1/8” hole die and extrude a strand of your color as long as you can. Note: You will likely have to extrude several strands depending on how large your vase is. Once you have a long strand extruded, start wrapping it around the outside of the vase. Use a craft knife to trim one end of the strand at an angle. Gently press the trimmed end of the strand just under the bottom edge and press it down against the glass; doing this will help keep one end attached as you continue to wrap the strand around the vase. Once the first coil is around the bottom add a very thin line of Bake n’ Bond along the top of the that coil, and continue wrapping. Adding that thin layer of Bake n’ Bond will help keep those first couple of coils in place I

When you reach the end of a strand, trim the end of the strand you are working with at an angle and point it down towards the row underneath. Extrude another strand and trim one end at an angle. Position the trimmed end of your new strand against the angle end of the strand already on the vase. Very gently blend the seam with your finger tip. Note: If the seam doesn’t blend together too well or if you end up with a dent don’t worry; this can be covered up in a later step. Continue wrapping and adding strands as needed until the entire vase is covered. Bake for 15 minutes and let cool completely. Note: If you find that the closer you get to the top of the vase as you wrap it the harder it is to keep ahold of it you can bake it when you have wrapped halfway up and then continue until you are done wrapping and bake again.

Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for the remaining two colors and vases. Set the clay you have left from each vase to the side.

Roll a sheet of the “Blue Mix” of clay on a medium setting. Lightly mist the surface of the Leaf Vein pattern texture sheet with water and press the texture sheet into the clay. Use the Acrylic Roller to roll over the texture sheet to imprint a deeper pattern. Remove the texture sheet and gently pat the surface of the clay dry with a paper towel. Cut a 1-1/2” circle and peel away the excess clay. Lightly cover the surface of the textured circle with Pearl Ex powder. Keep doing this until you have all of the raised areas coated. When you rub the powder on use a circular motion so are “buffing” the powder onto the surface of the clay. Note: As noted above it is better to use water as the release in this step. If you use a powder as your release the surface of the clay will end up having a coating of that powder on it and the Pearl Ex powder will not stick as well when you try to highlight the raised areas.Repeat this step until you have several circles of the 3 colors of clay- textured, cut, and highlighted (See below for the patterns used).Purple Mix:Floral pattern texture sheet1-7/8” circle cutterWhite Pearl powderFlesh Mix:Dandelion pattern texture sheet1-3/16” circle cutterMisty Lavender powder

Pick up a circle and find a place to position it on the vase. Take a good look at your vase; a good place to start adding the circles is in areas where you have seams from connected ends of strands, dents, or finger nail marks that stand out. When you have placed a circle onto the vase use your finger to gently press the edge of the circle down to soften the edge; doing this will also help make better contact between the circle and the clay on the vase. Continue this process until you are happy with the way it looks. You may notice that after you have added the circles some of the powder has come off on your hands. If you like you can go back and rub a little more powder over the surface of the circles to touch them up.

Once you have the circles in place on all three vases bake them again for 15 minutes and let cool. If you would like to put a sealer over the powder to prevent it from rubbing off you can paint a very thin layer of the Satin Glaze on the circles and let it dry thoroughly.