Jewelry/WearableKids Crafts

A Collaboration with My Two-Year-Old: Air Dry Clay Necklace

My two-year-old loves to come up to my attic studio and make art.  We paint, we draw, we smooth fabric, we spray water, and most recently: we play with air dry clay.  We made some clay beads together — which mostly means that I rolled balls of clay and he smashed them.  But after he went to bed, I fixed up some of the salvageable beads and set them aside to dry.

RawBeads-wm
Once the beads had dried, I painted them — using the same technique I share in The Artful Holiday class to make these fabulous clay ring/jewelry dishes:

Golddish-wm
Golddish-wm
Golddish-wm
As a side note, if you're on the fence about The Artful Holiday class, "because you're just not a project person," I want to emphasize how many techniques are being taught in the class.  Technique that you can take and use in whatever way you want — like this surface painting method.  Every project in class uses multiple techniques which we hope you take and repurpose.  In fact, every Wednesday in class, I demonstrate how I'm repurposing some of those techniques!  Okay, side note over.

Once I painted the beads, it was time to string them together. 

Necklace-wm
Necklace-wm
As you can see, I mixed the clay beads with a lot of pewter findings — including bead caps for each of the beads. 

Detail2-wm
Detail2-wm
I think the bead caps really elevate these humble clay beads and make them look quite fancy.

Detail3-wm
The earrings I'm wearing are actually miniature versions of the dishes I shared above.

Earrings-wm
Earrings-wm
I'm having a lot of fun playing with air dry clay — just remember to seal it and it will last!

Thanks for stopping by!

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

Based outside of Boston, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer is a mixed-media artist who constructs vibrant compositions. Passionate about connecting with and inspiring other artists, she shares her expertise through in-person workshops, her online classroom www.balzerdesigns.com, and through monthly membership at www.MyArtPractice.com.

56 thoughts on “A Collaboration with My Two-Year-Old: Air Dry Clay Necklace

  • Really beautiful! Did your sweet boy appreciate what you’d done with his handiwork?

    Reply
  • Really beautiful! Did your sweet boy appreciate what you’d done with his handiwork?

    Reply
  • Really beautiful! Did your sweet boy appreciate what you’d done with his handiwork?

    Reply
  • Really beautiful! Did your sweet boy appreciate what you’d done with his handiwork?

    Reply
  • Really beautiful! Did your sweet boy appreciate what you’d done with his handiwork?

    Reply
  • Really beautiful! Did your sweet boy appreciate what you’d done with his handiwork?

    Reply
  • Really beautiful! Did your sweet boy appreciate what you’d done with his handiwork?

    Reply
  • Julie – I always admire your artwork. ADDED to that, I appreciate the time & energy you spend with your son. I took the time to spend with our son, Ben – reading, sketching together, making up books about him, & playing outside in the dirt with him. We were close. You’ll NEVER regret these times…AND he’ll thank you someday. Ben did.
    TFSharing!
    Nancy Sapp

    Reply
  • Julie – I always admire your artwork. ADDED to that, I appreciate the time & energy you spend with your son. I took the time to spend with our son, Ben – reading, sketching together, making up books about him, & playing outside in the dirt with him. We were close. You’ll NEVER regret these times…AND he’ll thank you someday. Ben did.
    TFSharing!
    Nancy Sapp

    Reply
  • Julie – I always admire your artwork. ADDED to that, I appreciate the time & energy you spend with your son. I took the time to spend with our son, Ben – reading, sketching together, making up books about him, & playing outside in the dirt with him. We were close. You’ll NEVER regret these times…AND he’ll thank you someday. Ben did.
    TFSharing!
    Nancy Sapp

    Reply
  • Julie – I always admire your artwork. ADDED to that, I appreciate the time & energy you spend with your son. I took the time to spend with our son, Ben – reading, sketching together, making up books about him, & playing outside in the dirt with him. We were close. You’ll NEVER regret these times…AND he’ll thank you someday. Ben did.
    TFSharing!
    Nancy Sapp

    Reply
  • Julie – I always admire your artwork. ADDED to that, I appreciate the time & energy you spend with your son. I took the time to spend with our son, Ben – reading, sketching together, making up books about him, & playing outside in the dirt with him. We were close. You’ll NEVER regret these times…AND he’ll thank you someday. Ben did.
    TFSharing!
    Nancy Sapp

    Reply
  • Julie – I always admire your artwork. ADDED to that, I appreciate the time & energy you spend with your son. I took the time to spend with our son, Ben – reading, sketching together, making up books about him, & playing outside in the dirt with him. We were close. You’ll NEVER regret these times…AND he’ll thank you someday. Ben did.
    TFSharing!
    Nancy Sapp

    Reply
  • Julie – I always admire your artwork. ADDED to that, I appreciate the time & energy you spend with your son. I took the time to spend with our son, Ben – reading, sketching together, making up books about him, & playing outside in the dirt with him. We were close. You’ll NEVER regret these times…AND he’ll thank you someday. Ben did.
    TFSharing!
    Nancy Sapp

    Reply
  • That is fabulous – what a fun way to create together!

    Reply
  • That is fabulous – what a fun way to create together!

    Reply
  • That is fabulous – what a fun way to create together!

    Reply
  • That is fabulous – what a fun way to create together!

    Reply
  • That is fabulous – what a fun way to create together!

    Reply
  • That is fabulous – what a fun way to create together!

    Reply
  • That is fabulous – what a fun way to create together!

    Reply
  • You never cease to amaze me! And now you have a gorgeous necklace that has your energy and your son’s combined (even if his is a bit “smashing” lol)
    He will grow up knowing he has a magic mommy!

    Reply
  • You never cease to amaze me! And now you have a gorgeous necklace that has your energy and your son’s combined (even if his is a bit “smashing” lol)
    He will grow up knowing he has a magic mommy!

    Reply
  • You never cease to amaze me! And now you have a gorgeous necklace that has your energy and your son’s combined (even if his is a bit “smashing” lol)
    He will grow up knowing he has a magic mommy!

    Reply
  • You never cease to amaze me! And now you have a gorgeous necklace that has your energy and your son’s combined (even if his is a bit “smashing” lol)
    He will grow up knowing he has a magic mommy!

    Reply
  • You never cease to amaze me! And now you have a gorgeous necklace that has your energy and your son’s combined (even if his is a bit “smashing” lol)
    He will grow up knowing he has a magic mommy!

    Reply
  • You never cease to amaze me! And now you have a gorgeous necklace that has your energy and your son’s combined (even if his is a bit “smashing” lol)
    He will grow up knowing he has a magic mommy!

    Reply
  • You never cease to amaze me! And now you have a gorgeous necklace that has your energy and your son’s combined (even if his is a bit “smashing” lol)
    He will grow up knowing he has a magic mommy!

    Reply
  • Gorgeous necklace and earings!!!!! You are truly an amazing creative artist! What a lucky little guy to have hands on abundance of creative play time.

    Reply
  • Gorgeous necklace and earings!!!!! You are truly an amazing creative artist! What a lucky little guy to have hands on abundance of creative play time.

    Reply
  • Gorgeous necklace and earings!!!!! You are truly an amazing creative artist! What a lucky little guy to have hands on abundance of creative play time.

    Reply
  • Gorgeous necklace and earings!!!!! You are truly an amazing creative artist! What a lucky little guy to have hands on abundance of creative play time.

    Reply
  • Gorgeous necklace and earings!!!!! You are truly an amazing creative artist! What a lucky little guy to have hands on abundance of creative play time.

    Reply
  • Gorgeous necklace and earings!!!!! You are truly an amazing creative artist! What a lucky little guy to have hands on abundance of creative play time.

    Reply
  • Gorgeous necklace and earings!!!!! You are truly an amazing creative artist! What a lucky little guy to have hands on abundance of creative play time.

    Reply
  • This is a collab I can get behind!

    Reply
  • This is a collab I can get behind!

    Reply
  • This is a collab I can get behind!

    Reply
  • This is a collab I can get behind!

    Reply
  • This is a collab I can get behind!

    Reply
  • This is a collab I can get behind!

    Reply
  • This is a collab I can get behind!

    Reply

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