...I stood by as my 2 year old made paper clay Valentines!

...Ok, so I did more than just stand by, but she did a lot of it on her own, and I am so proud of her! I wasn't sure if paper clay was something I'd made up or if it was something that actually existed. Turns out, there are actually many different recipes for it! I'm not the inventive genius I thought I was, but I did have to come up with my own recipe because all the others I was finding involved joint compound (1. I don't have that in the house, and 2. I don't want my 2 year old playing with it). I'm really excited about this one, so, without further adieu, here's the tutorial!

 

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Supplies:

• 4 pages of newspaper
• 4 cups of water
• 4oz tube of Elmer's school glue
• Large mixing bowl
• Large sauce pot
• A fork (maybe two, my daughter hijacked mine so I had one of my own, too)
• Blender (I have a tiny one-serving blender, and it worked just fine)
• Cookie mould (see photos of the one I used, otherwise I'm sure you could just form this into the shape you want on a regular cookie sheet since it dries in stead of melts)
• *optional* acrylic paint if you'd like to tint the pulp (I used red for our Valentines)

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Steps:

1. Shred and Boil (kid shredded, I boiled):

Shred the newspaper and add it to the large sauce pot with all the water. Set it to high until it starts to boil then lower to medium for about 10 minutes. This softens the paper enough to shred easily in the blender. Technically you could skip the boiling, but it made the pulverizing so much easier!!

 

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2. Pulverize (kid pulverized):

Spoon the newspaper shreds into the blender, adding just enough of the water you just boiled it in to cover the paper (I scooped it out with a ladel, no exact measurements though). Not enough liquid will have the paper shreds sticking to the sides of the blender, too much isn't a big deal but it will make more work for you when you get to the draining step.

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3. Drain (I drained):

When all the paper is shredded, it's still going to be really hot. You have a couple options: 1-put it in the freezer for a few minutes, 2-set it aside and wait it out, 3-stir it a little to help aerate the pulp enough to drop the temp low enough that you can grab a handful. (I just stirred it, took about 2 minutes). I just used my hand to drain as much liquid out as I could. Again, this is not an exact science, it just needs to be a clay-like consistency.

 

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4. Mix (kid mixed):

The kiddo squeezed the bottles, so this is another step she basically did herself. We added the entire 4oz tube of glue and as much of the red paint as she wanted, which ended up being about 2.5 tbsp (turned out a nice red...considering it was mixed with gray newspaper pulp). She mixed it with the fork until everything was nicely blended.

 

 

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5. Mould (kid moulded):

For our cookie sheet mould we only needed about 2 tbsp. of the pulp per heart, and we had enough to make 20 hearts. It should be about 4-5 mm thick (it will thin out as it dries, but won't dry evenly if it's much thicker). We used our fingers to spread the pulp out evenly and pat it down into the moulds, the fork was just taking too long ;)

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6. Dry:

This is another part that was up in the air in my searching. Some sources said to just air dry it, some said to use a kiln on the lowest settings, some said to use the oven. I used the same method I use for dehydrating fruits: preheat the oven to 250 (f), bake for 45 minutes.

If you choose to air dry, it can take anywhere from 2 hours to overnight (the timing can vary depending on how thick your clay is, how much paint you added, the humidity and temperature in your house, etc..)

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To complete her Valentines, my daughter painted each one herself. (They look like cookies, but they're wafer thin and a little concave on the back.)

 

 

Then we put two back to back, and filled them with a little handwritten note and pre-wrapped valentines candies (jellybeans, Smarties, etc..). Then we tied them shut with a ribbon bow; no adhesive or glue needed to hold these together, so the other kids at the Valentine's party will be able to get their treats pretty easily.

 

Love them!! We may need to paper clay crafts more often!