Nested Clay Bowls

I’ve mentioned it before but I love bowls. If I had the space, I would cover a wall in shelves and fill them with bowls. Like a functional wall of art. Of course then I would hire someone to dust it all on a weekly basis because I don’t have time for that. And nested bowls. Bowls inside of bowls, fitting perfectly together. Sigh.

Recently, I had a hankering for a new set of bowls but instead of spending the money, I made a set myself for much less mullah. I like making stuff. But you knew that. Air-dry clay is easy to sculpt, dries to finish and is not too precious that you can’t ball up a fail and start again.

It’s really easy for children to work with too. While I did these bowls, Bug created two bowls herself. (And sculpting in a 3-D way is great for their brains!) The air-dry trait is as close to instant gratification that art materials can give.

Supplies:

–air-dry clay – basic, porcelain or paper
-damp towel, optional
-color optional

Divide the clay into uneven portions. The number of sections depends on the number of bowls you want.

One by one, shape each section into a bowl with your fingers.

A couple tips:

-The shaping should happen between your thumb and your other four fingers. Like crab pinchers. Pinch and shape.

-Think of pinching and squeezing the dough into shape, not stretching. Stretching will create really thin sections and the clay might tear.

-Use a damp towel to smooth out rough edges, fix cracks and clean up the top edge of the bowl.

-If the final product has rough edges, use a very fine sandpaper to smooth.

Once the clay completely dried, I used watercolor paint to add a bit of color. With the whiteness of the clay, a little bit of color can go a long way.

Now. What shall I put in them?

More bowls to love:

wooden bowls with gold leaf | flower frog bowls | doodle fish bowls

Affiliate links used.