These clay flowers are SO PRETTY! Choose your favourite flower and sculpt it using only your hand, a craft knife, and a little bit of water.
Follow our step by step tutorial to make a clay rose, or adjust the method slightly to make a daisy or another pretty flower. It’s such a fun and easy craft, perfect for beginners to working with clay!
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How to Make Clay Flowers
Materials:
Equipment:
- Water
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Make the petals
- Roll a small ball of clay into a log that's about 5 inches long and 3/8 inch thick.
- Use a craft knife to cut the log into 8 equal parts.
- Now cut these pieces in half again, giving you 16 pieces that are roughly the same size and shape.
- Roll and shape each piece between your palms to form little balls.
- Use your fingertip to press the balls into flat round petals.
Step 3: Connect the petals
- Add a bit of water onto one petal and roll it tightly to form the center bud of the rose.
- Rub some water on the outside of the bud and press on the second petal.
- Wrap the second petal around the bud. Dip your fingers in water and smooth down the petal edges where they connect with the first bud.
- Add the next petal to the bud, placing it on the opposite side from the second petal. Dip your fingers in water and smooth down the edges where it meets the other buds.
- Add another petal, again starting at a different place so that the petals are staggered. Smooth out the clay where the petal is connected with a bit of water each time you add a new petal. This helps get rid of any uneven bumps and helps the clay stick together as it dries.
- Continue adding petals. As your flower grows, place the petals so the tips are slightly higher than the previous petal. Pinch the tips of the petals slightly to bend the petals outward.
- Dip your finger in water, then gently run it along the tips of the petals to smooth out any rough or cracked edges.
- Continue adding the petals so that they're staggered, the top of the petal going in between two from the last layer. Make sure each petal is slightly higher than the last, and bend the edges of the petals slightly outwards.
Step 4: Finish and smooth the rose
- Add the remaining petals until you're happy with the size of your rose. Use water and your fingertips to smooth out the petal edges and the base of the flower, where the petals are connected.Allow to dry overnight. (Follow the package directions of your clay for drying.)
- Your clay rose is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- Try to keep the petals a consistent size, either by measuring or cutting them in equal parts before rolling them out.
- Only remove the amount of clay from the package that you need, since it starts to dry once exposed to air. Make sure you store any unused clay in an airtight container.
How do I make daisies and other clay flowers?
Watch our video tutorial (at the beginning of the photo tutorial above) to see how to make other clay flowers!
The 3 flowers in the image above are made in a very similar way – they all have a middle section, with petals around them. Follow the beginning steps of the clay rose, rolling a snake of clay and cutting it into equal sized pieces. Then roll the pieces into balls (or ovals, depending on the petal type) before flattening them.
Roll another ball and flatten it slightly to make the center of your flower. Start adding petals to the ball, one by one, meeting at the center. Overlap one side of each petal with the petal beside it. Use a toothpick to press the tip of the petals onto the round base.
Add another little ball of clay on top of all the petals to connect them, and then use the toothpick to add details to the center and the petals. To bend the clay daisy’s petals slightly we set it to dry over top of a small bowl.
Finally, to make the small four petaled flower, roll a piece of clay into a lightbulb shape – with the top wider than the bottom. Cut this top section into four separate petals using a craft knife. Shape and flatten the petals with your fingers, and then use a toothpick to create texture in the middle of the flower and on the petals.
What type of clay is best for sculpting flowers?
We used Sculpey air dry clay to make these clay flowers. We liked the crisp white colour, and that it’s so flexible and easy to work with. It allowed us to make thin petals without the clay cracking.
We’ve used DAS air dry clay in the past, to make our clay monsters and our clay bear, and it was really nice to smooth out the details of the flowers, but it was harder to make small, thin petals.
If you don’t want to buy clay you can also use our recipe for homemade clay. It’s so easy to make and it dries a beautiful, crisp white!
What tools do you need for clay flowers?
We made these clay flowers using only our hands, a craft knife, and a toothpick to help with rolling and to add texture. Sculpting tools can be helpful for shaping, but you definitely don’t need anything fancy to make a beautiful clay flower!
Can you add colour to these clay flowers?
Yes, you can paint the clay after it dries with acrylic paint, or you can knead a few drops of paint into the wet clay to create a pastel look.
You can also add dry colour, like mica powder or crushed chalk pastels. Work these into the clay before sculpting, or brush them on just after sculpting the flower, before it dries.
Turn your clay flowers into jewelry, magnets, hair accessories, or display them in a bowl. Air dry clay is so easy to work with, and it’s the perfect craft for summer, with no need to turn the oven on!
Here’s even more clay craft ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon |  Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound |  Amazon Canada
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