Decor of a mug with polymer clay. Master Class. DIY ceramic products. Manufacturing methods

To make a clay cup with your own hands, you do not need any special skills. You can do everything at home and involve children in the project. Self-hardening clay is ideal for home crafts, but the material can be finicky. It has a texture similar to putty and is not so easy to smooth out, but this problem can be solved with wet hands.

Materials:

- self-hardening clay

- clay spatula

- dye

Scheme of work

Using both hands, make a ball the size of an orange.

Using your thumb, press the center of the ball and pinch it while rotating the clay around your finger with your other hand. Start sculpting the cup from the bottom, gradually moving upward. At the top, the movement should be more of a pulling motion to increase the cup size.

Use a spatula to smooth the edges and inside of the bowl. You can also use it to remove excess clay in some areas if one side is thicker or taller.

Place the bowl on a flat surface to smooth the bottom. It's best to choose a surface that rotates easily, like a cake stand, so you can rotate the bowl to perfection.

Continue smoothing the surface of the bowl with your fingers, making sure to keep your hands and clay damp. This will improve glide. After smoothing, allow the bowl to dry for at least 24 hours.

The most exciting part is personalizing the item you make. You can paint it however you want. To replicate the loose strokes used in this project, use a dry brush technique.

After dipping your brush into the paint, remove any excess with a paper towel.

Make a few horizontal strokes on the bowl. There is no need to worry about their accuracy. This painting will give the product texture.

The article was prepared based on materials from www.homeyohmy.com.

You couldn’t help but notice the new fashion trend of our days - “handmade”. Do you think that the popularity of this type of activity is for no reason, and that people do it for fun? Of course not. There are many reasons for such an interesting and useful activity. You can consider this using the example of making dishes with your own hands. In this article we will look at options for making ceramic dishes.

Making dishes with your own hands

First we need to decide on the material from which we will make something. The most common raw material for making dishes with your own hands is clay. Let's delve into all the intricacies of this matter and look at a few examples.

Becoming a master is easier than you might think

Clay dishes are a combination of beauty and practicality. Such equipment is the most ancient and had no alternatives for a long time. In ancient times, people did not use firing to create dishes, but then they learned to prepare ceramics.

Clay dishes cope with the preparation of a variety of dishes and are an integral assistant to the housewife. She:

durable;
heat resistant;
environmentally friendly;
beautiful.

Important! Some believe that the material used to make items draws out bad energy through a combination of water, earth, air and sun.

And doing something with your own hands is the most pleasant thing, because you put your soul into such things, and questions like: “did the manufacturer do his job well?” will, of course, not occur. So is it difficult to make dishes from clay? No, you will soon see for yourself.

Making a clay plate with your own hands

Now we will consider in order all the nuances of making dishes from clay.

Preparation of material

The first step is to prepare the material with which we are going to work. Simply follow these tips:

You need to find clay, and in order to determine whether it is suitable for making dishes: you need to take a small lump of slightly damp clay, roll it into a rope between your palms and bend it in half. If no cracks appear at the bend, then you can safely deal with such material.
Place the required amount of clay in some deep container and fill it with water to the top.
Don’t be afraid to go overboard with the amount of prepared material. Nobody forbids you to use the surplus in the next sculpting and make something else out of clay.

Clay elutriation

Elutriation will allow the clay to become more plastic, fatter and cleaner.

Important! Most often, elutriation is carried out with clay that contains sand in large quantities, which is why it becomes less plastic.

What exactly needs to be done:

We take a deep dish, put clay in it and fill it with water in a ratio of 1 to 3, leaving the material to moisten all night.

Important! The water should completely cover the clay in the container.

In the morning, bring the mixture to a homogeneous consistency. Let the solution sit for several days. Further work can begin only when the water becomes lighter.
Drain the water through the rubber hose.
Scoop out the clay down to the very bottom layer. There is no need to touch the layer itself, because only stones and sand will remain there. Pour the mixture into a wooden box and leave it in the sun to evaporate unnecessary moisture.
When most of the water has evaporated, you can start mixing the clay. The material should dry until it takes on the consistency of dough and begins to stick to your hands. Now the finished clay, which should be covered with polyethylene, remains to wait for modeling.

Important! Be sure to remove the air before sculpting. To do this, knead the dough with your hands. You should add a little water if the material is very hard.

Let's move on to the next stage, in which you will make ceramic dishes.

Making pottery

Objects can be made from clay strands or flat pieces. We recommend making dishes using the first method. We take a rolling pin and a piece of clay, roll it out and give it any desired shape. In this way you can easily make bowls or shallow plates.

In order to make a pot or vase from the material, you should adhere to a different technology:

We make the bottom for our dishes as described above.

Important! The bottom should not be too thin. The optimal thickness should be approximately 2 cm.

Cut the clay into pieces and use a rolling pin to make ropes out of them.
We place the end of the tourniquet on the bottom and press firmly so that it is secured to the bottom.
We place the rolled strands on top of each other, pressing the new layers.
Moisten the strands with a small amount of water if the material hardens.

Important! You can create fancy vessels of various shapes using these modeling methods.

Drying

There's no need to rush. Rushing can cause cracks and wrinkles on the surface of the ware, which can lead to defects during firing. Making dishes from clay is not difficult, but you can’t do it without patience. Just follow all the deadlines and the result will please you.

The dishes should be dried bottom up in a draft-free room for at least two days, then transfer the product to a warm oven and dry until the moisture has completely evaporated.

Important! The pot may burst during firing if you do not completely remove the moisture.

Firing the product

There are special stoves for various purposes that you can purchase and install at home. But we were talking about an easy and accessible method, so we will do the firing on a regular fire:

We line the dishes with wood and set them on fire.
We wait eight hours minimum.

Important! The longer you keep the product in the fire, the stronger it will be.

If you did everything correctly, then at the end you will have an excellent ceramic product that is highly durable. It is worth noting that the manufacturing method does not require any special costs. Making pottery from clay is not difficult, and constant practice will make you a master potter.

Five reasons to start sculpting

Still don't see a reason to get into crafts? You'll soon change your mind!

Reason #1: uniqueness

Only you can decide exactly how your clay plate will look. Imagine what a surprise your guests will be when, instead of buying a set from Posuda Center, you get a set that you made yourself. Such things will instantly attract attention.

Reason #2: environmental friendliness

Did you know that harmful materials are still used in the production of tableware? The glaze made from the same lead gives the product an attractive, beautiful shine. There is not much lead there, but using such utensils is more expensive.

Moreover, this kind of product is even prohibited in some countries. Better think 100 times before buying a cheap and bright cup or bowl.

Important! Do not forget that there are natural colored clays: blue, green, black.

Reason #3: replenishment

Your set will not suffer from a broken mug or plate, because you can always restore the loss. With the arrival of a new friend or family member, there is nothing stopping you from adding a new item to your collection. If necessary, you can absolutely always do something new and useful. And when looking through your vacation photos, you might see a beautiful vase in a gift shop and easily recreate it at home. Great, right?

Reason #4: quality

There are often cases of online purchases that disappoint you immediately after opening the package. The beautiful design began to peel off from the mug after washing, and the plate was scratched by cutlery.

When making dishes yourself, especially when processing them in a ceramic workshop under the watchful eye of a specialist, such disappointments are completely eliminated. You will be taught how to handle clay correctly, and all the nuances of manufacturing technology will be explained step by step, which will help make your dishes of the highest quality and practical.

Important! Such products will not be damaged by the dishwasher or microwave. Over the years of use, you will not see any cracks or peeling paint.

Reason No. 5: saving the family budget

Even if you have made only a couple of mugs, then this knowledge will be enough for you to competently understand dishes, materials and glazes. If some seller begins to assure you of the enormous cost of a coffee pair made of blue clay, then you can safely fight back and will not allow yourself to be deceived.

Video material

Are the dishes in the store not exciting? Buy the cheapest tea cup and turn it into a designer piece with soul

In this master class we will show you how to make a beautiful decor for a mug with polymer clay with your own hands. Good-natured cats are everyone’s favorite and win-win theme. The decoration is based on a couple – a cat and a cat. This is not to say that the lesson is designed for beginners, but if you are a creative and neat person, you will definitely get the job done. Read the description carefully and look at the photos so as not to miss any details.

Preparation of materials and tools

To work you will need:

good quality baked polymer clay;
a mug (in the master class it was used from transparent glass, but you can also decorate a plain ceramic one);
nail polish remover;
roller for rolling out plastic or pasta machine;
stationery knife or scalpel;
toothpicks and stacks to give the decor the desired relief;
epoxy or other good glue that is resistant to water and heat.

If you have never worked with plastic, first. In essence, the work is similar to modeling from plasticine, but for the durability of the products they must be subjected to heat treatment.

Step-by-step decoration technique

First of all, arm yourself with a pencil and draw cat figures in full scale. At this stage, you can turn to those who draw better. The resulting sketch must be duplicated using tracing paper and cut out.

The first drawing will serve as a template; it should be placed inside a glass cup. Experienced needlewomen can do without such a hint and lay out a cat from polymer clay without a template.

Now take two pieces of mass of different shades and knead well. The material is pleasant to work with and does not cause any trouble.

Roll out one lump into a layer 2 mm thick.

Place a paper template on the layer and cut out the blank.

The result will be a recognizable silhouette of a cat.

Place the figurine on the mug in the intended place and press lightly with your hands, but do not press so as not to get unnecessary dents and prints.

Repeat the steps described above for the second piece of thermoplastic.

Also attach the silhouette of the second cat to the mug. At this stage, you can pull out the template with the drawing and put it next to it so you can see what to strive for.

Continuing to work on decorating the mug with your own hands using polymer clay, use a spherical stack to form small dents on the ears and where the eyes should be.

Imagining yourself as a sculptor, use a scalpel and a toothpick to carefully select the paws.

Pinch off a small piece of thermoplastic, roll and flatten it to form the bulge of the hind legs. Make a similar leg for the second cat.

To make the eyes, pinch off a tiny piece of white plastic, roll it into a ball, then flatten it and cut it into two equal pieces.

Place the eyes into the eye holes.

Roll the irises from pieces of a suitable shade. They can be made the same or different for both cats if there is multi-colored plastic.

For the noses, roll two pink balls and press them lightly in the desired places. Draw the nostrils with a toothpick.

Now take black plastic and make the pupils - roll up a flagellum less than 1 mm thick and cut four pieces from it.

From the same flagellum, create beautiful frames for the pupils and eyelashes for the cat. Don't forget to add eyebrows and mustache.

To make the cat and cat clearly visible in the decor of the mug, decorate the girl with a bow made of polymer clay, and the boy with a butterfly. It's easy to make a butterfly from two triangles. For a rose, you need to roll up the flagellum, flatten it, twist it into a snail shape and straighten the edges using a toothpick. For a girl, you can make a bright heart or other decoration.

Form ponytails from thicker strands.

Complete the pair with a heart.

To make cats fluffy, add the necessary reliefs with a toothpick.

Now the mug with polymer clay decor needs to be baked in the oven. Refer to the recommendations and baking time indicated by the manufacturer on the plastic packaging; it may vary.

After baking, let the craft cool, then carefully remove the figures from the cup. Degrease the surface with nail polish remover. Then apply a thin layer of glue to the figures and press. It is important that the decor ends up in the same place, so you can insert the design before you remove the kittens.

Leave the beauty for a day so that the glue dries well and finally connects the parts. This cup can be safely used for its intended purpose, but it is important to take precautions - do not wash it in the dishwasher and do not rub the decor with a sponge or abrasive products.

A master class on decorating a mug with polymer clay can be used as a basis to decorate boring dishes with figures of other animals and flowers. See also the tutorial on turning it into a masterpiece. And if you like working with plastic, learn how to make decorations and flowers with your own hands using photos on our website.

Recently, it has become very fashionable to make dishes and various interior items from clay with your own hands. We at the How to Green editorial office decided to figure out the reasons for the popularity of handmade ceramics, and turned to ceramic artistElena Subbotina . She named as many as 7 reasons (in addition to the obvious - creative self-realization and acquiring new craft knowledge) why it is worth making dishes for the home and various small items for the interior with your own hands.

Reason 1: uniqueness

Obviously, you can make a 100% unique set or tea pair for your kitchen either to order or with your own hands. Doing it yourself will be much cheaper. You have the opportunity to bring to life the most daring ideas and make exactly what will fit perfectly into your interior or will be suitable as a gift for a loved one. And not only the design you need, but also the size you like. So it’s up to you to decide whether you’ll drink tea at home from huge cups and saucers, like in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, or from delicate tiny ones, like Kirsten Dunst’s heroine in the movie Marie Antoinette. By the way, making dishes for the home with your own hands is also convenient because, by creating, say, a service in the same style, you won’t have to overpay for soup or dessert plates that you don’t need, and then think about where to store them in your small kitchen. You will make for yourself only those plates, bowls, cups and mugs that you need and will use.

Reason 2: environmental friendliness

Did you know that some factories still use hazardous materials, including lead and cadmium, when making tableware? Lead glazes are very beautiful; the content of this metal gives the product a special shine. The amount of lead, of course, is small, but using this glaze is strictly prohibited. It is not recommended to even store dry food in such containers, let alone pour hot soup into a bowl of lead. In some countries there is a law that prohibits the use of lead in foodware in any quantity. However, in Russia, China, Africa, and the countries of the Southeast region, there is often no strict control over manufacturers who neglect the issue of ethics and consumer health, since purchasing bright, glossy, lead-free glazes is much more expensive in large-scale production. So think ten times before you buy a cheap, bright cup or bowl. Why do you need dishes that poison you with harmful substances? By creating your own pottery, you can control which materials and glazes you use to create your plates and cups. By the way, ceramics can be bright and without colored glazes at all. There are natural colored clays: blue, green, black, and even ordinary light types have a beautiful natural color. In order for the products to be functional and not allow water to pass through, they must be covered with colorless or white glaze, but you can completely refuse colored glaze or choose safe, proven options.

Reason 3: replenishment

If suddenly careless guests or you yourself dropped your favorite mug and broke it, it’s okay. Your service will not suffer from this, because you can always make a couple more plates or cups. The same is true in the case of a new addition to your family - the birth of a baby or the marriage of a beloved brother. You can always make the missing set of dishes in a couple of hours. If you went on a trip, you probably noticed very interesting interior items - large vases, picture frames, candlesticks. Sometimes things are so beautiful, you just fall in love with them, but taking them with you from a trip is difficult and too troublesome. And why? It’s enough to take a couple of photos on your smartphone and, when you return from vacation, make copies of your favorite interior items or dishes, but in your own style and to suit your tastes and needs.

Photo: ceramics studio Ceramic Forest

Reason 4: quality

A fairly common story: you bought beautiful dishes from an online store, but they turned out to be of poor quality. The bright pattern on the mug began to peel off after washing, and knife marks appeared on the plates. When producing your own dishes, especially in a ceramic workshop under the supervision of a master, such excesses are excluded. First of all, you will be taught how to handle clay correctly and will be explained the sequence of the technological process that will make your dishes high-quality and practical. So you can put it in the microwave and wash it in the dishwasher without any problems. There is no risk of cracks or peeling paint.

Reason 5: saving the family budget

If you haven’t decided to produce a whole set, but just for the sake of interest, you took an introductory course on ceramics and made a couple of mugs, then even this knowledge will be enough for you to begin to understand tableware, types of clay and glazes, and the artist’s skill. If suddenly in a store a saleswoman begins to assure you that a pair of coffee costs 20,000 rubles because it is rare blue clay, then you can safely clarify whether it is natural or just an artificial color (a pigment mixed into ordinary white clay)? Dyed clay carries no value and you are paying solely for the brand. Expensive ceramics stores also like to use stamping. This means that the shape of the products is not unique: the patterns that are applied to them can simply be printed, and not drawn by the master. It’s another matter if you see on a market somewhere in the mountains of Andalusia a designer jug made of expensive materials, unique in shape and painted. You will immediately understand how much work the master has put into it and why it costs a decent amount. By the way, if the author of this work of art is suddenly exhibited in some gallery or museum of modern art, then the purchased jug can also be sold at a profit to collectors.

Reason 6: the issue with gifts has been resolved

Unique DIY ceramics are also exclusive gifts for family, friends and colleagues. You can personalize the dishes, leave initials on them, create any images and write wishes. For example, if you have unique lace left from your grandmother, then you can make an entire service with a unique print based on it. Thus, each family member will have a memory printed on a mug, plate, dish or teapot. Clay is an amazing living material that allows you to bring any idea to life. We use ceramic products every day, so these gifts are not only beautiful and unique, but also very useful for any person, regardless of their gender and age. By the way, it is not at all necessary to give dishes as a gift. You can create almost anything from ceramics. For example, floor tiles are an excellent gift for renovating the bathroom in your beloved mother’s apartment. Other interesting options:

ceramic handles that will transform an ordinary stamped wooden chest of drawers into a real work of art for the chest of drawers;
decorative sculpture, for example, for the garden;
pots for indoor or garden flowers;
tray;
whistles for children;
brooches for friends;
soap dish and other bathroom accessories.

Photo: ceramics studio Ceramic Forest

Reason 7: additional income

After you learn how to make dishes with your own hands, make all the necessary plates for your own home, and give gifts to your friends and colleagues, it is quite possible to monetize your favorite hobby. Create, say, an online store on Instagram and produce unique dishes in your own style to order. By the way, the most popular are craftswomen with a fairly narrow specialization, who make, for example, beautiful openwork cake stands, unusually shaped mugs, or fruit dishes with unique designs. Who knows, maybe one day you will make plates not only for your beloved man or relatives as a gift, but also for an entire restaurant.

Where to make your own dishes?

You can make your own cookware at home. To do this, you will need the necessary materials - clay, stacks, glaze, and so on. You can fire finished products at home; for this, there are furnaces that are suitable for a voltage of 220 W. But they are quite expensive - from 100,000 rubles. Therefore, at the initial stage it is easier to carry out firing in special kilns in ceramic workshops. They usually accept items not made by them for firing without any problems and for a very reasonable fee. Before purchasing materials for your home, we would recommend that you take an introductory course on working with clay from a specialist. Typically, ceramic workshops offer different options. Depending on the amount of information, such training will take you from 2 hours to several days and will cost from 2-3 thousand rubles, taking into account the cost of all materials. If you haven’t yet decided what exactly you want to make from ceramics, it makes sense to purchase a subscription to the workshop and attend master classes that interest you. It will be easier and cheaper than immediately taking long, expensive courses. Typically, such master classes are held for several people at once, so you have an original option for spending leisure time with a friend or loved one.

By the way, you can make all the dishes that you see in the photo in this article with your own hands already in the first lesson...

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There was a period in the history of our country when harsh reality forced us to do something with our own hands, namely the lack of the necessary product in the retail chain, and the only opportunity to become the owner of this or that item was to make it from something at home.

The main component for ceramic tiles is clay

Now modern industry and trade provides consumers with any range of goods, including satisfying the needs of buyers in the finishing materials market. Ceramic tiles are presented in all imaginable and inconceivable types, sizes and colors.

It would seem that it would be simpler: come, choose, buy, install, but this option does not suit everyone; in our rapid age of standardization and standard solutions, we want to highlight our individuality, at least in the decoration of a particular room. And this raises the question: is it possible to make ceramic tiles at home with your own hands, realizing your own ideas for decorating the interior space of a bathroom or kitchen. We won't languish. We answer. Yes, you can, but subject to some simple conditions, which are discussed below.

What is needed to organize ceramic production

First of all, you must have great desire, patience and confidence in a positive result, as well as have the necessary materials, tools, devices and equipment available. You may not succeed in everything right away, but the effort spent will ultimately give you the opportunity to be proud of yourself, showing your friends and acquaintances such a rather technologically advanced product as ceramic tiles made from clay with your own hands.

Handmade clay ceramic tiles

Selection of raw materials

Everyone probably knows what any ceramics is made from; the main component is clay. Here's a look at what types of clay exist, their properties and the possibility of using them to make ceramic tiles with your own hands. Based on their composition, properties and application, clays are divided into four groups:

Rough ceramic. They contain a large amount of impurities in the form of pebbles and sand, as well as gypsum and lime inclusions. Used to make bricks, tiles, dishes and expanded clay.
Fireproof and refractory. They have a high alumina content, good ductility and a high degree of fire resistance. They are used in the manufacture of refractory bricks and various ceramics.
Kaolin. Low-plasticity clays are used in paper and rubber production and as an additive for the manufacture of earthenware.
Montmorillonite. The main feature is their high plasticity; it is used as drilling fluid in metallurgy and the food industry.

Plasticity is the ability of clay to take on any shape and retain it as it dries.

Clays are also divided into “fat” and “lean”. The former are plastic and products from them can be given any shape, but to make ceramics with your own hands at home, it is necessary to prepare the clay, for which the starting material is diluted to the required composition with sand, chamotte or ground pumice.

You should not take too “oily” clay, preferably medium plastic

Selection of tools and materials

If you decide to make tiled or regular ceramic tiles with your own hands, you will need:

raw materials: clay, filler for dilution, if the clay is oily, water;
mold for the production of future tiles;
cliche for forming an imprint of a design or bas-relief on the front side of the product;
spatula, scoop, trowel;
mesh for reinforcing the product.

Stages of making ceramics

The technology for producing ceramic tiles with your own hands consists of the following steps:

Clay of medium plasticity is taken, poured into a container and filled with water. After several days of soaking, the clay is mixed and kneaded. Then, through a fine sieve, the material is ground into another container, after which the mass is distributed onto old newspapers or a rag in a layer of 10-15 mm. Once the clay reaches the desired thickness, it is mixed and placed in a plastic bag.
The material prepared in this way is placed into molds and compacted; this must be done so that the level of the molding mass coincides with the edges of the mold, for which excess material is cut off with a knife or cutter.

The highest quality molds are made from polyurethane; the products are quite smooth with the same parameters.

Next, the technology for making ceramic tiles with your own hands goes into the pre-drying stage. It lasts until the mass acquires a lighter shade and this period depends on the ambient temperature and humidity. The result is a raw tile. If something went wrong for you, then at this stage you can still correct the situation, for which the spoiled semi-finished product is soaked in water, and the molding procedure begins again.
The process of firing raw tiles is the most technologically advanced stage, because the semi-finished product must be exposed to high temperatures of about 1000-1200 degrees, which requires special equipment. To make ceramic tiles with your own hands, you can limit yourself to a temperature of 850-900 degrees, which is achieved in an electric muffle furnace. The production technology allows this, provided that the clay mass contains pumice, which is sintered at the specified temperature. This primary firing is called biscuit firing for some similarity in the resulting finely porous structure of the workpiece, after evaporating the water from it. The ceramic workpiece has already acquired the necessary hardness and strength. This product is called terracotta.

Stages of technology: making raw materials, firing ceramics and applying a decorative layer

If you want to make majolica with your own hands, that is, fired ceramics, with the front side covered with glaze, or, more simply, tiles, then the production technology does not end there. It is necessary to do another firing, but with glaze, for which a multicomponent mixture is prepared, the main components of which are glass, kaolin and tripolephosphate in powder form. All components are mixed and diluted with water. The resulting mixture, with a brush or by pouring the workpiece, is distributed over the product, and a second firing is performed.

Particular attention should be paid to controlling the process temperature; it should not be higher than the primary firing temperature. Otherwise, the glazed surface may be damaged or the terracotta workpiece may sinter.

This tile manufacturing technology allows you to create unique compositions on the glossy surface of the product, for which different glaze compositions are used. If glazing with firing is not suitable for you for some reason, you can create an attractive, smooth and shiny surface with your own hands by treating the workpiece with enamel or varnish.

And so, if you read the article to the end, and the difficulties of making ceramic tiles from clay with your own hands, reflected in this manual, did not frighten you, then honor and praise to you. After all, knowing what and how to make such a unique finishing material, the originality and individuality of the cladding, as well as the delight of your friends and acquaintances, are guaranteed to you.