Playing with clay is one of my most favourite crafty activities.
Here are some ideas to brighten your Christmas tree with colourful clay decorations.
(They also make cheap and cheerful DIY gifts.)

You’ll need:
Clay (I have a mixture of Sculpey and Fimo above)
Christmas cookie cutters
Skewers (or any tool you’d like to use to create cool marks on your clay)
Knife (to cut your clay into smaller blocks)
Marker (if you wish to write on your decorations)
A rolling pin will also come in handy

I have no rules when it comes to working with clay.
It is just fun to experiment.
Take below for example…1. Fimo comes marked in halves.
So I cut my red and yellow square in half.
I had a quarter left of my silver Sculpey clay. So I cut a square off.

2. I rolled out my red and yellow halves.

3. I then entwined the two and rolled it back and forth to combine the colours.

4. I sliced my silver square into slivers and placed those along the red and yellow coil.

More rolling back and forth to combine.
I then used a rolling pin to flatten out my clay.
Using my cookie cutters, I cut out the following shapes…

Using a skewer, I created some holes in the decorations.
I had excess clay, so I made some beads and buttons that I will probably use for necklaces and wrapping decoration.

Then bake your clay according to the manufacturer’s directions.
(This part takes about 15 minutes. Make a cup of tea!)

Once baked and cooled, thread some twine through and there you have it.
A DIY Christmas decoration!
It also appears that I’m having a “thing” with hot pink this festive season.
I happened to have some leftover hot pinks and purples from my last clay session.
So here’s what I did with that clay…

1. Scupley comes marked into quarters. (I find Sculpey easier to work with than Fimo.)
I used a quarter of each colour and lined them up as shown above.

2. I rolled the clay together to create what is shown in Step 2.

3. Then I just experimented and coiled and entwined the clay.

4. I flattened out my clay with the rolling pin. Used my cookie cutters and voila…

Don’t forget to use your skewer to create holes.

If you like, you can use a black marker to personalise your decorations.
Clay necklaces also make awesome gifts. Find some ideas here.