How To Make Homemade Clay From Household Ingredients

Here’s how to make homemade clay from just two common household ingredients – cornflour and bicarbonate of soda (also known as baking soda). You can then use this to make beautiful sustainable Christmas decorations.

Making decorations from air-drying clay is always a really fun activity, especially with kids. However, the packs of air-drying clay always come wrapped in non-recyclable plastic and can be quite pricey. As such, I’ve been having a go at making my own homemade clay from ingredients I already have in my kitchen cupboard.

It’s a really fun, budget-friendly, and plastic-free way of making clay. Plus, you can make beautiful zero-waste Christmas decorations from it.

If you’ve tried to make clay from cornflour and bicarbonate of soda before, then you may have experienced some cracking. I have a clever tip below to help prevent this from happening, so keep reading!

How To Make Homemade Clay

Here are the full steps to make the clay. And once you’ve made it, I’ve then got some handy instructions on how to make Christmas decorations using the clay.

You Will Need

• 65 grams of cornflour (plus a little extra for dusting your work surface)
• 125 grams of bicarbonate of soda (this is also known as baking soda outside the UK)
• 180 ml water

Equipment Needed

• A saucepan
• A wooden spoon
• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters
• A skewer
• String or twine

Method

• In a saucepan, mix the cornflour, bicarbonate of soda, and water.
• Next, gently heat the mixture on your hob. The consistency will first be that of a soft paste. Keep mixing it until it takes on the consistency of mashed potato.
• Once you’ve reached the desired consistency (when the mixture starts to pull away from the pan), remove the pan from the heat immediately and leave to cool. You now have homemade clay!

How To Make Homemade Clay Christmas Decorations

Now that you know how to make the clay, here’s how to make beautiful decorations from it:

• Follow the above recipe to make your clay.
• Once cool, dust your work surface with cornflour, and spoon the clay onto the cornflour-dusted surface. Next, using a rolling pin, roll out the clay until it is around 5 mm thick.
• Using cookie cutters, cut out your desired shapes. I’ve found that simple shapes work best. This is because the clay can be quite delicate and can tear or crack easily if you try to create designs with narrow edges, tiny details, or intricate cut-outs.
• If you would like to incorporate some texture into your decorations, use a textured rolling pin or a piece of lace to press on a pattern.
• Once you’ve cut out your shapes, take a skewer or similar to make a hole. This will allow you to hang the decorations, either on your tree or as part of a Christmas garland.
• Leave the shapes to air dry in a cool, shaded/dark spot for one to two days.
• Once air-dried, bake the shapes in an 80°C oven for around 20 minutes, turning halfway so that the clay evenly cooks. The cooking time depends on the size of your shapes, so keep a close eye on your creations. If 20 minutes isn’t long enough, keep the shapes in the oven until the clay is no longer soft.
• Finally, remove the decorations from the oven. They should have dried to a brilliant white clay texture. This can be left as it is, or you can paint your decorations with paint or marker pens.

Why Do You Air Dry And Then Bake?

It’s important to air dry your homemade clay first, before baking, as this type of clay is prone to cracking. Especially if you dry them out quickly in the oven. Slowly drying the clay creations in the air, away from the sun and direct heat, before baking, helps prevent cracking.

How To Store Your DIY Clay Decorations

If you are using your clay to make Christmas decorations, then it’s important to store them correctly so that you can enjoy them year after year. We had a disaster the first year when ours were stored incorrectly and became soft and mouldy, so do learn from our experience!

I find it’s best to store your clay decorations in an airtight Tupperware tub or glass jar. If you have any silica gel bags lying around from any items you have bought, then you can add a silica gel bag to help absorb moisture.

However, some silica gel can be poisonous, so do bear in mind that the gel is in there when you come to decorate the following Christmas – particularly if you have pets and/or kids. Alternatively, a tablespoon or two of dried rice in the tub will also do the trick.

More Sustainable Festive Craft Ideas

For more homemade Christmas decoration inspiration, I’ve got loads of great eco-friendly ideas for you:

• Here’s how to dry orange slices to make stunning natural garlands.
• If you’ve caught the natural garland bug, then here’s how to make a popcorn garland.
• And here are even more stunning plastic-free and zero-waste Christmas decorations to make.

If you’re busy getting ready for Christmas, then you can also check out my guide to having an eco-friendly Christmas. It’s bursting with festive ideas that are kind to the planet! From choosing an eco-friendly Christmas tree, to help finding eco-friendly gifts and wrapping paper. From tips on plant-based Christmas dinner ideas to tips on reducing your festive food waste, it’s all in there.