Two Crafty Brownies

Fruit and Veg Clay Magnets Tutorial

Hello there friends!

It has a been a little while hasn’t it? As Jenny said in her post about her lovely craft room last week, we've had a little holiday from blogging and it has been so nice to take a break and slow down a little. I say a little because with the family around over the Easter break for 3 weeks in total, it hasn't been possible to properly slow down but it has been lovely!

So the Easter hols are now over and the normal routine has been resumed. The kids are back at school and my hubby is back at work. We all spent such a lot of time in the garden during the Spring break, each of us enjoying it in our own way. I have been getting very excited about growing some flowers, fruit and vegetables this year. So far, I have planted from seed, sweet peas, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and chamomile and all look promising so far. It is amazing how much love and hope goes into every little seed that I have pushed gently into the soil!

Inspired by my new found love of growing things, I have been at the air drying clay again and these fruit and veg magnets have been such fun to make. This is definitely one of my all time favourite mediums (media?) to work with. I could squeeze, roll, cut, smooth, file and paint all day long! If you have read our blog for a little while, you will know this isn’t the first tutorial I have written using air drying clay. Have a look at our ‘Crafting with Clay’ category for more inspiration!

What you need is:

Air drying clay - I used an air drying clay from Flying Tiger UK, but if you haven’t got one of those near you, this one from Hobbycraft will work just fine.

2 plastic trays - one to roll the clay out on, one for drying the clay.

Non stick craft rolling pin such as this one with the 3mm rings attached.

Fruit and Veg shaped small cookie cutters with presser to make marks/patterns in the clay. I bought mine in Paperchase, but these are the same.

Cling film.

Slim paint brushes.

Porcelain paints such as these - you could also use poster or acrylic paint, but these porcelain paints created a lovely gloss finish.

Small pots or ramekin dishes to mix the paint in.

Gloss varnish - I used Fimo (polymer clay) gloss varnish.

Small magnets such as these.  

Glue - I used this.

What you do is:

Break off a chunk of clay (size depends on how many magnets you want to make). Wrap up the rest of the clay using cling film to keep moist.

Knead the clay in your hands for a bit. I love this bit of the process so I do it for far longer than I need to! A few squeezes will do!

Put the 3mm thickness markers onto the rolling pin and roll out the clay until it stops getting any thinner.

Press the different fruit and veg cookie cutters into the clay making sure to press down to make the patterns.

Peel off the spare clay once you have used all possible space in the clay and set aside to roll and make more if desired. If you have enough at this stage, add this spare clay to the remaining clay and wrap well in cling film and then foil to keep fresh and moist.

Now peel off each clay shape from the tray and smooth the edges with your finger.

Place on another tray covered in cling film.

Repeat with the remaining shapes and leave to dry according to the clay manufacturer’s guidelines. I usually leave mine for about 48 hours. Keep an eye on it whilst it dries and carefully press down any raised bits.

Once dry, apply a layer of porcelain paint, which you have mixed to the desired colours, to the sides and the top of each shape. I used a small slim brush which I found worked well in the grooves created by the presser on each cutter.

Allow to dry, again following the manufacturer’s guidelines.

Once the paint is dry, apply a layer of gloss varnish to each shape, giving them a little extra durability. Allow to dry.

Turn the shapes over and using a small amount of glue, attach a magnet to the back of each shape.

Once the glue has set and dried, your magnets are free to use! Aren’t they bright and fun?!

My favourites are the aubergine and the tomato…..

Well I’m off to read up about how to protect my tomatoes from the slugs and snails once I plant them out into the garden. At the moment, they are safe on my windowsill and doing very well!

Have a lovely weekend flowers! See you back here very soon, lots and lots of love,

Lucy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxzzzzzzzxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jenny's Craft Room

Hello lovelies!! How have you been? Did you miss us? Lu and I decided to have a little holiday from writing blogs, as our families were off over Easter, but we are back!!

I have had a lovely couple of weeks off. This week my hubby was off too, and because of GCSEs on the horizon, we decided not to go away. We have done a lot of lazing around, pottering, eating and drinking too much. We also had a little todo list of things to achieve, one of which was to tidy up my sewing room.

We live in a little house in London. We have what are called 4 bedrooms, one of which is tiny. When our youngest was little, this was his room, and he was very happy here. As he grew, it became tighter and tighter, and a few years ago we rearranged the rooms, losing our family study, moving the oldest in there and the youngest into his room. And I acquired this little room as my sewing room.

Darlings, in all the 20 odd years we have been a family, I have never had my own space until now. Like many people, I have sewn on the kitchen table, had my craft supplies stashed around the place in various hiding places, and had to tidy everything away every time there was a meal. So it was hugely exciting to have my own little room, and I got to work painting and sorting. It had a built in bed which my boy helped me take apart..... which made me realise a paint job was needed.

I was on a strict budget, so we headed off to IKEA for a couple of cheap pieces of furniture, and I managed to persuade the manager of my local Leyland paint store to give me a piece of pegboard (once I had bought some paint!)

May I show you around? 

As you come in, on your right are my little Ikea desk and table. My sewing machine and overlocker sit on here. Sometimes I work on my laptop here too. See that box in between the machines? I have altered this little gift box to hold all the cords which go down through the desk to plug in. I can just pull the appropriate plug out of the box and plug the appliance in.

On your left is this tall Ikea drawer unit, with the Bluetooth music player our friend makes. In the basket are my patterns and papers. I have two Ikea Billy's, this one here........

And another behind you here with doors in this little alcove.....

It's not too messy inside, is it?

I like everything to be organised, though in my head I am much tidier than in real life!! I keep packaging to use as storage, like this Molton Brown box that has all my cards in, and these little crates that held strawberries.......and of course the Ikea trolley everyone has!

Over the years Lu has made me some lovely things, including our very first blog challenge...... this Just Start bunting. In the frame is a pretty piece of wallpaper.

Recently my little room has become more and more messy and cluttered. I have been clearing stuff out, and rearranging.......and what better way than a planned blog post to get something done! I feel this room is too small, but I know I am so lucky to have this little space of my own. My boy calls it 'the room where dreams come true.....'  little does he know I have my eye on his current bedroom as my next craft room someday!!

Sending you loads and loads of love, darlings!!

Jenny xxxxxooooo