My holiday craft project this year has been clay stamp ornaments.  These were easy to make, although, slightly time consuming, and they would probably be a great craft to do with children since they can be easily individualized.  The stamps and cookie cutters do most of the creative work, and it is just a matter of rolling, stamping, cutting, baking, and painting.

Materials:

• White Clay (I used Sculptey, a polymer clay that requires baking, but you can choose your favorite white clay, and proceed accordingly)
• Wax or Parchment Paper
• Rolling Pin
• Stamps
• Cookie Cutters (I recommend using ones you do not use for food, or make sure to use a non-toxic clay)
• Baking Sheet (if you need to bake your clay)
• Toothpick
• hand pumped Lotion (optional)(the clay can really dry out your hands, and I have found, that having lotion near me as I work can make working with the clay easier. Pump some onto your hands between roll outs.)
• Acrylic Paint
• Gloss Coating (optional)
• large eyed Needle
• Ribbon
• clear Nail Polish
• Scissors

Instructions:

Day 1:

1. If you are using clay that needs to be baked, preheat your oven as instructed on the clay package and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Roll out your clay between two sheets of parchment or wax paper.  Clay can be messy, and by rolling it out between the sheets of parchment you can maintain a clean rolling pin and work area.
3. Stamp the clay with your desired pattern.
4. Use a cookie cutter to cut out your ornament shapes.
5. Carefully, use a toothpick to poke holes through the tops of your ornaments.  I chose to make two holes in each ornament for greater stability, but one hole should be fine, especially if the ornament is smaller in size.  Consider the placement of the holes on heavier ornaments like the fawns pictured above.  I placed the holes on the backs of the fawns, instead of the ears, assuming that the main bodies of the fawns could carry more weight then their slender necks.
6. Bake your ornaments, if required, or set them aside to dry.

Prepare your hanging ribbons:

1. Cut your ribbons to the desired length.  I settled on cutting them to about a foot a piece.
2. Brush the ends of the ribbons with a clear nail polish, and leave them to dry.

Day 2:

Paint your ornaments!

Hanging your Ornaments:

1. Thread your needle with the hanging ribbon, and then use the needle to pull the ribbon through the holes in your ornaments.
2. Tie the ribbon ends tightly together to form the hanging loop.