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I found this book one day while out looking for good books at a used bookstore. I thought it was a book about regular clay. My kids enjoy clay and the book was inexpensively priced since it didn't have any clay with it, so I bought it. When I finally got a chance to look at it, I was excited and discouraged. I had no money to buy the special clay required; it's called polymer clay (and you shape it, then cook it in the oven till it's hard). But the exciting part was that we could make millefiori beads. They are so intricate looking and beautiful, yet I hadn't realized that we could actually make some of these beads ourselves. Plus there are instructions for making lots of little figures, finger puppets, refrigerator magnets, cute tacks for your bulletin board, decorative ideas, gift ideas, barrette ideas, lots of bead ideas for making necklaces and earrings. Lots and lots of stuff to make--hours worth of fun!
We did end up finding some money in the budget eventually for some ploymer clay, and we had fun making some beads. I made some flat flower beads one afternoon and put them on round beads (you've gotta see the book to really understand, I think) and then made a bracelet for my daughter. My daughter made a few oblong beads and then put them in a necklace the next day. And some friends came over a few days later, and the girls made friendship bracelets with the extra beads we had previously made.
My advice would be to not expect to make anything from your kit as soon as you get it. I would first read the book cover to cover and make a list of needed materials for the projects you and/or your students would like to make. Here's a list of some of the stuff we bought with notes as to whether or not we needed them. :-)
--The recommended glue--haven't used it yet, but I think we will eventually.
--Fancy exacto knife--used it only to cut the clay off the chunk of clay. A regular knife would work just as well for that. I didn't find the exacto knife helpful for cutting the rolls of clay into beads. We used thread for that. The thread doesn't crush the clay; the exacto knife crushes the clay leaving the beads malformed. Just wrap the thread around the clay and then pull to slice the roll. I also bought extra exacto blades which weren't necessary for our uses. Don't buy a fancy exacto knife unless you're sure you'll need it.
--Extra beads--we've used them. We only bought three different kinds of beads based on the projects we chose to make--like some little seed beads and some small pony beads.
--Bead thread--since we bought little tiny seed beads, this came in handy.
--Beading needles--yes we used these since we bought little tiny seed beads.
--Roll of Hemp--we used this for the friendship bracelets which were made following the directions in our Hemp Bracelets book.
2 yards of vinyl cord--not used yet since my son hasn't made anything yet. It was bought for his project.
4 sets of clasps--used two sets. One for a hemp necklace and the other was used for my daughter's beaded necklace
2 sets of pierced earrings--haven't used yet
12 blocks of Sculpy II clay. We bought 2 blocks of white, but should have bought 3 since we use it to lighten the colors. Look for the glittery clay; it's so pretty. Ask the crafts salesperson which clay to buy. I was told that the Sculpy II was less crumbly than the plain Sculpy--meaning that Sculpy II is easier to work with. Each of our packages cost $2.29 (just to give you a ballpark figure).
Tacks--haven't used them yet, but hope to to make cute little clay-covered tacks.
Wax paper--definitely used.
Tooth picks--we haven't found these necessary yet.
I think that's all we bought for the clay projects.
We also used a rolling pin. If you don't have a rolling pin, you can use a jar with flat sides.
We used a hanger as a way to make holes in the beads. Wire cutters can cut the hanger so that the bottom straight part of the hanger can be used. We put the beads on the piece of hanger just like a shish kebob. The two ends were balanced on the ends of the lasagna pan. The beads were able to cook without sitting on the bottom of the pan and possibly ending up with a flat spot. Just don't use a hanger that has any sort of coating on it; the hanger has to be just plain metal.
Thin cardboard, like the kind found in new sheets or a new dress shirt, can be used instead of the rulers (as recommended in the book). It just depends on the thickness that you desire for your clay.
We ended up spending about $50, and we still have lots of clay that we can use for more projects. I was told that the clay will last quite a long time if kept in an airtight container, but I'm not sure. I suppose there are some really good sites on polymer clay on the iternet that give information on storage of polymer clay.
The Incredible Clay Book is unique and contemporary enough to not seem un-cool to the kids, which is important when curricula shopping, I think. Art isn't the easiest subject to cover unless you're an artistic type (which I'm definietly not!), but Klutz Press kits have sure helped fill a gap in our homeschooling curriculum. I'd say that a person that's 12 could probably make beads by themselves (with an adult in the house). My 9 year old needed a fair bit of help. Personally, I think bead and jewelry making is a fun thing to do together, but I think this book is probably fine for ages 12 and up (for sure 14+ could use the book).
You can buy The Incredible Clay Kit from Amazon.com
at a discount!
OR
You can buy a used copy without the clay at Powell's
and then choose your own colors of clay (since I can't imagine that the
clay will still be with a used book) at the crafts store when you pick
up all the supplies you'll want or need.
Hey! Klutz has a *NEW* polymer clay book out!!!
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We just got our Klutz catalog and Create Anything With Clay is their newest clay book. When I went to our local bookstore the other evening, I asked to see this book, but they didn't have it yet! This book is really new! And if the other Klutz books that we have are any indication, this one will be a winner, too! Here's what their catalog says, "A while back we published a title, The Incredible Clay Book, that came packaged with eight bricks of a brightly colored sculpting material known as polymer clay. We loved the book and we loved the clay. But we didn't think it would be part of A Whole Big New Thing. We were wrong. In the five years since its publication, that book sold more than a million copies, polymer clay has gone from nowhere to the most popular craft clay around today, and a nation of kids have become clay maniacs. In recognition of all this, and spurred on by the tsunami of interest and new techniques, we are publishing the NEXT big book on polymer clay, Create Anything With Clay.... Polymer clay has come an incredible distance in five years, and the new book reflects every inch of the trip. All new projects, tons of new techniques -- nothing is repeated in the new book."
Here's the link so that you can go check out its particulars at Amazon.
***Remember to request a Klutz catalog once you get your Klutz books so that you can easily buy refills or replacements of the kit parts.***
