How to make your own incense holders using air-dry clay

meg_nelly

I wanted to create unique incense holders and thought the new Practa air-dry clay kit from Bunnings would be a perfect way to give it a go. 

What you'll need:

• Air dry clay (Bunnings sells a few different brands but i chose the small Practa kit because it came with tools too)
• a rolling pin (or an old wine bottle will do too)
• A knife or clay working tools
• Water
• An apron or old clothes so you don't get anything too dirty
• Baking paper (helped me protect my table and was easy to pull the clay off so it didn't stick too much
• Optional: Paint to decorate your creation (the Practa kit also came with paint)
• A sealer (I went for Mod Podge dishwasher safe waterbased sealer)

How to create your incense holders:

• Research and plan what shape you'd like to make your incense holder/s. I used pinterest to come up with ideas. Sketch it out on paper so you know what shapes you need to create. 
  
• Get everything you need together on your workspace and layout your baking paper on a table
• Take some of the air dry clay from it's packet and work the clay a little to warm it up so it's more malleable
• Use the rolling pin to rollout a slab of clay to your desired thickness (at least 5mm so it doesn't crack or break when drying)
• Cut the shapes for the bases of the holders. I did one long one and one smaller circle dish. 
• Use your finger (and water if needed) to push down the centres of the base to create a slight lip around the edge of the shapes. You can also use a clay tool to scrape out the centre more if needed. 
• Take a small bit of clay and roll it into a ball in your hand and then make one side flatter so you can join it to the base. You can also shape your ball into a cylinder or even a more pyramid shape if you like. 
• Use a knife or tool to score the base in a crisscross pattern on the bottom on the small ball and also score where you'd like to place it on the base.
  See a scoring example below:
  
• Take a bit of water on your fingers and put the water on the rough scored parts which creates a bit of sludge when put together. This will ensure its sticks together more sturdily. Tidy up around the edges if needed.
• Use an incense stick or skewer to make a hole in the holder at the angle you'd like the incense to fall (straight up or on an incline). Ensure it's big enough for your chosen incense sticks to fit in. 
• Once you are happy with your shape leave it to dry for 24-72 hours
• When the clay is fully dry you can add your own unique style to the piece and paint it. I decided to do acrylic gold sun and moon motifs on mine. 
  
  
• Once paint is dry you can apply a waterproof sealant all over so it protects the piece and will also allow you to wipe/clean the burned incense from the tray.
• Enjoy your new, fun, personal incense holder 🙂
  
  

  

KatieC

Hi @meg_nelly,

This is an awesome project! It is a creative way to use the Practa kit and I cannot wait to get my hands on one.

Katie