Who knew clay could be so chic? My Cosmo Clay Trinket Dishes combine metallic gold, matte clay, Swarovski rhinestones, and texture in a way that is anything, but boring. Make an amazing and easy DIY ring dish as the perfect DIY gift — great for anyone who loves luxe style! This DIY home decor project brings that New York loft style to any home, and it’s a simple craft project that you can can make with leftover clay or beads.
Use these beauties to hold jewelry, coins, charms and more. The trick here is to use Elmer’s Glue in order to protect the clay against the gold spray paint. With protection, the spray paint peels off after drying, and the color of the clay will show through. I used a toothpick in order to create that spotted texture which adds depth to these dishes.
You can make a DIY ring dish in any size and shape you want! Mine were a little smaller, so that they could be used for crystal earrings or such. If you want one to hold keys, just simply use a bigger piece of clay.
This is a great way to use rhinestone chatons, or these Swarovski crystal fancy stones. Instead of making them into jewelry like normal, why not make them into an ultra cool home decoration piece? If you’ve got extra beads in your stash, feel free to use those as well!
Let’s get started!
Gather your materials. You need Swarovski fancy stones or flat backs (mine courtesy Prima Bead), polymer clay (I used FIMO brand), gold spray paint and toothpicks.
Simply grab a medium-sized chunk of clay and roll until it’s about 1/4″ thick. You can make your bowls as small or as large as you want – these were to be small, trinket dishes. I found a metal dish and used it as a mold, pressing my flat disc of clay up against the sides to form a bowl shape. Press your rhinestone chaton or Swarovski fancy stone in the middle.
Use your toothpick to create small little textured dots on the clay surface, in a pattern of your choice. Keep it sort of random, for an eclectic look. Bake the clay at about 125 degrees for 20 minutes, or follow instructions on the clay’s package (each brand is a little different). When baked and cooled, turn the bowl upside down and gently pat the bottom to release your new dish.
You can create these in any shape you want! I even embedded a length of chain in the oblong one, for a luxe look. On the smooth parts of each dish, apply Elmer’s glue rather thickly, covering those whole spaces. Let the glue dry.
Spray paint your entire bowl. When dry, peel off the Elmer’s Glue (it helps to rub nail polish remover to “lift up” an edge, then the rest will peel off). The paint also comes off the rhinestone easily if you use your nail to scrape off – carefully!
Simple, right? You don’t have to use gold spray paint; you could also use silver or really any other metallic. Gold is my favorite though. These would also look great in holiday colors: green and red clay with gold metallic spray paint (and star chatons in the center) would make great Christmas decorations. Or, for Valentine’s Day, pink and purple clay with silver spray paint would look sweet. Experiment with color and shape in order to create a whole mess of these!
You can view all the rest of my tutorials on my blog, Quiet Lion Creations.
What would you keep in your trinket dish?
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