Recently I have grown a strong interest in hand-crafted ceramics, mainly due to their gorgeous, unique look which makes them one of a kind. On top of that I adore splash pattern so the time has come to combine the two and make a DIY Speckled Clay Pottery. Curious to see how they turned out?

Handmade pottery has its roots in the ancient history and even though today ceramics can be found in stores, I believe clay pots remain a beautiful craft. Depending on the needs some are done on the pottery wheel, however a decorative piece is probably done best by hand. I have to be honest here – I probably didn’t need either of them, since I hardly find place to keep my ever growing collection, but I think they would make a great and inexpensive gifts too! That’s of course, if I will be able to part with them, which might be hard.

So today I will show you how to make your own clay pottery from scratch, beware – it’s really addictive!

You will need:

air dry clayplates / round objects of the size you want your pottery to bekniferulerwałekfavorite finish (I have used the granite / speckled pattern paint)matt/gloss spray glaze (optional however I recommend giving your pots a coat of it to make sure they are protected and resistant to water)

Instructions:

Before starting think of a design – the purpose, size, shape and finish. I wanted to make a set of small dishes for keeping small accessories –

jewelry, paper clips…or a small snack. The best method for small object is to roll the clay out and pinch by hand.

1. Roll out the ball of clay with a wooden roller (or a round piece of wood like I did) to get the thickness consistent.

2. Place the round plate/object on top and cut away the excess clay.

3. Use the excess clay, roller and a ruler to form the pot borders. To get the exact measure of the border needed, you can use this formula : 2· π· r / where π = 3,1415 and r = radius in cm. So if the radius of your base is 5 cm (10cm diameter), you will need the border to be about 32 cm to pinch it together. Alternatively you can just make it a bit bigger and cut to size without doing any maths!

4. Combine both elements by hands, pinching the border to the bottom of the pot. Leave it over the night to air dry.

5. When dry – spray paint it using your favourite finish, and sealer if you wish.