DIY: marbled ring dish

I've come to a realization, and I have a confession to make—I am a litterer. A ring litterer that is. Ever since I started doing the multi-ring stacking trend, they are scattered all over my house, as I take them off to work outside, do the dishes, or hop in the shower. So far I've been lucky, and I haven't had any mysteriously disappear, but I thought it might be a good idea to keep some ring dishes throughout the house to insure it stays that way. And what's an easy and cheap way to make a ring dish? Why, out of clay of course!

Supplies:
-white, black, and colored oven bake clay
-X-Acto knife or plastic clay knife
-small bowl that is oven safe
-gold liquid gilding and small paintbrush
-rolling pin or large round jar
-large can or jar to trace around

1. Roll each color of clay that you want to use into a snake about 5" long. I usually make two larger rolls of white, a medium roll of grey, a small roll of any color I am using, and then an extra small roll of black.

2. Combine the smaller rolls into one big roll and twist together.

3.  Roll the large twist into a snake about twice the original length to combine the colors. Twist the ends opposite ways after every few motions to give the colors more of a candy cane look. Once it's twice the length, fold the snake in half and twist the two ends together, as pictured above. Repeat the rolling, folding, twisting, and rolling again process 2-3 times. 

4. Smoosh all the clay into a ball. You want to see most of your colors on the surface of the ball, so pull the ball in half and re-smoosh together if you don't. 

5. Use a rolling pin or glass jar to roll out your marbled ball. I like to use a glass jar so I can see what is happening as I roll harder or softer over certain colors. The colors should blend together and create a marbled pattern as you roll over it. Try rolling different directions, from the edge, from the center, etc. to push the clay from different angles. Roll to 1/4" thick.

6. Use a round item about 6" wide as a template and cut out your dish circle with an X-Acto or clay knife.

7. Place your circle gently into a oven-safe bowl that is a little smaller than your circle so it will sag a little in the center and give you more of a dish shape. Bake the bowl according to the temperature on the clay package (mine was 15 minutes at 275°F). Remove the bowl from the oven and allow the clay to cool before turning the larger bowl upside down and tapping lightly until the clay dish falls out.

8. Use a small brush to paint the rim of the dish and allow the paint to dry.

While the color combinations are endless, my favorites were made with white, grey, black, and two bright colors that make a pretty third color when mixed. I would definitely suggest using a oven-bake clay like Sculpey that is already soft to start with. It will save you a lot of time and finger strength than if you use the clay that requires a lot of kneading to get it to that softness.

These bowls turned out even better than I hoped they would, and you can see I was able to make quite a few of them, so I'll definitely be giving a few away as gifts. How cute would one of these be as a present with a piece of jewelry already in it?