Easy Homemade Pottery: Make Your Own Stylish Décor Using Polymer and Air-Dry Clay

Kiln-firing isn’t the only way to create pottery, advises blogger Stone in this encouraging debut, a guide to craft decor in any space. Stone writes that many crafters who work with clay are confronted with issues of space, time, and expense; it can be difficult to set up a pottery studio, and firing clay in a kiln is expensive. In response, Stone offers 50 projects that use polymer and air-dray clay and are small enough to fit into any home oven for finishing. The author starts with a list of necessary products and tools (“Popsicle sticks make great smoothing and blending tools,” she writes, as do old makeup sponges) and an overview of basic techniques such as rolling, shaping, smoothing, and joining. The projects range in difficulty—a “Stone-Effect Spoon Holder” is fun and easy, the “Wall Hanging Pocket Planter” is for intermediate crafters, and there’s a more advanced “Snail Mail Letter Holder.” Throughout, Stone urges crafters to experiment and not to despair when they inevitably make mistakes. New and experienced crafters looking to create pottery at home will want to give these projects a look. (Dec.)