8 ounces of clay
Rolling pin
10 inch Crocheted doily
Clean up knife
Newspaper
Small amount of slip or slurry
Small brush
6 inches of wire, twine or ribbon
Sm bottle of glaze (semi-transparent is best)
Make sure your work area is clean and dry
Shape your clay into a ball. Using your rolling pin, roll it out much like you would a pie crust. Work from the center and radiate out to the edges keeping pressure uniform and create a large pancake about 10-12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 thick.
Lay the doily on top of the clay pancake. Gently roll the rolling pin over the doily, thereby imprinting the crochet design into the clay. Carefully remove the doily (this can be reused numerous times)
Gently lift the pancake and turn it over.
Cut two small holes about 1 inch apart near the top of the pancake about 2 inches from the edge.
Wad up a small amount of newspaper (in a cone shape) and place it across the radius/diameter of the pancake. Lifting the sides of the pancake, gently lay the clay across the paper creating a cone effect like an ice cream cone. Edges should overlap. The bottom will be narrow, the top will be wide. The part against the table should be somewhat flat. The newspaper will help keep the cone shape and keep the vase open during the drying process.
Gently curl out the top edges of the side flaps much like a collar, so they fan out. Don’t worry if the edges split a little as that will add to the uniqueness of your piece. If they split too much, you can repair with some of the slip.
Use a brush and add a small amount of liquid slip between the overlapping edges/flaps and gently press together.
Let clay dry. If you can safely remove the paper, do so. Otherwise, leave it and it will fire out. Fire your tussy vase to cone 04-05
Glaze your vase inside and out with any glaze of your choice; however semi transparent glazes will bring out the details of your doily imprint. You can also antique the vase with underglazes before covering with glaze if you desire. Stilt and fire your vase to appropriate temperature on glaze label.
Use wire, ribbon or twine to make a loop through the holes in the back of the vase so you can hang it on the wall. Fill with pot pourrie, dried or artificial flowers for a beautiful room accent.
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