Stamped Hearts Using Coffee Ground Clay
Yep! You read that right... coffee grounds.
I've seen people make clay from scratch using instant coffee but today I'm experimenting with store bought air dry clay and coffee grounds.
You know, the grounds leftover from making a pot or cup of coffee.
Other than using them in the garden, I was sure there must be other good uses for it so here goes...
I began with a package of DAS Air Dry Clay. I asked Santa for some for Christmas this year and I've been using it ever since. Today, while having a cup of coffee I decided to mix in some of the coffee grounds.
As you're reading through this post please pay attention to the bold blue links that will take you to more information and the products I used for this project. Also the READ MORE sections will take you to related Homeroad projects.
I folded in about a tablespoon of coffee grounds with about a 3/4 cup of clay.
I mixed and mixed until it seemed I had all the coffee grounds mixed into the clay. Then I added another tablespoon full of coffee grounds and did the same. You can keep adding the coffee grounds until you have the color and texture that is good for you. It isn't as messy as you would think!
I have more ideas in mind for this project so I stopped before the clay got too saturated with the coffee grounds. And don't stop reading because the last idea I think might be my favorite!
I rolled out the clay with a rolling pin and used heart shaped cookie cutters to cut out a bunch of hearts.
I used a straw to create a hole in the clay for a ribbon or string... or both!
I let the hearts dry on a cookie drying rack for a few hours.
Before the clay was completely dry I used an emery board to sand off any rough pieces of clay on the edges of the hearts.
Next, I used a soft brush and a brown ink pad to distress the edges of the hearts.
Now came the fun part... I used rubber stamps with flowers to stamp with the brown ink pad onto the clay hearts. It almost looked like I had pressed a branch right into the clay.
If you look closely you can see the coffee grounds in the clay and it adds a beautiful natural texture.
I let the clay hearts dry completely at this point then added burlap, jute, and coffee stained ribbons to the hearts. On a couple I even added a wooden bead.
These little cute hearts are perfect to give as a gift or hang on a gift for Valentine's Day.
READ MORE: VALENTINE'S DAY CRAFTS
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You could make these using a circle cookie cutter to make a clay gift tag for any time of year.
My experiment with the coffee grounds worked great but that's not all...
I decided to try this clay with a non-Valentine project. I followed all the directions above but then cut out a larger circle of clay. I stamped bees then distressed the same as the hearts.
This time when it dried I decided to use it as the base of a cloche, you never know when you will find or make a cloche that needs a base!
This is perfect to add to my shelf of DIY cloches!
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