Air Dry Clay Trinket Dish Craft for Kids

Let's create a beautiful trinket dish - perfect for a Mother's Day present!

These trinket dishes are so pretty + make a great handmade present too!

These air dry clay trinket dishes were a fairly simple DIY project that I did with my 5 and 8 year old daughters.

The inspiration came from a little trinket dish that my eldest daughter made at school for Mother's Day when she was in Kindy (such a beautiful gift idea from her amazing teacher!). It was the sweetest present that I still use now for my jewellery 4 years later! I love it so much!

We made these last year as a Christmas present, but they also make a perfect Mother's Day present or birthday present. There is something really special about a handmade present and the love that goes into making it!

*Important: Art idea for children ages 3+ as contain small parts which may be a choking hazard. Please ensure all art is supervised by an adult.

Crystal chips are recommended for children ages 5+ Adult supervision is recommended at all times.

How to make an air dry clay trinket dish

You will need:

Air dry clay - white (you can use terracotta too) (ours was from Spotlight)
Baking paper
Tray
Crystal chips (ours were from Growing Kind) or pressed flowers
Eco glitter (optional)
Modge Podge (ours was gloss finish) or other clear glue.
Rolling pin - optional
Cookie or playdough cutters if you wish to make some clay decorations
Small container of water

To wrap:

Ribbon
Wrapping paper
tissue paper
tape + scissors

air dry clay trinket dish craft for kids — Cookie cutters are great for making air dry clay decorations too!

We made these as a Christmas present so we made some other decorations at the same time. We also used a cookie cutter to make little hearts that we used to decorate our presents. If you can't find any crystal chips, I have also seen these made with pressed flowers!

What to do:

Trinket dish

Line a tray with baking paper to put the clay pieces onto to dry + put a piece of baking paper or similar onto your table to contain the mess.
Cut off a piece of the clay and using your hands shape the clay into a dish shape. You child may need some assistance to do this. We used some little sprinkles of water to wet the clay to help mould and smooth out any cracks in the clay.
Gently press the crystal chips into the clay while it is still wet.
Put your trinket dish onto the tray to dry.
When the clay has dried paint a thin layer of glue onto the dish and sprinkle on some eco glitter (optional). Add another thin layer of glue over the glitter to make sure it is stuck down.
Leave to dry for a day or two (or longer if needed).

Present clay heart decorations:
- Roll out some clay between two sheets of baking paper with a rolling pin.
- Using cookie cutters, cut out the shapes you would like.
- Using a toothpick or a pencil, make a small hole in the clay shape so you can later thread it with some string/ribbon.
- Leave to dry in the air (overnight or longer if needed).
- When dry - coat with some glue and a sprinkle of glitter to finish them off.
- Leave to dry.

.Air dry clay decorations are easy to make to add to your present wrapping for an extra special touch. We chose to make hearts.

air dry clay trinket dish craft for kids with clay heart decorations — We used cookie cutters to make hearts to decorate the presents

We coated our trinket dishes with a thin layer of modge podge gloss glue to help the crystal chips stay in place and the glitter stay stuck.

Giving a trinket dish as a present

We wrapped our trinket dishes in some tissue paper to help keep them safe. Then we carefully wrapped them again some brown wrapping paper tied with a bright pink bow and the little clay heart. Dont' they look so sweet!