I couldn’t give any other name to this blog post. It’s just clay and it is the most perfect material in the UNIVERSE.  Maybe it’s because it’s a natural material and that’s why I feel I understand it so good. Maybe I just found the most perfect teacher and she is the one who makes it all simple. Maybe my fellow students at pottery class are just amazing and give me inspiration. Or just maybe it’s all of the above combined.

Anyway, this post is not a “how to” but I can show you what I made. And I must admit that I am really proud! (so please, don’t judge to harshly!)

So, this box was actually an exercise for us to learn how to make clay joints.  Yes, the wheel is not the only way to make pottery (something like Ghost and stuff!). There ARE other ways! It’s like making pizza dough, you cut it at the pieces of your preference and then you stick them together.

This is how it looks before the oven.

After the oven (the lines are some tests I did, but I didn’t like it in the end) 

And then, color! 

And a saucy detail!

Now let’s see my plates! These were simpler, but the details are quite challenging.

And now the glazing with liquid glass remains. Anyway, it’s this glazing process that makes pottery OK to drink or eat from. Very impressive but you need to be precise and really know what you’re doing. When they are 100% ready I’ll photograph them again to show you.

PS. As you can figure, this is not air dry clay. It’s a totally different thing, harder, more interesting, with history and tradition (And Greece has a tremendous tradition in pottery!)

It’s been a while since my last post. But I’ll try to be more consistent. Actually I have been taking pottery classes and I don’t even have time to write (I’ll tell you all about it though soon)! Anyway, I don’t want to blabber, last week I made this scratch post for Pritsini and Loukia (my cats).

You will need some rope, a piece of wood (mine was from an old bed slat that I cut), glue, screws, electric drill to put it on the wall and a lot of patience! Preety simple, right?

Let’s see

Using a brush I glued the wood. Careful though, not to put too much glue otherwise the rope will get messy.

With patience I wrapped the rope around the wood.

And then, just for the cuteness of it, I added a little orange.

I drilled 4 holes in the wall and put it with screws.

Cha ching!!! (Loukia is a bonus)

So here it is, something easy, made by you for your cats! And even if they never use it (cause with cats there’s always this chance) it’s OK because it’s just tre chic!

When making something for your unique, amazing, pretty little 2year old niece, you make it with excitement, energy and precision! The idea was not mine! I was looking online last week to find something to make for her, instead of buying something that would last for 3 days and I found this blog post. I copied the idea with some differences though.

And, since I am certain that you too want to make this amazing toy for your child/niece/nephew/godson etc, I’ll write it down for you with all the details.

You’ll need:

• 2 beams, 3 meters long with a 4,5 cm side
• Food coloring
• Vinegar
• Saw
• Sander
• Sanding paper (120)

The logic of the game is that it follows the shape of a pyramid. We begin with the highest blocks in the center and while moving outwards, we make the blocks shorter. The following sketch might help you a lot better.

So, you cut the wood according to the sketch. The height lowers accordingly to the beam’s side size. What you want is for the smallest ones to be cubes. So from row to row the difference is 4,5 cm. I had the wood cut at the hardware store where I bought it, but they could only cut it up to 18cm, and no less. So, all the rest I had to cut myself. That took me around 45 minutes.

Here are the 18cm ones.

And here are the rest.

After I cut everything, I HAD to sand the corners in order for the blocks not to be dangerous. That’s one of the differences of my edition of the blocks. And that was the hardest part that took me 2,5 hours and gave me a temporary Parkinsons disease and a two hour loss of hearing!

Wood, ready!

And then, before the paint, I made this gif! 🙂 

Finally, since the blocks are meant for little kids, they need to be as safe as possible. That’s why I painted it with food coloring that is non-toxic. Mix 2-3 drops of the food coloring with 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of vinegar and start painting. You can experiment with the quantities and due to the wood that is very absorbing you can get many different shades. I experimented with the blue a lot.

This took me around 1 hour, and the result is very rewarding. And now I give you a lot of pictures of the final result because I am super happy and excited!

Oh, I almost forgot, you need to also make a tray to put them in. I suggest you make the blocks first, then measure and then make it. I used nails, nothing hard to do.

For my next kids project, I am thinking about a wooden puzzle! Any other ideas?