Moulding Clay Tip!

We've all heard about the amazing new Simply Pressed Moulding Clay, & Clay Moulds right? 

I love the stuff. I love how easy it is to work with.  I love how the options are endless with what you can make out of the clay.  I love that I can make the clay any colour I want it to be.  I love that one small packet of clay never seems to run out.  I love those moulds, oh so much.  They are so sweet. 

But, there is one thing I do not love about Moulding Clay.  It takes at least 12 hours to dry.  

Recently I held a Workshop where everyone needed a large clay flower for their project.  Due to the drying time, it was necessary for me to pre-make everyone's clay flower beforehand. I needed 8 flowers, which meant I needed to get started making them about a week before the Workshop.  I had a plan to put clay in the mould each morning, and let it set during the day and overnight, and each morning, pop out the flower and put in new clay. I did this for two days... and then promptly forgot, until it was the day before my workshop.  I needed 6 more flowers! How was I going to make 6 flowers in 24 hours? Let me explain how.

Push your clay into the mould, and PUT IT IN THE FREEZER! Yep, you read right, the freezer. Leave it in for 30 mins, pull it out and quickly pop it out of the mould and then place it somewhere safe to dry. You have to remember to act quickly though. It literally freezes the clay, just enough, so that you can easily pop it out of the mould to complete it's drying process. If you don't pop it out of the mould straight away it starts to return to room temperature and will pick up your finger marks. 

I was able to make all 6 remaining flowers in a couple of hours, and they were dry, and ready to go for the Workshop on the next morning!

If you have a great Moulding Clay tip to share, I'd love to hear it!

To read more about some of the fun things you can do with Moulding Clay, go here.