Conversation Heart Clay Gift Tags

Conversation Heart Clay Gift Tags – Homemade Air Dry Clay Recipe – Easy Valentine Craft

I resisted taking down my Christmas decorations. Seriously. Didn’t lift a single taking-down-Christmas-decorations-finger until mid-January.

At the earliest.

I justified my need for extended Christmas decor because I “lost a week” (okay, technically five days) when I traveled to California for my best friend’s 60th.

And then as I walked around my neighborhood every day-ish (weather-permitting) striving for those magical 10,000 daily steps, I took note of which neighbors still had trees in their windows.

And as long as I saw one or two … and trust me, the numbers kept dwindling as the days in January reached double digits … I justified keeping mine up.

At this late date in January I’ve reluctantly removed all – okay, not all but like over 50% – of the remaining twinkle lights in the house and am ready to embrace Valentine’s Day …

am I? Really?

Honestly, I’ve never been much of a Valentine’s Day celebrator. Though, pragmatically I should be. Or more like romantically.

Because the first time Mike came to visit me in New York/New Jersey – and his first ever visit to New York/New Jersey – was Valentine’s Day weekend. I even made him raspberry heart Linzer cookies.

I’ll save that story for another post.

Our relationship at the time was long distance – he in Chicago, me out East – so Valentine’s Day weekend marked our first “official” date.

So I should be all swoony and gushy on Valentine’s Day.

And yet I’m not.

Maybe it was all those lonely Valentine’s Days before Mike entered my life that left me jaded?

And perhaps I would feel differently if the Valentine’s Day holiday came with twinkle lights? 😉

Even though I’m still mourning the loss of the twinkle lights, I thought it was time to make a little Valentine’s Day crafting contribution with some homemade clay conversation heart gift tags. It’s easy. It’s cheap. And it’s a cute way to wrap up those Valentine’s Day (hopefully) sparkly trinkets!

How To Make Conversation Heart Clay Gift Tags

Materials*

1 cup baking soda

1/2 cup corn starch

3/4 cup water

Cookie stamps (1/4″)

Heart shaped cookie cutter

RollingpPin

Wax paper (optional)

*Includes affiliate links

Instructions

Combine baking soda, cornstarch and water in pot. Cook on low to medium heat until it forms into a mashed potato consistency. Immediately pull off the heat and let cool (you can transfer to a bowl to cool) for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Once the dough cools, form into a smooth ball. Then roll out to about 1/4″ height.

Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out clay tags. 1/2 the dough yielded about a dozen hearts (though you can get more if you space the hearts closer and then reuse the leftover scraps).

Create a hole in the top of the clay tag. My recommendation is to 1) make a larger hole than I did and 2) make sure the hole isn’t too close to the clay’s edge otherwise it might crack when drying.

Use stamps to create “conversations” on hearts. I did my loosely. You can use some tape to better line up the stamps. Also I used a metal stamp set that I already had that are 1/4″ high. I linked to a cookie stamp set that is the same height that is 1) more affordable and 2) more practical.

Air dry (which can take 3+ days depending on thickness of clay. I started air drying on a flat surface and turned over once fronts were dry. Then I moved to a drying rack when the bottom half was firm.

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