Clay Play! JEWELRY

A very easy little book to entertain children in time for the holidays. The book would suit young children as well as the older young teens. The combination of store brought beads and findings make the clay made jewellery look very professional. There is step by step picture based instructions and even a guide to the size of clay required. Parents are needed to help with the baking of the clay but the rest is left to the children to use either their imagination or follow the directions.

Review will be posted Jan 22 Clay Play! Jewelry is a craft book with over 40 awesome clay projects included. Making something out of clay has always been a bit of a bucket list item for me, but I've never managed to get the supplies to actually do it. With this book, now I know what kind of tools go into it as well as have many ideas for things that I can make! The first part of the book is all about your tools and supplies as well as how to keep everything organized and what hardware you need to turn your clay creations into jewelry. It then goes into the basics of using Polymer clay and then the basics of making jewelry.

The book then shows you all the different designs that you can make, starting with tasty treats. Hope you're not hungry because some of these look good enough to eat! (Don't eat them. They are clay.) The section for each item has what kind of clay you need as well as a size chart so you can make your clay pieces as big as you need followed by the step by step directions. There are also photo instructions included so you can follow along to make sure that your clay looks how it should. Other sections of projects include: Animals & Birds, Seasonal Sensations, Beads, and finally Jewelry Design Ideas.

I don't know about you, but now I have a ton of ideas! If only I had some clay...

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

Clay Play! Jewelry is a delightful and instructive book to learn how to start learning how to use polymer clay with children. I have used polymer clay before, for fun and making creatures, but I learned so much myself. This book goes over the basic tools and supplies, the basic shapes and how to achieve them, jewelry parts and how to bend and use, and more. The book then show you step by step how to make so many cute items into earrings, necklaces, wrist bands, and more. Each item has a guide of how much of what color and step by step color pictures. Examples include: Pizza, hot dogs, ice cream cone, hamsters, owl and penguin, panda, puppy, kitty, rose, daisy, snowman, bat and skull, gingerbread cookie, and candy cane. The book goes into how to make beads of different kinds such as cone, triangle and hearts. This is a book my grand kids would love and it is in simple enough terms and with enough pictures that they could read. Of course adult supervision is required when working with clay and an oven but they can let their imagination run wild! I received this book for a honest review from NetGalley and it in no way effected my rating or content of this review.

A great book for helping youngsters - and older enthusiasts - work with polymer clay to create miniature foods and animals as charms for jewellery.
With excellent opening sections about both working with clays and making jewellery, the step by step instructions are supported by clear photos. I can see this being a hit with families -certainly one for the library shelf.

Clay Play Jewelry is an excellent book on how to make clay jewelry that is playful. I recommend ot for children (with adult supervision), teens, and adults. It's fun, whimsical jewelry that's broken down into easy steps. I could even see adapting the size of the projects to make other crafts out of clay! I received a free copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

I think this is a brilliant book. What makes it work so well are the incredibly clear and simple photos. They make the projects very easy to follow and mean that even beginners can have a good go at the projects. I also like the information at the start of the book that tells you exactly what you need and how to get started with polymer clay.

The projects themselves are super-cute, ranging from foodie treats like cupcakes and hotdogs through to buzzy bees and cute cats and dogs. They are fun and colourful, so ideal for young children.

Another nice touch are the final pages where the book gives you instructions on making your own beads, so you can make pieces of jewellery from scratch, incorporating both polymer clay beads and the quirky charms made in earlier chapters.

All in all this is a fantastic book. The instructions and photography are clear and easy to follow, and the projects are fun. We’ve now tried a few of them and although some have been less than successful, we have produced some lovely items and had lots of fun along the way.

I highly recommend this for anyone who fancies a fun craft they can do with children or just for themselves!

I would like to thank Dover Publications for allowing me a free ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an open and honest review.

This book was reviewed with the help of my 8 year old crafty daughter and the score comes from both of us. We loved this book!

Clear, concise instructions with pictures to guide you along the way, an introduction that talked the reader through all they would need to continue – this book had it all!

Then there are the different themes of foods, animals, bugs, and more. Just the right assortment to get any beginner clay player interested.

My daughter’s feedback is she loved how you could follow how to make something from the ‘ball chart’ and step by step pictures and then, if you got stuck, there were the written instructions to help you understand it better.

We both agree it was very easy to follow, while being fun and full of great ideas. And yes, yes we will both be saving our pocket money to go buy some clay and get jewellery making now!

Would I recommend this book to others? Yes I would. I would even give this book as a gift to children and families into crafty afternoon fun. The perfect gift and the perfect book to keep creative minds and hands busy! The great thing is the projects are small and so won’t take up too much time and so your children shouldn’t get bored in doing one or two of them at a time. Pace yourselves though!

Would I buy this book for myself? Yes I would. It’s on my Amazon wish list! Daughter and I really loved it, enjoyed having a go at a few and all in all can see it as a great addition to our craft library.

In summary: Lots of fantastic, creative and easy to do clay play jewellery projects. They are all short/ quick to do and so children don’t get bored, nor are they too fiddly for certain ages too. The younger the child, the more help they might need. But for my 8 year old – a perfect book to help her keep herself amused for an afternoon or two. Highly recommend!

Another Dover winner! Clear, easy-t0-follow directions are accompanied by step-by-step photographs of all projects. The range of projects is comprehensive--yummy treats, animals. butterflies, beads, and more. Photos of materials needed precede the projects. If you're looking for a first polymer clay book for young children (or even grownups_--this is it! Five stars.

Used this book with my child to learn to create fun animals out of clay. We have made figurines and charms. The pictures were vibrant and beautiful. The book is an inspiration for sure.