We’ve Gone Batty!

Remember that polymer clay I bought recently? Looks like it’s definitely going to be a big hit with the grandsons. At least it was a hit with nine-year-old Carsen when he recently came to visit. Earlier that morning I’d softened the clay so that it wouldn’t be quite so hard to work with, and I also got out an old Halloween cookie-cutter.

Together Carsen and I rolled and cut the clay to create these adorable bats:

Oh, yes, we also created a clay “jaw-breaker” — just a little round ball of left-over clay. In the photo above you can see it, as well as several of our bats. At this point they were ready to go into the oven to bake.

Here’s a look at our process. First Carsen rolled out the clay. We used orange and also a gray clay.

Then we carefully cut the bats from the clay.

Carsen is a very creative young man, and he had fun adding features to the bats. And, yes, by the way, he also enjoyed that orange popsicle!

Once our bats were baked — doesn’t that sound crazy! — we allowed them to cool and then gave them a shot of varnish.

I had previously purchased a supply of small round magnets. They’re adhesive-backed, and were very easy to use. We did have to press hard to be sure the magnets were secured.

When all was said and done, we had a nice little collection of bat-shaped refrigerator magnets, just in time to celebrate the upcoming Halloween season.

Carsen took the orange and gray bats home and the crazy multi-colored bat is still hanging around on our refrigerator, hard at work holding up our weekly dinner menu.

Now, we’re making plans for more holiday magnets. Thanksgiving is coming up, and Carsen also wants to use the clay for home-made Christmas ornaments. Excellent idea, Carsen!

Playing at the table together with our clay was a fun time, for sure. So, if you’re looking for a fairly simple project to share with kids or grandkids, I can definitely recommend polymer clay. The possibilities are endless!