Clay ring plates

We’re pretty much three months away from our wedding and things seem relatively calm for now. Or so we’d like to think :)

This past weekend, I managed to squeeze some time to make something for the wedding – a clay ring plate. I liked the idea of a plate as we’d be able to use it in our new home instead of tossing it aside after the wedding.

This was my first attempt which is far from perfect. But the imperfection slowly grew on me… Somewhat organic and beautiful in an unpolished way. :)

How to make this:

You’ll want to get your hands on some clay. They usually come in air dry or oven baked versions. I used an air dry clay in this case as I didn’t feel comfortable placing it in the same oven we use to cook food. (Yay to crafters who have a separate one for cool stuff like this!)

For tools, you’ll want:

• either a plate or a deep bowl to act as the mold of the ring plate
• something sharp to cut the clay (you can use old butter knives)
• some water
• a working surface (I used the waxy side of freezer paper here)
• a rolling pin or smooth bottle

Cut out a chunk of clay for your plate.

Roll out the clay. You can use a rolling pin or in my case, I used an old bottle. If you use a bottle, be careful of labels making marks!

And no… I am not a closet alcoholic. Swiped this bottle off my sis from a recent party. ;)

Once the clay is rolled flat and evenly, place your plate or anything circular over the clay and cut it out. (Recognize this plate? It has appeared in my save the date card, and potpourri from roses posts!)

Once you’ve cut out the plate, place it in a deep bowl or on a plate (you can see the plate version later on) to give curves around the edges.

To add words, you can use a metal stamping kit or rubber stamps. Use the extra clay from your cutaways to practice the lettering and ensure you’ve got the letters facing the right way before you stamp down on your actual plate.

Note: If you’re using the metal stamping kit for the first time like I did, be careful of oil stains!

We liked this phrase and decided to use it on our ring plate :)

If you will be using ribbon to secure the rings, add a hole or two to accommodate the ribbon being tied onto the plate.

Follow instructions on your clay pack to let it dry or bake it, and you’re pretty much done! You may also want to cover it with a layer of lacquer spray if you want to paint over it.

Me being the typical back-up planner and over-thinker, I used the additional clay to create a second ring plate in case the first one breaks. I played around with design and we may actually use this as the main plate on the day!

For more clay entertainment, you can continue reading…

Instead of using the deep bowl for shaping, I just placed the clay back on the plate for shaping. My rolling clearly wasn’t amazing as the thickness was not very even, but hey, it still works!

Added our solemnization date in this one and center-aligned all the words.

To give it more of a geometric edge, you can use a ruler to cut out some of the edges carefully.

When the clay dries it turns white – for now it’s a bit yellowish when wet so don’t worry if you feel it looks funny at first.

To secure the ribbon, you can tie a dead knot after stringing it through the plate first, followed by slip knots to hold the ring. That way it’s easy for the ring bearer to remove them from the plate when the time comes.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! :)

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