No Cook Clay (Hardens When Air Dried)

Never thought I can make a beautiful craft out of cornstarch and glue.  It was one boring day so I decided to search for a new project which I and the kids can work on.  Pinterest is the perfect site to look for that.  Upon searching I found this idea.  Making clay using cornstarch and glue as the main ingredient.  After reading the procedures I head on to our kitchen get the cornstarch of course we had glue in our house too and started working.

As promised here's the tutorial on how make the no cook clay that dries hard.  Compared to salt clay this clay turns out so white.  Figures using salt clay turns hard too but becomes soggy and watery in hot and humid weather so it will not last very long. I have a tutorial on how to a make salt clay too.  Click here.

Materials:

• cornstarch
• glue 
• mixing bowl
• oil / vegetable oil 

Optional materials

• cookie cutters
• food color  
• roling pin
• poster colors / acrylic paints / nail polish (for coloring)

Put the cornstarch in your mixing bowl and make a well.  Put the glue in the well.  Take note to measure your cornstarch because you'll be needing to put half of that amount to determine how much glue your going to add.  2 parts cornstarch 1 part of glue (2:1 ratio).  Example you have one cup of cornstarch therefore you'll only need 1/2 cup of glue.

Cover the glue with cornstarch then start mixing.  I am comfortable using my hands.  You may use your mixing spoon if you want.

When the ingeredients are completely combined, as shown in the photo, transfer your dough in a counter top or table where you can easily knead it untill it smoothens.  Brush oil on the table top before kneading to prevent your dough from sticking.  Or dust your workplace with the remaining cornstarch.

Note: If you find your dough to be too soft and sticky, continue kneading while dusting with more cornstarch until you achieve the perfect consistency of dough that you can easily work on when you start molding it in the shape you want.  If it is too hard and cracking add glue to it or a few drops of water will do to make is more softer for easy molding.

You may color the dough using food color.  Add the food color in the dough then knead it once again till you achieve an even color.

If you wish to keep the dough for later use.  Grease the dough and keep it in a plastic seal then place it inside an air tight container to prevent it from drying. 

You may use cookie cutters to form shape.  That's what we did.  Using the rolling pin flatten your dough to the desired thickness.  Try to work as fast as you can because air can make the dough dry. Better to get a small amount of clay to work on and the rest of it is inside an airtight container.  Cut the shapes.  

Use a toothpick to make small holes if you want to make it as key chain / to be able inserting a ribbon.       

Use water to stick smaller shapes to a larger shape if you wish too. Water will serve as your glue. Do this by using a paint brush or simply dipping your finger into water to make it a bit wet a place the shape where you want it to be placed. Have them air dried for overnight.

The next day, children were excited to color them.  I noticed that the shapes turns a bit more harder after letting it air dried for another day before putting color on it.  We used nail polish to color them.  I tried to use crayons and it works too.  

Additional tip.  If you'll make a huge batch of clay it  is cheaper to use the carpenter's glue or wood glue.  That's what I have used in  this project.  I have that in our house because I used it repairing our crib.  1 liter of that glue cost around P80.00.

That's it hope this tutorial helped you.  Happy crafting!