Make air-dry clay magnets with gouache and UV-resin
I have recently discovered the wonders of air-dry clay. With air-dry clay you can make studio worthy clay pieces in your home without having to fire the clay at extremely high temperatures, instead you simply let the clay dry after sculpting and it will become hard. This of course means that air-dry clay is not as strong as ceramic clay that has been fired in a kiln, but it makes it a crafter’s best friend. The things you can make with air-dry clay are limitless, I have seen people make jewelry, paint palettes, rings dishes and vases. You can even seal the clay sculpture to help make them waterproof, here I am using resin to seal my magnets.
Below I outline the steps I took to make my own tile inspired air-dry clay magnets. This is a super accessible project, and is even kid friendly with parent supervision. This project does require materials that I had to purchase (clay and UV resin kit), but I had the rest of the supplies from my other crafting projects, and I made some tools from household items, so I encourage you to get creative with things you already have before rushing out to buy a bunch of clay tools. Also, sealing your magnets is not a necessary step in this process, it will just help the magnets last longer and I like the look and feel of them.
Air-dry clay tile magnets are easy and fun to make, mine are inspired by tile designs I have collected traveling. Here I painted yellow and blue tulips inspired by the Netherlands, and orange flowers inspired by Mexican artwork.
I have always been very attracted to tile design, and find myself drawn to take pictures of the different tiles I find when I travel. The tiles I painted above are inspired by some of my finds in Greece, Amsterdam and a local Mexican restaurant. You can see some of my inspiration pictures below.
Materials Used:
- Staedtler Air Dry Clay (FIMO® Air 1.1lb. White Air-Dry Modeling Clay)
- Rolling pin for clay (you can use a round pen or a can or bottle)
-2 Guides for measuring clay thickness (I cut up strips of cardboard (2-3 inches wide) and stacked up to my desired clay thickness, then wrapped in aluminum foil)
-Ruler
-X-acto knife
-bowl of water
- Himi Gouache Set of 24 Orange container
- Paintbrushes: Princeton round brushes, and cheaper brushes for applying resin
- Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleedproof White Fine Art Paint
- UV resin starter kit with lamp
-Sandpaper assorted grit
-Small Magnet squares
-Superglue ( I used a generic brand, any will do)
Rolling clay out using measuring guides, ensures that you have even thickness. Be creative with household items for this!
How to make air-dry clay tile magnets
On a clean and dry surface, take out desired amount of clay, and using rolling pin and thickness guides, roll out clay into a rectangle 1/4” thick. In above picture, a rolling pin and wooden guides are used, but household items can also be used. Use a little water on fingertips to smooth out any cracks in surface. For air-dry clay it is advised to not go thinner than 1/4” thick, or your sculpture will be weak and prone to cracking.
Using a ruler and X-acto knife, carefully cut tile shapes of desired size. I cut mine a little bigger than 1 square inch. I was careful to make as perpendicularly straight of a cut as I could to make it easier to shape the magnets. An x-acto knife does not need to used, and for a child friendly version, a plastic knife would work.
Using a little water and your fingers gently shape the magnets so the edges are straight and smooth out any cracks on the top. Lay them on a flat surface that the clay will not stick to and let them dry for 24-48 hours. After a few hours of drying I laid something flat over the top and covered with a heavy book to try and flatten magnets as much as possible. As the clay dries you will see it lighten in color. Try to move the clay as little as possible during the drying process, and do not speed it up by using a hair-dryer or setting it in the sun, as this will lead to cracks in the sculpture.
After the magnets are dry, sand dry clay tiles with various grits of sandpaper to smoothen surface. This helps to get rid of any jagged edges or bumps, if you did a good job smoothing the clay pre-drying you may not need to sand, and this step is completely optional. After this your clay tiles are ready to get painted!
Air dry clay magnets are ready to be painted! I used my smaller brushes for this project to get as fine of detail as possible. I also made little vases as an experiment.
5. Before painting the tiles, superglue small square magnets onto the backs of tiles. The magnets themselves are already a little sticky, but I wanted to be extra confident it would stick. Be careful at this step to not use too much glue and get it on the rest of the magnet or your hands. I went a little crazy and peeled glue off my fingers for the next few days.
6. After the glue dries, paint the tiles with a base coat of white paint, I used Dr. Ph Martin’s Bleed Proof white paint. For the rest of my paint, I used Himi water-soluble gouache, however I have seen that most paints will work for this kind of project, especially non-water soluble paints like acrylic.
7. Finally my favorite part, the painting of all the details! I was inspired by tiles I have found in my travels, specifically Dutch and Mexican motifs, but if detailed painting isn’t your thing you could also splatted paint the tiles or even decoupage with some stickers and colorful paper.
8. Once the paint dries, it is time to seal the magnets with the UV-resin kit. This was my first time using any kind of resin, and I like this kit because it comes with everything you need for a reasonable price (I got mine in March 2024 for around $22 USD). The resin is clear and sticky and smells a little, so I would recommend opening the window while doing this, as well as wearing gloves. Follow the instructions in the kit, apply resin to magnets using either plastic tools included in kit or a paint brush you aren’t too attached to. Use UV lamp to harden resin- I first tried the medium setting on my lamp, but moved up to the longest time as it doesn’t seem to be bad to over harden it. My magnets were still a little tacky to the touch, but I let them sit overnight and then they became smooth and completely hard.
All in all, this craft took me about a week to complete, but I took my time and enjoyed the process of learning and exploring. Let me know if you try it, and what you end up making! Also, what should I make next? Thank you so much for reading, if you enjoyed this tutorial make sure to subscribe below for more tutorials, art supply reviews, and sketchbook art inspiration!