Hello, it’s Lisa here with a lovely and practical craft project where I will show you how to make Jewelry Dishes With Copper Touches (perfect for holiday gift giving!) for this month’s Make Me column on decor8. I tend to take my jewelry off during random times at my desk, in the bathroom or before getting into bed – do you do that too? I decided that the best solution is to have a few little dishes scattered about to keep my rings and things safe from being accidentally knocked on the floor or out of sight. Why not make them myself, I thought. And so I did. Here is how you can, too.

Supplies You’ll need: White air dry clay, a metallic copper sharpie or Copper leaf, sizing, a paint brush and sealer.

Step 1: Make The Dish Start by rolling out a long sausage of clay about three eighths of an inch (1cm) thick. Then make a small coil bowl out of it. At this stage you want a bowl shape, not a dish shape. Now smooth out the inside and outside of the bowl. Next start thinning out the bowl by gently pinching it. As the clay gets thinner start shaping the walls outwards to form a dish shape. Continue until the clay is less than an eighth of an inch (a couple of millimeters) thick. Make an organic free-form shape with some parts of the side wall higher than others. Allow the dish to dry thoroughly according to the instructions on the clay packaging.

Step 2: Add Copper Touches I’m loving the current copper trend so I enjoyed adding some to my jewelry dishes. I used a sharpie to color the rim of one of my dishes and it went on easily and lends itself to creating any sort of pattern or decoration you like. The other two dishes are embellished with copper leaf. To compliment the organic shapes of the dishes I wanted a finish that wasn’t neat or uniform. Make sure you are working in an area without a draft and follow the directions on the pack, applying the sizing first, followed by the copper leaf and finally a spray (or two) of sealant.

I’ve only been using my jewelry dishes for a week and they’ve been fabulous – I no longer have earrings scattered all over my apartment and I know where to find things again.

With the festive season fast approaching you may think about surprising friends and loved ones with handmade gifts this year. If you start planning and making now you’ll be ready for the holidays without feeling stressed or rushed. These petite jewelry dishes would make an ideal gift – they don’t take long to make and they look great.

I hope you enjoy making them and I’ll catch up with you here on decor8 again next month with another installation of Make Me! - Lisa xo

(text/images: lisa tilse)