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Dragon with a pinch pot (hollow)  tummy!

Take one of your Dipsy balls of clay and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and put 2 balls back into the bag.
Make each of two balls into a bowl shape by pinching. First stick your thumb in the centre then taking your time and feeling the clay, pinch up rather than out until the bowl is even thickness and 6 to 8 cm across. Make sure your bowls have even rims.
Scratch the rims of your bowls and paint each with slip. This will ensure a good join. Join the two bowls together and use your finger or a ‘finger tool’ to cover over the join.
Roll the ball gently on a flat surface to smooth. If the join reappears cover over again. Continue until your ball is perfect!
Now use the other 2 balls you put back in the bag. Cut one into half and half again to make 4 pieces. Cut the other ball into half and then just one half into half again to make one big and 2 small pieces. Roll all the pieces into balls.
You should now have 6 smaller balls and one larger ball for the dragon bits.
To make the head take 2 small balls and pinch each into a little bowl. Try to make the bowls tall so that the head will be oval rather than round. Join the 2 rims together as before and smooth the join to make the head. Dont forget to scratch the rims and paint with slip first. Roll your head gently on a flat surface to make it more oval and then make the nose end more pointed than the other end. Pinch the head to form indents for the eyes and nostrils.
Now add a neck using another of the small balls. Roll the ball gently on a flat surface to make into a short cylinder. Pierce the cylinder with a pointed tool or pencil and wiggle the tool round to make the hole wider until you can get your finger in the hole. With your finger gently widen the hole to make the neck. Pinch out one edge of the cylinder ready to join to the head.
Pierce the underside of the head  where it will join to the neck. This allows the air to travel between the head and neck and avoid the head exploding when fired! Make the hole bigger and pull the hole out a bit. Scratch and slip around the hole and the pinched edge of the neck and join the surface together. Smooth the join with  your finger or the finger tool.
Pierce the body ball to allow the air to move between the neck and body. Widen the hole and pull out a bit. Pinch round the lower edge of the neck where it will join to the body. Scratch and slip round the head hole and the inside of the lower neck edge and join the surfaces together. Smooth over the join.
Sit your dragon on a flat surface so he doesn’t wobble. You can gently squeeze and slap the body round a bit and smooth the neck joints to make it all look right before you move on.
Use the bigger ball to make the tail. Roll the ball between your hands or on a flat surface to make a lone cone shape. The fat end will join to the body. Cut off a piece from the fat end for the pointy bit on the end of the tail. Make this bit into a flat triangle.
Pierce the fat end of the tail and widen the hole until you can get your finger in. Pinch around the edge where the tail will join to the body. The pierce the body where the tail will join and widen the hole and pull out as you did for the neck join. Scratch and slip around the hole and inside the fat end of the tail stick on the tail and smooth the join.
Curl the tail round as you see fit. If the tail cracks a bit rub slip onto the tail as you bend it round.
One more ball will make the feet and arms. Cut it into 4 and roll into little balls ready for these. Cut another ball in half and one half into half again for the ears. Shape the feet arms and ears as in the image above and join to the body as shown below. Scratch and slip all the joints. Smooth over the joints a bit to make sure of a good join but most smoothing can be done later.
Join the pointy bit on the end of the tail!
Take the last ball and cut in half for the wings. First shape into triangles  with a blunt end – this end will join to the dragon. Keep this bit quite thick. Shape the rest into a wing shape as shown and join onto the dragon. Ensure a good join with the ‘finger tool’.
Make about 7 pointy bits with the last bit of clay. You might not use all of the depending on the character of your Dragon. Give each pointy bit a flat base where it join to the dragon. Stick pointy bits to the back and tail and possibly the nose. Smooth all the joints.
As your dragon starts to dry you can continue to smooth the joints – this is easier when the clay is less sticky and less likely to collapse! You can use your finger, the finger tool, a brush or a sponge for this smoothing. Use as little water as possible as wetting the clay will weaken it again. Dont worry about making everything really smooth – you can make brush or smoothing marks a feature of your dragons character!!!

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Mouse or chicken with a hollow body- a little bit trickier.

There’s a trick to making birds and animals with hollow bodies. A hollow body uses less clay and is lighter and will dry out more quickly. To make a hollow body make two pitch pots and stick them together ….

I’ve written another blog post with more pictures showing how to make a hollow ball with pinch pots.

Use about 150g of clay to make a chicken or mouse. Your Dipsy ball of clay will make one of each.

For the chicken with a hollow body: divide your ball of clay into 4. Roll each 1/4 into a ball and use 2 balls to make the body.
Make a pinch pot with of two of your balls.
Make sure the rims of your pinch pots are the same size and if not pinch one a bit more to make them match. Then scratch, wet and gently rub the edge of both pinch pots to make them sticky. Stick the pinch pots together to make a ball smoothing over the join with you thumb or a blunt knife. Roll your ball gently on a flat surface to get it really round.
Make a hole in your hollow ball in order to change its shape. Pinch, roll and smooth the ball into an egg shape with a neck and bottom. – you can now continue with the instructions for the Stay at home chicken – easy.
To make a mouse with a hollow body divide the clay into 3. Roll each 1/3 into a ball. Use two of the balls to make the body and the other 1/3 for the rest of the mouse bits.

Make two pinch pots and join them to make the body. Make a hole in the body and roll one end of the body to make it pointed for the nose – more pictures to follow.

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Make a hollow ball with two pinch pots.

A hollow ball can be used as a base to make many animals or birds and many other things. It can be a bit tricky at first but practice makes perfect!
Start with 2 equal size balls of clay. Start to make a pinch pot with one ball by sticking your thumb in the middle of the ball.

Gently pinch around the thumb hole to make a bowl shape. Take your time and feel the clay as you pinch to make sure you don’t pinch too hard and make the clay too thin. Try not to pinch the clay outwards too much which will make the bowl too flat. You are aiming to make a hemisphere (a half ball). If your pinch pot goes wrong, wet the clay a little and roll it back into a ball and start again.
Repeat with the other ball of clay to make another pinch pot. The rims of the pinch pots need to be the same size so they match up when joined.
Scratch the rim of both of your pinch pots.
Wet the rims of both pinch pots to make them sticky. Hold one pinch pot in each hand ready for joining.
Gradually bring the rims together until the two pots are joined
Smooth clay over the join using your thumb or a blunt knife or similar. When the whole rim join is covered over roll the ball gently on a table or other flat surface to make the ball round and smooth.
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Stay at home chicken – easy

This chicken is made with a solid body like the mouse in the previous post. Use about 150g of clay – a Dipsy Dragon ball of clay will make 2. (Any ammount of clay will do if you stick to the fractions given)

Stay at home chicken!
Divide your ball of clay into 3. Use 2/3 for the body and 1/3 for the other bits and roll these into balls.
Shape the body piece by rolling, pinching and smoothing to make a sort of egg shape with a neck and a bottom like the image.
Divide the small ball into 2 and roll into balls. Divide one ball into 3, 1/3 each for the wings and 1/3 for both feet. Divide the other ball into 2, 1/2 for the head and beak and the other 1/2 for the comb and tail. Roll all these pieces into balls.
Take a small pinch of clay off the head ball for the beak. Divide the tail and comb ball into three, 2/3 for the tail and 1/3 for the comb. Divide the feet ball into 2 one for each foot.this seems complicated but doesn’t need to be exact. Have a look at the next picture if you are confused!!
This picture shows how to divide the clay up for all the chicken bits!
Stick on the chickens head and smooth it. Dont forget to scratch and wet both sides of the join first. Shape the little pinch of clay into a beak and stick it on.
Make the other balls onto wing, tail, comb and feet shapes and stick them on. Use something like a pencil to make the eyes. The blunt end for the outer circle and the point in the middle. Now you have a stay at home chicken!!.
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Stay at home mouse – easy

Here are some instructions for making a mouse with a solid body. This is fine for airdry clay but not a good idea if the mouse is going to be fired in a kiln. Instructions for a mouse with a hollow body that can be fired are given in a later post.

If you use about 150 grams of clay. Your ball of clay from Dipsy dragon will make 2 mice or other animals.

**Remember to scratch and wet both surfaces of the clay when you stick bits of clay to each other**

Roll you clay into a ball and divide into quarters. Use 3/4 of the clay for the body and 1/4 for the other bits. Roll both the 3/4 and 1/4 pieces into balls.
Roll one end of the larger body piece at one end to make it pointed for the nose. Divide the smaller piece into 4.
Use 1/4 of the small ball to make the feet. Divide this quarter into 2, roll each into a ball and flatten into mouse feet shapes and stick on the body (scratch and wet all the surfaces for sticking)
Roll each of the other three quarters into balls. Pinch two small balls from one ball for the eyes and stick these on the body. Mark on the nose and mouth.
Cut a ball in 2, roll each half into a ball and flatten to form round ears and stick on. Cut another ball in 2, roll each half into a ball and then a sausage and form arm and hand and stick on. Roll the last ball into a long sausage, thinner at one end, for the tail. Stick on the tail.
And now you have a mouse!
You can use an extra bit of clay to make a heart or anything else for the mouse to hold.
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Easter chick

This chick is also based on a cone like the bunny in the last post. Start with two equal sized balls of clay.

Make one of the balls of clay into a cone shape by rolling it first into a fat sausage and then rolling one end to make it pointy.
Make a hole in the end of the cone with a pencil and move the pencil around to make the hole bigger. Slap the cone on its bottom to make sure its flat.
Divide the other ball of clay into 4 and roll each into a ball. Two of the balls are for wings, one is for the head and the beak and the last one is divided into 3 for the two feet and the tail feathers.