Easy to Make Clay Dough from Glue and Bread

Here is a fun, make at home clay-Dough that you can make with ingredients you normally have on hand. It's a great way to use up stale bread. It is a little messy so prepare the surface you will be working on accordingly. Once you get the dough made, why not make this Carrot Necklace.

MATERIALS:
4-5 slices white bread (with the crust removed)
WHITE SCHOOL GLUE
Measuring spoons
Bowl
Plastic wrap
Red, yellow and green food coloring
Round toothpicks
30"- 1\8" wide green ribbon
Clasp and hook (for necklace)
Thin, large eye needle
Permanent marker

Clay-Dough Recipe:

In a bowl, tear two slices of bread into small pieces; add 1-tablespoon white school glue. Mix until dough forms. Knead for 1 minute. (If the dough comes out too sticky, add more bread. If too dry--cracks when kneading or won't mix together--add more glue.) The dough dries very quickly so be sure and keep all dough tightly wrapped in plastic wrap.

In one batch add 1 drop red and 2 drops yellow food coloring. (Orange clay-dough) Knead clay-dough until uniform in color. Make two batches of dough splitting the next batch in half. To one half add 4 drops green food coloring. (Green Clay-dough) To the next add: 1 drop green, 2 drops red and 3 drops yellow food coloring. (Brown clay-dough.)

CARROTS: Take a small bit of dough and roll in the palms of you hands until you have an egg shape about 1" long. Using you fingers, flatten into a teardrop shape. You now have the body of the carrot.

For the top, take a tiny ball of green and flatten as thin and as long as you can get it. Gather the bottom edge by pinching it between you fingers. Place on the back of the carrot so the ruffle part shows over the head of the carrot. Smooth the green into the back of the carrot slightly with your finger. Finish by making 5 lines across the carrot's body with a toothpick. Let air dry for a half hour and then pierce with a toothpick. It is easier to twist the toothpick as you push it in so as not to distort the carrot's shape. Let dry over night turning pieces once.

Make 8 carrots.

THE BUNNY: Out of the brown clay-dough form an egg about 1-1\2" long. Flatten it slightly by pressing it against your work surface lightly. Take 2 small balls of brown and roll into logs or snakes for the bunny's ears. Flatten all but the tips of the snakes and press onto the back of the bunny's head (top or small portion of the 1-1\2" long egg) smoothing the back slightly with your finger. Let set a half hour and pierce with a toothpick like you did for the carrots. Let dry over night turning piece once.
Make one.

The next day, remove the toothpicks by a combination of a twisting, pulling motion. Draw the face on the bunny with the permanent marker.

Thread 1\8" wide ribbon on the needle. String one carrot, placing it in the center. Tie a knot on either side of the carrot. Working the right side of the necklace, *tie another knot about a 1\2" or finger span away from the previous knot, string on bunny, knot. Repeat from * until 3 more carrots are added. Repeat on other side using the remaining 4 carrots.

Cut the ends of the ribbon at an angle. Thread the point through the eye of the clasp. Pull ribbon through and knot. Do the same for the hook.