10 Great Pottery Ideas For Beginners

Clay is amazing! It can be shaped into pretty much anything, from mugs and vases to jewelry and lovely portions of art. In this article, we will give you many pottery-making ideas you can make and tips for making pottery.

Great Pottery Ideas

Flower Vases

Still, you can try throwing bigger objects such as vases, if you’re familiar with throwing small quantities of clay on a wheel. Of course, the simplest vase you can throw is just an oversized cup. And that’s actually a great way to start. Controlling a large quantum of clay can be delicate in and of itself.

But vases can come in nearly a horizonless quantum of different shapes. Just a quick Google search will give you a plenitude of alleviation.

Shell Cup 

Still, you can still do a lot of pottery systems by hand, if you don’t have access to a wheel. And one of the easier and more building ideas is this cup made out of seashells.

You can prepare 3/ 4 slabs of clay, shape them like shells, and also connect them together to form a cup.

Still, you could also fluently turn this into a vase rather than a cup, if you use bigger shells.

Egg Plates

Any pottery beginner learns at some point how to throw a plate on a wheel. But these egg plates really show how you can turn a commodity general and boring, add a little creativity, and turn it into a commodity cute and delightful.

It’s also a good illustration of when making a commodity by hand works out better than making it on the wheel.

Still, you would end up with impeccably symmetrical eggs, if you made these plates on the wheel. But have you ever seen one of those in real life? So making these plates by hand works a lot better.

Leave Plates

These ceramic leaves are a lot of fun to make in fall. As soon as the leaves start falling from the trees, you can go out to find a few suitable ones and use them as a template.

Not only can you use the leaves you found to indicate what the outline of your ceramic leaf should be if you press the leaf forcefully in the clay, you frequently get a nice imprint of the nerves as well.

The performing leaf looks super neat and can be used to hold your keys, jewelry, detergents, etc.

Ceramic Baskets

Making ceramic baskets is a delightful way to combine introductory weaving ways with pottery. The easiest way to make them is by using a coliseum or handbasket of the right size as the earth. After preparing the strips of clay, you can also place them on the earth one by one.

The most introductory weaving pattern you can use is of course the plain weave. But if your clay strips are thin enough and you want a redundant challenge, you could indeed try more advanced patterns.

Tea Light Holder

Candleholders might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you’re allowing pottery, but they’re actually a veritably popular item to make during short workshops.

You can principally make any concave shape with your clay, and sculpt many holes to let the light gamble.

Don’t forget to make a big opening at the reverse or leave the top/ bottom open, so you can actually place the tea light outside.

Animal-Shaped Herb Planters

Do you like to grow sauces and use them in your own cuisine? Also, how about making one of these cute animal-shaped planters?

Simply start with a bowl, add four legs, and a neck with a head and you’re done! You could fluently make different heads to represent different animals.

Imagine having a row of these in your kitchen for your basil, mint, parsley, etc.

Happy Planters

Still, you can try making one of these happy planters, if you’re looking for a cute pot to grow your plants in.

They might feel delicate at first, but that couldn’t be more wrong. They’re simply a standard pot with four small cylindrical pieces of clay attached to the bottom.

You can either sculpt the facial expression before firing, or you can use some paint to add it later.

Still, try giving each of them a different facial expression, if you’re planning to make several of these.

Human Head Flower Pots

Another fun idea is to make flower pots that look like human faces.

You can start off by making a regular vase, either by using a wheel or by using hand-building techniques. also simply add some redundant clay for the nose and lips, and add two holes for the eyes.

Still, try to make each vase look different by changing the facial features if you’re planning on making several of these vases.

Animal Figures

Animal figures are one of the cutest things you can make. You can moreover make one of your favorite animals or one of your own faves. Of course, making figurines can be as hard or as delicate as you want it to be.

Take a look at the ones shown below, as an illustration. originally they might seem pretty complex, but if you look closer you’ll see that they’re principally a big clay ball with some details added to them.

Also, a lot of detail can be added by using some paint after firing the clay. So make sure to consider not only how to shape the clay, but also how to paint it later.

Tips For Making Clay Pottery

With hand structure ways, as the piece gets bigger or wider, allow it to dry a little before you continue erecting else your pieces could collapse under the pressure workshop in progress need to be looked after, wrapped, and scattered with water to stop them drying out or to keep it in an asked consistency between working sessions

Clay joins are best between clay that’s wet or firm but not dry and each piece the same thickness. 

To join, the clay should be scored and a little water or slurry applied, also pressed forcefully together, soft clay can be smeared over the joint for reinforcement. 

The clay consistency when working is so important and catching it just when it’s right is crucial. It’s so easy to get this wrong either being too eager or intolerant and the clay is too soft so it collapses or you leave the clay too long it dries out and also cracks as you work. 

Keep your supply of clay wrapped well to stop it from drying out. 

Recycling the clay- all dried bits or scrap clay can be collected together in a bucket and covered with water. The dry clay breaks down into a slurry that can be dried on boards and also sculptured back into a usable consistency.