OIL BURNER

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Start off with a ball of clay around the size of a tennis ball. Gently press your thumb into the centre and pinch around the edges until you reach your desired shape. 

This will be the wall of your oil burner. 

Once your happy with your shape. Set your pinch pot to the side to slightly solidify. 

Roll out a small slab - this will be the base of your burner. 

Place your pinch pot upside down onto your slab and trace/cut around the edge using your needle tool. 

To attach these to edges together, we need to score & slip. Score both edges and apply slip to one. 

Press your two pieces together and using your thumb/blending tool, pull the outside edges upward to smooth out and firmly attach your base. 

Now to create a hole into the top of your shape, this will be where we sit the lid of your burner. 

Using your needle tool, gently poke the outline of the section you'd like to cut out. This will assist your needle tool in smoothly cutting the section. 

Dampen your thumb/fingers or sponge to smooth out the edges. 

(Using a knife from the kitchen or Stanley knife will work a dream for this!)

We also need to cut a small cave for your candle to sit happy in the centre. 

Follow the same process as the previous step. Poke and cut your desired shape and smooth out your edges using a damp finger/tool or your sponge. 

If you have a paint brush laying around, I like to dip it in some slip and blend out the edges on the inside of my burner. This will smooth out any openings and help keep the inside clean and smooth. You can also use a very thin coil along the base of your shape and blend it together with a damp finger / sponge. Either way works perfectly! 

Now lets create the lid!

Using a small ball of extra clay, press your thumb gently into the centre on a slight angle and press your way around the edges. 

 Use the palm of your hand to create the shape of a bowl. 

You can attach the lid to the base if you wish by scoring and slipping the edges together. 

Or leave it as a removable lid. 

You can also poke holes / shapes in the walls of your burner to create decoration or create a differently shaped lid to sit on top!

 You know the drill - spend some time nurturing your shape. Smooth out those edges and rid the lumps and bumps!  

Ta Dah! You have created the cutest little oil burner. 

Big smiles all around, you should be so proud of the masterpiece you just created with your very own muddy hands!!