How to Marbleize a Jewelry Dish with Clay

Modeling clay isn't just for kiddie crafts! Swirl a few colors together for an elegant marble-look dish perfect for corralling baubles, pocket change, sewing essentials, and small accessories. Choose three or four colors of clay -- we opted for a dark, a light, and a medium-color clay -- for a custom design all of your friends will want to copy.

• Oven-bake clay: a large amount of white, then small packages of the accent colors; we used black, silver, and light pink
• Rolling pin
• Oven-safe bowl
• Crafts knife
• Glaze sealer with a gloss finish
• Paintbrush for sealer
• Gold paint
• Small detail paintbrush for gold paint

1. Roll two large chunks of white clay into 5- to 6-inch "snakes."
2. Roll a small portion of each accent color clay into a skinny snake.
3. Combine all the rolls, twisting together like a candy cane. Repeat several times to evenly distribute colors.
4. Roll into a ball shape, then use a rolling pin to flatten clay until about 1/4 inch thick.
5. Gather into a ball, once again making sure you have a good amount of colors on top of the ball so it will show up in the swirl of the bowl and won't just be all white.
6. Roll out once again to 1/4 inch thick. If you're happy with your marbleization, you can now cut your jewelry dish.
7. Turn the oven-safe bowl upside down and use it as your template to cut your jewelry dish.
8. Flip over the oven-safe bowl and place the now-cut clay circle into the bowl to bake. This will shape your dish.
9. Bake according to directions on clay package. We baked ours at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.
10. Remove from oven. Allow to cool completely in the oven-safe bowl before removing it.
11. Once the bowl is cooled, seal with the clay sealer following the directions on package. Allow to dry.
12. Use gold paint to paint the outer edge of your jewelry dish. Allow it to dry before using.