Decoden Cupcake Fascinator with a Cherry on Top!

I recently discovered clay... the air dry clay... the kind you don't have to knead the bajeesus out of before trying to throw on a wheel and then keep your hands hella steady to work up a vase.. I've done that.. in high school It's been some years now :). I miss getting my hand dirty then making something pretty out of mud. I do. But then my yarn get jealous, and there's a lot of yarn in my house.. so its best to not make it jealous... right? ;)

Not sure how long I will play with clay.. this play date was inspired by my ever creative and spontaneous coworker... :) yes, the one with a love for flamingos:). She's a bridesmaid in her brothers wedding coming up and not to be outdone by the black bridesmaids dresses she wanted to add some flair of her own. It's Laura, she's one of a kind and well, she likes to dress the part :). God love her for it! lol :D She shared with me a picture of a cupcake fascinator complete with a strawberry on top that she really wanted and thought I might be able to make. With all the craziness of work lately and the projects I have lining up (did I mention I have a queue? :s) I didn't see how it would be possible, and made a sheepish... "I don't know much about that craft genre" comment... it was true, I don't. I didn't. Did I have time for it? Maybe... evidently yes.. because here I am, making time to share the post and the creation/items with you. Honestly I think this is just what my creative juices needed. Was a break from yarn. There I said it! ^-^ And no, no I don't feel guilty. DO I think I'll wake up with a yarn noose around my neck from the jealous strings? No.. no I don't! Muha. MuahahahahhahaaaHA! :D

Youtube helped me out a lot on this project. I found many varieties of this "recipe" for making clay into decoden. Some mix the clay with water, others mix with glue and still others mixed the clay with lotion. I started with water and then got creative and grabbed a lotion I had called sweet pea. My coworker is in a play where she was cast as a My Little Pony. do you remember those lil toys? I remember they all had a picture on their butts of a rainbow, or cupcake, or shamrock, heart, etc. and the ponies themselves smelled like whatever symbol they had branded into their butts. I figured it would stand to reason that sweet pea lotion smell would add to the cupcake fun, no? The first time around I added much too much lotion and the clay was too wet to mold. The second time around I grabbed from the wet clay and incorporated it with the dryer clay to pace myself. Luckily that did the trick!  I think they turned out pretty okay! I like that they look a lil cartoony :). .. and I'm thankful I was able to come up with a cherry alternative that wasn't super heavy either! :D

What do you think? What fruit would you have done? Do you decoden?

And... yes... they were dry in time for her birthday! :D

...and for showtime! :D