Embellished Message Board
Design by Karen Prince

Materials:

Directions:

• To begin, paint the wooden edge of the chalkboard, if desired. Place the picture hanger on the back of the board at this point.
• Condition the clay. Since the clay is supplied with the kit, no other clay is necessary. You can mix the colors together to get various shades. There is more than enough clay provided in the kit for this project.
• Following manufacturer's instructions on the package, begin molding the children characters. I started with the "pigtail girl". Always powder the molds first for easy release.
• After removing her from the mold, I wanted her to have a smile, so I took the lid from the glue bottle and gently pressed the rounded end into her face to form a mouth. This is a personal preference.

• Use tiny seed beads, or make very tiny balls of black clay for the eyes and press on with a toothpick.

• Continue with the remaining characters in the kit in the very same way. The only thing I added was to put legs on the other little girl. This also is a personal preference. If you want to do this, just roll out small logs of the flesh color and add small lengths of about ¼" or slightly more just below her skirt. I also added TLS for extra strength to the feet before pressing onto the skirts before baking. Bend one arm of each child slightly before baking because they will seem to be holding a star later. Bake and then cool completely.

• Cut out two large stars, different colors, from rolled out clay. Overlap them onto each other and press the bottom ends upward. These stars will form the cradle to hold the chalk. From leftover clay, cut out desired number of small stars of different colors. Bake all the stars and cool.

• On four of the lightest colored clay stars, write the words, "When", "Where", "Who", "Why" with a permanent marker. These will go in each child's hand.

• Begin placing baked characters on chalkboard and when satisfied with positioning, glue in place with tacky glue.

• On the bottom, right corner of the chalkboard, glue the baked chalk holder in place with the tacky glue.

• Begin gluing the small stars, overlapping them wherever desired. Place each of the "message stars" at the child's hand. Place glue on the back of the star to adhere to the board.

• Paint a light coat of Sculpey Glaze on each character for shine. Enjoy your completed project.