(Bigger Brains, Lower Stress and more!)

Creating with Sculpey has all sorts of benefits – creative outlet, productive use of time, even as a side-gig to make extra money! But did you know about these five other positive effects of claying with Sculpey?
Crafts increase self-esteem!
Research shows that visualizing, planning, working on and achieving a project increases feelings of confidence and well-being. You thought maybe you could do it, and you have proof that you can!

Here’s a simple project to start with – an adorable Cat Pencil Cup.
Claying is totally zen!
Repetitive activities like rolling and conditioning clay can serve as a type of meditation. A study by Project Meditation showed that meditation can improve anxiety levels by 60%! (Wouldn’t you like to relax a little?)
Cane-making is a great project that involves rolling – check out some tips on getting started with cane-making, here!

You can also use the Sculpey Clay Conditioning machine to methodically prepare clay to use in a project, while also creating a soothing color-way – like in this Ombre Waves Color Blended Earrings.
Working on a clay project could actually make you smarter
Seriously – it’s possible to increase your brain’s processing power by meditation – it’s scientifically proven! In numerous studies, meditation has been shown to improve overall wellness, including amazing things like increasing gray matter in the brain (gyrification). That means it potentially helps a person process more information, faster. So by that logic – not only does claying make you smarter – it helps you think up new clay projects to try – isn’t that smart?
Here’s three projects you could try. Think of how many more projects you could dream up!
Brain cane (how could we *not* start with these?)

Mermaid Book Mark – small, cute, useful for all your reading and organizing

Pretty Wall Decor – this faux feather wall hanging combines clay elements with real wood and natural cotton string – long lasting organic look, soothing colors and elements.

Crafting can be a group activity – even if you never meet in person.
There are oodles of craft specific groups online that you can look up on Facebook, Instagram and more, but there are in-person groups, workshops, classes and more as well! Check out Sculpey_official on Instagram and SculpeyOfficial on Facebook to get active making comments and talking to others to get started!
Sharing your gift makes everybody happier!
According to a recent Insta poll, an average of 86%(!) of people say they’d prefer a hand-made gift over something from a big-box store. That’s a lot of people who are reporting they’d love something that was thoughtfully and carefully crafted by hand vs by a heartless machine.
Give it a try! Make the trend with project like these:
Face Art Vase – a modern look at an artistic effect – easy and on-trend!

Zodiac Ring Dish – dream up your next clay projects and make them happen with Sculpey clay – and in the mean time, use this charming zodiac ring dish to hold your jewelry while you snooze.

So go out there and give claying a try, or if you’ve been using Sculpey for a while, here’s some confirmation that it really IS good for you (and others).
Enjoy!
Show us what you create! Tag us on social media, and add #howdoyousculpey and be sure to mention what clay you used!