I made a cat spoon holder or stand out of clay. I made a small animals for small spoons, you can make larger animals like the swan below for cooking spoons. Water proof varnish keeps it resistant to moisture so you can use it in the kitchen or place one at each place sitting at a kid's party. I made the swan for my mom on mothers day

To make one you'll need:
1) Air-dry clay
2) A bowl of water
3) A toothpick
4) Water-proof varnish ( most varnish is water proof)
5) Acrylic paint with various

Step 1: Prepare the Clay

Take chunk of clay about the size of your palm. Squish it down to a flat shape and add dabs of water, just a bit at a time. You are going to want the clay really soft and malleable .

Divide this clay into three parts, one should be for the body of the cat, one should be for the legs and tail, and a tiny bit for the collar and ears.

Step 2: Making the Body and Head

Divide the clay into a sausage like shape and a small ball. Press the sausage into a curved shape with a sort of domed back. With your fingers raise one end of the sausage to make it flat , like a cats chest. On top of the chest, make a dent with your finger and add a dab of water.

This is the basic shape, scrape the sides of the head onto the body connecting them together. Look at the pictures to see how it's done. With a wet finger smooth these sides and mold it to look like a cat's neck, nice and stout. Shape the head into a triangular shape with rounded edges, a.k.a. a cat's head.

Step 3: Adding Detail to the Head

Roll out 2 small balls and secure them to the head to form the lips or cheeks or whatever you call them. Smooth and secure them with a wet finger and place a small triangle for the nose

Cut out two triangular shapes and bend the bottoms a little and use them to secure it to the head with a wet toothpick.

Using the toothpick, engrave the shape of the eyes or paint them directly if you have a steady hand.

Add small dots to the cheeks or lips or whatever you call them and draw the whiskers.
Roll, out a very thin band with very soft wet clay and secure around the cats neck for the collar. Add a small circle for the id tag

Step 4: The Legs and Tail

Form the legs with two sausage shapes and secure them to the chest with a wet finger.For the back legs roll a small ball, half it, flatten the halves into foot shapes as seen below and secure them to each side of the body.

For the tail, roll out a sausage double the size of the legs and secure it you-know-where.

Use a toothpick to draw small lines for the toes.

Step 5: Where Does This Spoon Fit ?

To find out where the spoon will go, just take the biggest spoon you could possibly use whatever purpose , and press it into the cats body at the angle you want the spoon to rest. Means push the spoon in diagonally. Then take it out and build up a little clay on the side where the spoons head will rest just to be sure. Smooth out any cracks and make sure the clay is nice and soft before doing this or it could get messy.

Step 6: Paint and Varnish

Use acrylic paint to paint the cats after it dries. I waited about a day, but that's because it's very humid right now, you can probably do it overnight, especially in summer.
Paint the base coat first then add markings and detail, like the eyes.whiskers,nose, ect.

Let the paint dry for a few hours or overnight depending where you live. Use a thick paint brush to apply the varnish and let it dry again according to the directions given on the can.

You can sign the bottom of the cat like all great sculptors and give it as a gift to someone special.

Please rate and comment, and i'd love to see any you make. Enjoy.