This tutorial is for making a cool, shiny, rocky looking container. I needed a coin jar to put on my desk, so here we are!

Let's get started.

Supplies

So what you will need:

jar/container
enough air-dry clay to cover said container
texturing tools (fancy words for beads, rocks, and a playdough toy, so really anything that will create a pockmarked, rocky, scarred look on the clay)
paint (purple, blue, silver, and black) and accompanying painting supplies (brush, sponge, containers for water & paint)

Onward!!

Step 1: Preparations!

Wash your desired container. Dry well, water makes the clay sticky.

Step 2: Molding, Forming, & SQUISHING!

Mold/spread the clay around jar. Make sure to get it on all the sides and over the lip of the jar.

Step 3: Texturing & Scarring

Before letting the clay dry, use the various texturing items to add lots of divots, texture, and pockmarks. The more, the better. Depending on your clay, you can add cracks and fissures after it drys a bit or do it now. Because my clay is like foam, and very sticky right out of the package, I let it dry a day, then used a little bit of pressure with my thumbs to pull the clay apart before it entirely dried.

Step 4: DARKNESS

With the clay completely dried, set the jar upside down and paint the bottom and exposed sides black. Let it dry.

Step 5: More DARKNESS

When last step's paint is dry, flip it rightside up. Paint the lip, the inside, and touch up any spots you feel aren't black/opaque enough.

Step 6: Nooks and Crannies

Paint any cracks or divots that aren't black. It probably wouldn't matter if you used a darker colored clay, but I didn't, and hot pink doesn't really go.