How to make copper geometric photo holders

Today I’m showing how to make geometric photo holders from paper clay, a material I’ve started to appreciate a lot. You can use these photo holders either as some pretty accessories for your home or as handmade Christmas presents.

Making these geometric photo holders almost doesn’t take any time at all. You can make a bunch in an hour, although letting them dry, sanding and painting them can take a bit more time.

Materials needed:

• paper clay or white clay
• sharp knife
• copper or gold acrylic paint and a paint brush
• sandpaper

I’ve started by making a ball from my paper clay, a bit bigger than the height you want you geometric photo holder to be. By slicing the extras from the ball you can create the shape you want your photo holder to be. I wanted little pyramids, so I cut of tree pieces and then cut of the bottom.

If you’re not getting a nice shape at first try, don’t worry, it took me a couple of tries to get my photo holders pyramid-y shaped. They don’t have to be perfect when you stop cutting, because after drying the photo holders you can still sand the shaped down and make the corners sharper.

When you have your pyramid shape you’ll have to make an extra slit in the back where you can put in the photo (or holiday card).

After they’re dried, sanded and dusted down a bit, it’s time to get your paint out! I discovered copper paint a while a go when I was browsing the gouache section in my local art store and I was delighted to discover they also have a acryl version. I absolutely love copper paint! It really looks like copper and I want to use it on almost everything in my house.

Give the geometric photo holders enough time to dry. Afterwards you might need to sand down the slit for the photo again, because sometimes the paint clogs it.

I made some extra pyramids, a couple without slits for photos or cards, because I liked the idea of grouping them together. I also made smaller and bigger ones, again because I thought this would look better.

So, that’s it for some quick geometric photo holders. I’ll be using them for my Christmas cards and I might make some extra as a present.

Are you making any handmade presents this year?