Wednesday, October 7, 2026

Combined Pinch Pot candle holder






























Sketch & Planning Worksheet

Project Goal

Design a creative ceramic candle holder by joining two pinch pots. Your sculpture will have cut-out openings that allow light to shine through.

Choose Your Theme

Nature / Animal / Fantasy / Character / Seasonal / Other

Create two sketches showing your sculpture from different views.

FRONT VIEW
Overall shape
Cut-out openings
Textures
3D details

BACK VIEW
Large opening for an LED candle; this can be in the front )
Additional cut-out designs
Textures

Check List 
☐ Combined Pinch Pots — Two pinch pots joined together
☐ Cut-out Openings for lighting — At least 3 openings for light
☐ Candle Opening — One large opening for an LED candle
☐ Texture — At least 2 different textures
☐ 3D Details — At least 1 added sculptural detail
☐ Stable Base — Sculpture can stand independently
☐ Creative Design — Clearly communicates my theme

Class Schedule 
Three Classes of Wet Clay
1st class: Combined pinch pot
2nd class: Shape the form, then cut open /Building additions/ Carving
3rd class: Carving subtraction/texture, then smooth
Two classes of Glaze
 1st class: 3 coats of Underglaze 
2nd class: 3 coats of gloss glaze
 Clay Tools 
Craft Sticks 
Modeling Tools 
Pin Tools
Carving tools 

Craft Sticks 
Modeling Tools 
Pin Tools
Carving tools 
Loop tools 

How to make a well-formed pinch pot?


Steps of a single pinch pot

1. Form a ball of clay

2. Open


3. Pinch in to make the bottom  


4. Pinch and Rotate. 


Pinchin the middle 


Gentle pinch on the top to a pencil thickness


Double Pinch Pot Joining Technique

1. Score around the rims of each pinch pot with a pin tool. You can crisscross the score marks .
2. Apply slip
Slip: A mixture of clay and water used to join scored pieces of clay. 


3. Place the pinch pots together. This is the most crucial part of the making process! Push one rim into the other by digging your finger in just a little and pushing over to the other side. Repeat all the way around the join. It doesn’t need to look neat!
4. Shaping
Once joined you can gently hit the pot with a stick all over to compress and reinforce the join. Get it into a round shape and knock out the join and pinch marks, patching up any holes using the above technique.
5. Shape the piece to your desired shape. Air hardening clay may not get much taller, but you can use modeling tools to create a smooth surface and define the shape by smoothing up and down.

Shape many different forms