1. Make a ball of clay.
2. Press your thumb into the center to make a hole.
3. Pinch the walls between your thumb and fingers to shape the pot.
4. Rotate the pot as you pinch. This thins and evens out the walls.
5. Keep the bottom and sides an even thickness.
6. Tap the rim gently on the table to flatten it.

A coil is a thin rope of clay. Use coils to add height to a pinch pot. This is the most basic handbuilding technique. It is also one of the most versatile. Coils can be thick, thin, flat, round, triangular, or wavy. Use coils to build walls, handles, spouts, or a raised foot.

To make a coil
1. Squeeze a piece of clay into about the thickness you want your coil to be.
2. Roll it on the table to even out any lumps.

To add height to a pinch pot
1. Roll a coil about the same thickness as the walls and bottom of the pot.
2. Score the rim of the pot. Add a little slip.
3. Score the part of the coil that will touch the pot.
4. Stack the coil on top of the rim of the pot.
5. Smooth the two pieces together.
6. Keep scoring and slipping as you add more coils.

To make a handle
1. Roll a coil that fits comfortably in your hand.
2. Cut it to the right length for the pot.
3. Score the top and bottom of the handle.
4. Score the matching spots on the pot. Add slip.
5. Attach the handle.
6. Smooth the joints together.
7. Add a small coil around the top and bottom of the handle to reinforce the joint.

A slab is a flat piece of clay. Slabs can be thick or thin. Use a slab for the walls of a mug or cylinder, or anywhere you want a wide, flat bottom.
1. Roll out a piece of clay with a rolling pin.
2. If you do not have a rolling pin, roll a ball of clay. Place a ware board on top. Press down with both hands. If the clay sticks, place a piece of plastic wrap between the board and the clay.
3. Score and slip anywhere two pieces of clay will touch.
4. If you are building a standing wall, let the slab rest for an hour or two first. This firms it up and helps it hold its shape.

This technique can be used to make a statuette of anything you can think of! Some of our favorite subjects are pets, buildings, imaginary friends, and people!
1. Start with two pinch pots.
2. Join them into one hollow ball. This becomes the belly.
3. Reshape it gently as needed.
4. Make two smaller pinch pots for the head.
5. Attach the head to the body with a coil neck.
6. Make all the limbs at the same time.
7. Decide where each limb will attach.
8. Score and slip every connection point. The more places the attachments touch, the less likely they will break off in the kiln.
9. Any hollow, enclosed space in your piece needs a vent hole poked through to the outside before it dries. Trapped air expands during firing and can crack or explode the piece. Use a needle tool or skewer to poke a small hole anywhere air could get sealed in — the belly, head, or any hollow limb.
10. Add any embellishments.

This technique captures the texture of an object, not its image.

Good options include lace, doilies, canvas, other textured fabrics, feathers, flowers, grasses, produce bags, and bubble wrap. The more texture you can feel, the better!
1. Start with a slab.
2. Paint a base coat of color on the slab, or leave it plain to show the clay's natural color.
3. Arrange the textured items on the slab. You can't change the placement once you move to the next step.
4. Press the items into the slab. Use a rolling pin or your ware board.
5. Paint a layer of glaze over the items.
6. Remove the items from the clay.
7. The texture should now show in the base color, with the surrounding clay in the second color.
8. Shape the printed slab into a pinch pot, attach it to another piece, or make it a standalone tray!

Handprints
This technique also works for handprints.
1. Paint a hand with the chosen color.
2. Press it into the slab.
3. Lift the hand away to reveal the print.
4. Cut it out and decorate it as desired.

1. Roll a long, thin slab of clay at least five inches tall and at least ten inches long.
2. Join the short ends together by scoring the two surfaces and adding slip. This will form a cylinder with no top or bottom.
3. Roll out another slab large enough for the base.
4. Set the cylinder on top.
5. Trace around it, and cut out the bottom.
6. Score and slip the bottom edge of the cylinder and the base piece.
7. Join them together.

Customize your mug
From here, customize the mug.
- Add coils for extra height.
- Add a coil to make a foot ring, or add small balls of clay as feet.
- Decide on a handle style. Follow the handle steps under Coils. Shape the handle further once it is attached to the mug. Let the mug and handle rest overnight before continuing.

This same method also works for goblets, tumblers, and vases. Adjust the height and width of the slab as needed.

Add small pieces of clay inside a hollow piece to make it rattle. This technique works best when the small pieces are already mostly dry.
1. Make two pinch pots.
2. Add several small balls of clay inside one pinch pot.
3. Score and slip the two pinch pots together.
4. Leave a vent so the piece dries evenly.

Make the lid and the pot body at the same time. This way, they dry and shrink at the same rate.

Store the lid and the pot together so neither one warps.

Never glaze the spot where the lid touches the pot. Glazed surfaces fuse together during firing.

There are many ways to make a lid.
- Some lids rest inside a gallery, a ledge inside the rim of the pot. The sides of the pot hold the lid in place.
- Some lids fit over the top of the piece instead, with the sides of the pot fitting inside the sides of the lid. In this style, the top of the piece is often larger than the bottom.
- Some lids use a flange, a coil attached to the underside of a flat lid that fits snugly inside the rim of the pot and keeps the lid from sliding off.

A mold shapes a piece of clay. Use a mold to make bowls, plates, and other complex shapes.

If you use something from home as a mold, cover it with plastic wrap first so the clay does not stick.
1. Roll out a slab of clay.
2. Place it on top of the mold.
3. Press the clay around the mold gently. Do not stretch the clay over the mold; squeeze it into place instead.
4. If you need more clay, roll out a new slab. Score and slip anywhere the two slabs will touch.
5. Let the piece dry on the mold until it reaches the leather-hard stage.

The piece should hold its shape but should not fully dry on the mold. Clay shrinks as it dries. A piece left to dry completely on a mold may crack.