Other Craft Tools You Can Make
Earth Dish and Incense Dish
(For your water dish, I suggest you search antique shops, flea markets, and yard/garage sales. There are some lovely pieces to be had at a very nominal price. And, if you are a bargain hunter, like I am, its just the thing for a Saturday outing.)
Both of these can be hand crafted from most craft modeling clays (like sculpy), Bread Clay is good also, and it is natural. Bread clay does not require any cooking, and it can be used for permanent pieces. It is particularly effective as a medium for making jewelry, small figurines, flowers, and thin designs that can be glued on to decorate cards, packages and name tags. The clay is non-toxic, though of course it is also not meant to be eaten, either. It does have a yeast-like smell to it though, which can be appealing to small children and animals, so do not leave it lying about when you are gone. After it dries, the bread-like smell dissipates.
Bread Clay Ingredients and Supplies:
White bread and non-toxic, white glue. Optional add-ins for color is food colorings or tempera paints, either dry or wet. You will need a glass bowl for mixing the clay, and it helps to have materials to cut out patterns and shapes, such as cookie cutters, aspic cutters, straws to make little circles, garlic press, etc.
How to make it:
Three pieces of white bread will create a nice amount of clay for you to get started with. Tear the crust off of each piece of bread, and then break the bread into little pieces and put in the bowl. The next part of the process is quite messy. If you are doing this alone, you should keep one hand clean so you can pour glue into the bowl, and use the other hand to wad and mix the bread. It is best to have a partner for this step though. One person can mix the dough, and the other can add glue as needed.
Most recipes call for 1 tablespoon of glue for every piece of bread, but you may find that you do not need this much. I usually pour glue from the bottle gradually, just a little bit at a time. Mush and mix it into the bread with your mixing hand(s). If you pour too much glue in at once, you may get hopelessly stuck in the mixture. It looks like a big mess before it suddenly becomes cohesive again, and you will recognize its readiness when it becomes smooth, pliable and easily worked.
(This is optional) Divide the bread into separate balls to be made into colors. Poke a finger into each ball. Then put a drop of food coloring or paint into the depression, and mix it into the dough with your hands. If your hands get color on them, just keep mixing and the dough will soak it up after a minute. I have found that if I use dental tools I can "carve" images into my work. I like using Runes. You can also add stone, metal shapes or glass jewels by embedding them into the walls of the bowls before drying them, Never use plastic!
Let the pieces air dry. Larger pieces can take a week or so to get really hard, but most small ornaments dry in a day or two. The dried clay can be used as is, but can be sprayed with acrylic sealer for greater protection and a nice shine.