After it's dry could I hold it over a lighter with out harm?
Real terracotta clay (pottery clay, ceramic clay, etc) is fine in a kiln at over 1000 degrees so just the heat part would be fine However, as mentioned, direct flame under an object close to it will also leave black soot on that object's suface (though not weaken it or anything), and not sure if you want that or if it's easy to get rid ofIf possible, you could put a piece of aluminum foil or glass or something that also resists high heat where the flame would touch so you could remove the soot along with it later, etcDiane B.
