Master class on creating jewelry from polymer clay: earrings, bracelets and jewelry using various techniques

Reading time: 8 min.

no comments

With the onset of spring warmth, every lady wants to give her image a touch of airiness and lightness, touching and tenderness. Jewelry that subtly completes any image and emphasizes all its advantages will come to the rescue in this matter. Beautiful earrings made of polymer clay are an accessory that anyone can create.

This material is famous for its inexhaustible possibilities. In particular, its unique flexibility in processing is striking, thanks to which all kinds of figures can be formed from it. A needlewoman who decides to start creating a masterpiece on her own will need a minimum of experience, more patience and perseverance, and, most importantly, mandatory adherence to the instructions and advice of the masters.

Information for Beginners

It is not necessary to buy bright and sophisticated jewelry in stores, because many needlewomen have long been providing themselves with jewelry made by themselves.
This approach allows you to receive accessories in a single copy, which eliminates the possibility of meeting a woman wearing similar earrings. Therefore, some girls are thinking about mastering the technique of working with this clay. Before moving on to the process of creating beautiful products, it’s worth getting to know the material better:

In its consistency, it resembles the familiar plasticine. It is just as easy to work with, but clay is more plastic and hardens after heat treatment, turning into durable plastic.
There are many types of this material, they all differ from each other in texture and variety of different colors and shades. They can be mixed with each other to obtain new colors, and also diluted with paints and small glitter.
Polymer “plasticine” is absolutely safe and non-toxic, so it’s not scary to give it to even children for creativity.
With the help of this material, craftswomen bring many ideas to life. It can be used to make various jewelry such as earrings, bracelets, pendants and rings. Also, some girls create refrigerator magnets or small flower arrangements from clay to decorate their apartment.
Clay helps to show creativity, since the main condition when working with it is not great knowledge of handmade, but good imagination. Animals, abstract and geometric elements, fruits and flowers, as well as human figures - this is not the whole list of products that can be created using such material.

Before purchasing clay and sculpting tools, you can consult with the seller. He will tell you which manufacturer’s material is in great demand. He will also tell you which devices you can refuse, and which ones you should definitely acquire.

Features of the material and tips

Polymer clay is a material that resembles plasticine in its consistency, which, due to heat treatment, hardens and turns into plastic.

There is a wide variety of polymer clay colors and textures. Moreover, colors can be mixed, and paints and glitter can be added to them. This material is non-toxic and therefore even children can work with it.

From polymer clay you can create jewelry such as earrings, beads, pendants, bracelets, etc. With the help of clay, you can bring any ideas to life. It all depends solely on your imagination.

Tips for beginner needlewomen:

First you need to choose a material manufacturer. Clay can be both expensive and cheap, with a wide range of colors, and can also be sold as a set or individual bars.
Don't buy different colors at once. To begin with, you can purchase one block and try it at home: you need to check its texture, mixability with other plastics and paints, and also bake the resulting material. High-quality clay should not crack or change color too much.
For modeling you need standard colors, which can then be mixed. You will also need tools and a small electric oven.
On the packaging of polymer plastic it is usually written how long it needs to be baked until cooked and at what temperature.
It is worth noting that you need to work with clay carefully. In order not to disturb the purity of the color, it is necessary to work with rubber gloves and on a clean surface.

To create earrings from plastic, in addition to clay, you will need accessories: earrings, connecting and decorative elements.

Simple summer beads

Another method of making beads allows you to effectively use leftover material. Beginners can be recommended to mix a little clay of different colors.

To work you need to prepare:

polymer clay of different colors,
a mat or base for modeling (you can use a piece of smooth glass or a large ceramic tile),
knife with a wide blade,
toothpicks,
pliers,
cord,
small beads,
accessories for jewelry.

Simple jewelry options for beginners allow you to make original summer jewelry.

Technique

Anyone can create plastic products with their own hands if they wish. Moreover, it can be purchased freely in specialized stores. Parquet varnish is better suited for coating the finished product. There are different techniques for making polymer clay products. Here are a few of them:

Mixing colors. Basically, they use this method. You can mix two colors and several paints at the same time;
Using the salty technique of clay modeling, the product can turn out to have an unusual texture. The method is that the product is rolled in coarse salt, which is pressed into the product, as shown in the photo. After the product has been in the oven, the salt must be washed off with water;

Mokume Gane

This is perhaps the most difficult color mixing technique. It will take some time to master it.

Step-by-step instructions on how to make clay jewelry using this technique will help you understand the features of the process.

To work you need to prepare:

polymer clay,
rolling pin,
knife,
formic alcohol,
salt.

To work, you need molds or curly stamps and a smooth base.

Operating procedure.

Knead the mixture and roll it into a thin layer.
Extrude patterns.
Roll out a layer of clay of a contrasting color.
Carefully cut off the patterned layer of mass from the board, preserving the texture of the pattern.
Apply an openwork layer to the prepared base of a contrasting color.

It’s easy to cut elements of the desired shape or roll beads from the finished sheet.

Unusual decoration

The next type of earring creation is more labor-intensive, but even an inexperienced craftsman can do it. Among other ideas for making earrings, this is the most unusual, let's look at it.

Take 4 pieces of clay and roll it out. 2 pieces should be white, 1 pearl and the last one should be wrapped in silver sheets, like gold leaf.

Using a special device that resembles a hole punch, we cut many round pieces, as in the photo below.

Then we insert a wire into each circle for further fastening.

We finish the mugs treated with silver so that they are covered on all sides.

We treat white clay mugs with glitter.

We bake the finished products. We look for the required temperature and time on the manufacturer’s packaging. We take wire cutters and twist the loops at different distances.

You get the following elements:

Now we need accessories for creating jewelry - connecting rings. We string the resulting parts onto them.

We attach the shvez and the unusual earrings are complete.

Extruder methods

Using a special tool with two different attachments for working with clay will open up the possibility of mastering different extrusion techniques.

Using an extruder in your work will help you produce original elements for creating jewelry with different surface textures.

What is polymer clay

Clay is a plastic flexible mass for modeling. Working with the material is simple and convenient. Plastic, as polymer clay is often called, looks like soft plasticine.

In operation, the material behaves approximately the same. The plastic is easy to knead, it warms up well from the warmth of your hands. Clay presented in the craft departments comes in a wide variety of colors and shades. If necessary, you can also mix different colors to achieve the desired tone.

Making crafts from polymer material is very interesting. Plastic allows you to create the most miniature products, which cannot be said about plasticine. Having tried their hand at sculpture once, both adults and children become interested in creating cute trinkets.

The undeniable and main advantage of clay is the ability to bake crafts. The product is formed from raw material and then placed in a preheated oven. The temperature and “cooking” time depend on the manufacturer’s recommendations, which can be read on the packaging.

The baked craft turns into a durable solid product. It is no longer possible to change its shape, since plastic products harden forever. This allows you to make jewelry from clay. The products are bright, unusual and quite practical.

Hair decorations made of polymer clay

Polymer clay can be used to decorate hair clips, headbands and garters.
You can attach the elements to the base using special glue or invisible fishing line
For any products consisting of several elements, you need to make a sketch, because imagination does not always correspond to the result

Delicate flowers for decorating hairpins and headbands

We will need: polymer clay and stacks (you can use a toothpick)
Knead a piece of clay of the desired color and roll it into an oval
We make cuts, the same number as the number of petals planned
Now we make each petal, bending it using a stack
We give the flower the desired shape, trim off the excess plastic
The middle can be decorated with yellow plastic stamens or simply filled with paint
These flowers can be used for all types of decorations. They are very reminiscent of apple or apricot flowers

Flowers for polymer clay jewelry

"Knitted" products

Due to its properties, polymer clay opens up wide possibilities for creativity.

One of the interesting techniques is weaving products and individual elements from clay laces.

The blanks are easy to roll by hand, and even easier to produce using an extruder.

From the resulting lace blanks you can weave braids or flat knots using the macrame technique.

This way you can weave a bracelet or individual parts for any decoration.

Sausage method or orange crafts

When working with plastic, a variety of techniques are used. The sausage technique is considered the most popular and very interesting.

Using this method, you can make unusual crafts in several identical copies, which is very convenient when creating bracelets and earrings.

Step-by-step instruction:

The orange plastic is rolled out into thin sausages of equal length.
After washing your hands with soap, heat white clay in your palms and roll out layers, the thickness of which should be minimal.
Each orange sausage is “dressed” in a white casing, cutting off the excess parts.
When all the sausages are placed in white clothes, each of them is given a triangular shape. To do this, simply press the sausage onto the table with three sides one at a time.
A thin rod is rolled from white clay.
Triangles are stuck around it, forming a flower.
The resulting block is wrapped in a sheet of thin white clay.
A layer of orange is placed on top.
The resulting sausage is rolled so that all layers stick together.
Using a stationery knife, cut the sausage into even pieces approximately 5 mm thick.

Making beads

Simple jewelry is often based on simple geometric beads. Therefore, it is logical to start getting acquainted with plastic arts by making these simple elements yourself.

It’s easy to form a cube, a cylinder, or roll a ball out of the mass. Then, using a toothpick, you need to poke a hole in the workpiece. All that remains is to dry the product in accordance with the characteristics of the material used.

This completes the work of making beads.

It is easy to change the surface texture by rolling the workpieces in table salt crystals. When the pieces are dry, the salt is carefully removed from them using a brush.

We recommend reading:

DIY polymer clay flowers (120 photos of the best ideas) - simple instructions with full description + master class and video tutorials
Quilling for beginners (200 photos) - step-by-step instructions with description. The best master class on creating quilling crafts with your own hands
DIY paper orchid - a review of the best ideas and tips from craftswomen. Step-by-step instructions + master class (photo + video lessons)

Polymer clay earrings “Turquoise flowers”

Step-by-step master class on creating jewelry from baked thermoplastic

The fashion trend of the season is the turquoise color, which is why I chose this shade to create earrings made of polymer clay. Turquoise color is very universal and filled with warm positive energy, and in combination with white or blue, you get a wonderful tandem in a marine style - in memory of summer, the time of vacations, splashing in the salty sea, bronze tanning and romantic night walks along the coast. Thanks to polymer clay, simple tools and your skillful hands, you can create amazing jewelry in just a couple of hours!

For work we will need the following tools and materials:

Polymer clay in three shades: mint, white and blue;
Liquid plastic (gel);
Acrylic rolling pin or pasta machine;
Broths of a color close to the blue or mint shade of clay;
Stack with a ball;
Blade or stationery knife;
Two earrings and two long pins;
Cutter or plastic die cut in the shape of a five-leaf flower;
Foam sponge;
Varnish for polymer clay;
Round nose pliers.

So, let's start sculpting:

Knead the mint and blue plastic very carefully in your hands - it should become soft and elastic. The ratio of mint clay to blue clay should be 2:1. Lay two shades of clay diagonally to each other and form a rectangular layer.

Using a pasta machine or an acrylic rolling pin, you need to make a layer with a smooth color transition from a two-color layer.

The resulting mint-blue strip must be folded like an accordion as shown in the figure.

The rectangular cane needs to be compressed and rolled out to a diameter of 1 cm, and then pinched on the mint-colored side with your fingers so that the cane is shaped like an elongated triangle.

Now the triangular cane needs to be cut into 20 pieces. Each flower will consist of ten petals: five large ones in the bottom row and five small ones in the inner row. Ten cuts must be made 4-5 mm wide - these will be large petals, and 10 cuts must be made 2-3 mm wide.

Each of the sections must be flattened with your fingers and given a rounded shape to the future petal.

Now we place the petal on the porous surface of the foam sponge and, using a stack with a ball, stretch out the edges and make a depression in the center so that each petal has the shape of a boat.

We place five large petals in the shape of a fan and connect them in the center with a stack with a ball, smoothing out the seams and places where the petals overlap.

We close the circle of petals, align them with a stack in the center and get the bottom row of the flower.

Similarly, in the shape of a fan, we place five smaller petals in the center of the flower, and close the inner row of petals. We also smooth out the center of the inner row with a stack and a ball and completely get rid of the joints.

We form a small ball from blue plastic - this will be the core of the flower.

Using the blunt side of the blade, we make notches on the surface of the ball that intersect in the center of the core.

Generously coat the core of the flower with liquid plastic (gel).

Place the blue core on the liquid glue exactly in the center of the flower.

Sprinkle a scattering of broth around the blue core and place the flower blanks in the oven for firing. Follow the firing time and temperature according to the instructions for the brand of clay you worked with.

Prepare a layer of white clay 3mm thick using a rolling pin or pasta machine. Using a cutter or plastic die in the shape of a five-leaf flower, cut out two identical blanks.

Popular articles Folding postcard with love

After firing on the back side of the flower, attach a small piece of white clay exactly in the center and press a metal pin loop into it.

Cover the top loop of the carnation with a five-leaved white flower and use the edge of a needle to imitate veins on the surface of each petal. Place the flowers in the oven for re-firing.

After firing, the product can be coated with water-based varnish if desired, and using pliers, you need to make loops from the protruding rods and fasten the earrings in them.

All!
The original and airy “Turquoise Flowers” earrings made of polymer clay are ready! In order not to forget the page address and share with friends, add to your social networks: