| Easy-to-Make Clay Jewelry for Kids |
From "DIY Crafts"
episode DIC-168 |
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Designer Genia Ward shows how to make kids' jewelry out of polymer clay, using rubber stamps and cookie cutters. She makes a frog pin, a fish pin and a lion pendant. Frog Pin Materials:
Polymer clay
Pasta machine (Note: After a pasta machine has been used to condition clay, it cannot be used in food preparation.)
Rolling pin
Surgical blade or clay-cutting blade
Fish rubber stamp
Leather-protectant spray (from an automotive store)
Pin back
Toothpick
Pin backs
Narrow ribbon - Ward didn't demonstrate how to make the entire frog pin, but she showed how to make the frog's legs. Roll clay into a small snake. Cut the snake in half, and press one end onto the side of the body, near the back end. Curve the leg toward the front and outward to the side to give the look of a frog's leg. Flatten the end of the snake slightly to create a webbed foot. Press a toothpick into the clay three times to mark indentations for the webbed foot (figure A).
- To make a fish pin, roll out sheets of orange, green, pink and yellow clay. Cut a strip of each color about 1/2" wide, place the strips side by side, and press the edges together. Run the multicolored sheet through a pasta machine. Cut the clay with a fish-shaped cookie cutter, or spray a fish rubber stamp with leather-protectant spray, and press the stamp into the clay (figure B). Remove excess clay around the edges. Bake in a 265-degree oven for 20 minutes. Glue on a pin back (figure C).
- Cut two hollow-center red polymer clay hearts from cookie cutters, and stack one on top of the other at an angle so they interlock. Bake in a 265-degree oven for 20 minutes. Tie a half-hitch knot with a narrow ribbon through the upper loop of the top heart to create a pendant (figure D).
Lion Pendant Materials:
Sculpey III® polymer clay -- one package of each of the following colors: Beige #093, Terra Cotta #352, Black #042 and Copper #1018
Sculpting Tools #T301
Optional: pasta machine (Note: After a pasta machine has been used to condition clay, it cannot be used in food preparation.)
Rolling pin
Garlic press (Note: Do not use in food preparation after processing clay.)
Pencil
Craft glue
Toothpicks
Silk or leather cord
Aluminum-foil-covered cookie sheet
Paper towels - Condition all clay by running the colors through a pasta machine on the lowest setting. Or knead by hand until soft and pliable.
- Roll out the beige clay to 1/8" thickness. Use the sculpting tool to cut out a head in the shape of a flat balloon.
- Make two 1/2" eyeballs from beige clay. Place together about 1/2" down from the top. Use a pencil eraser to indent the clay for pupils. Make much smaller balls from black clay. Slightly flatten the balls with your finger. Fill the indentations with black-clay pupils (figure E).
- Form the nose by making a triangle-shaped log. Cover the front of the nose with a small piece of terra-cotta clay. Insert the end of the nose just under and between the eyes.
- Cut two small triangles of beige clay for ears. Fan and curve them to form ear shells. Attach them to the top of the head.
- Use a toothpick to cut a smiling mouth in the face.
- Squeeze copper clay through a garlic press. Arrange strands of clay around the lion's head to form a mane. Press firmly to the clay head (figure F).
- Place on a foil-covered cookie sheet, and bake at 265 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool.
- Cut a silk or leather cord the desired length for the necklace. Glue the cord to the back of the lion's head.
Tips: - adults can use a glass surface for working with clay. It stays cool and smooth and doesn't absorb pigments.
- A good work surface for kids is a cutting board wrapped with freezer paper, shiny side up.
- Rolling pins are fine for creating sheets of clay. Do not use any utensil for food preparation once it has been used to process clay.
RESOURCES :
Polymer clay
Model: S-III-2
Sculpey III
Polyform Products Inc.
Website: www.sculpey.com
The Art of Polymer Clay
Model: 0823002780
Author: Donna Kato
Watson-Guptill Publications
Website: www.watsonguptill.com
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