DIY Network

Mother of Pearl Flower Pendant and Faux Knot Mother of Pearl Flower Pendant and Faux Knot From "Jewelry Making" episode DJMK-309

Today, to prove that it really is hard to judge a book by its cover, we take a look at jewelry that looks like the real thing but is really a clever imposter. Faux creations include an imitation mother of pearl flower necklace with a clever slipknot closure, stunning faux-diamond chandelier earrings, a lapis "doughnut" pendant that is a true-blue beauty and a pair of beautiful faux-crystal earrings.

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	Mother of Pearl Flower Pendant and Faux Knot
	Figure A

Mother of Pearl Flower Pendant and Faux Knot

Materials: (figure A)

White and black Kato Polyclay
Heart in Hand Studio polymer clay foils in Pearlidescent?
Lisa Pavelka's Poly Bond Glue
Jump ring
Hammerhead two-part five-minute-setting epoxy
Buna rubberneck cord
Pasta machine
Kato T-Blade
X-Acto knife
Smooth ceramic tile (6"x6" or larger)
Jewelry pliers
Knitting needle

Making the Pendant

1. Condition white polymer clay.

2. Roll out a clay sheet using the fourth-largest setting on a pasta machine.

3. Burnish Pearlidescent? clay foil onto the clay sheet.

	Figure B
	Figure C

4. Cut out five large teardrops, using a clay pattern cutter (figure B).

5. Add three to five "vein" lines in each petal with a needle tool (figure C). Start from the tip and draw outward toward the petal's rounded end.

6. Pinch the rounded end slightly to form a tip.

7. Place the teardrops pointed end in, forming a circle formation by layering the petals scallop fashion, one slightly overlapping the other.

8. Punch a small circle of foiled clay from the remaining clay and glue over the center of the flower. Impress the center with the retracted tip of a ballpoint pen.

9. Insert a small hole at the top of one petal with a needle tool. Bake the flower at 275 degrees for 35 minutes.

10. Coat the surface of the baked pendant with a thick layer of five-minute two-part epoxy. Let it set overnight and repeat with a second layer if the glue has pulled away from the flower's edges.

11. Add a jump ring and string on a rubber cord with a slide-lock clasp.

Slide-Lock Clasp

1. Roll a 5"x1/16" diameter snake of black polymer clay. Taper the ends to a point by rolling with your fingertips.

2. Wrap the clay snake around a knitting needle that is about the same diameter (or slightly larger) than double the width of the rubberneck cord. The snake should be wrapped as a coil with no space showing in between the coils.

3. Roll two 3/8" balls of black polymer clay into balls. Roll one end of each ball with your fingertips to form teardrop shapes.

4. Make a hole halfway in each teardrop using the needle tool.

5. Press the cord end into the hole. Repeat this step with the second clay ball. Gently pull the clay ball off of the cord.

6. Brush the clay coil with liquid polymer clay medium and bake (while still on the knitting needle), with the teardrops, at 275 degrees for 30 minutes.

7. After baking, pull the hot clay coil off the knitting needle while it is still warm (not hot) and allow to cool.

Figure D

8. Thread several inches of the rubber cord through the cooled coil. Push the other end of the cord into the coil from the other direction; push as far as possible. Pull the end of the rubber cord inserted first back out of the coil until the other end of the cord is pulled through (figure D).

9. Glue the teardrop ends onto the cord, using poly bond glue. Attach the pendant to the cord with a jump ring.