Hello all! In this fun and quick tutorial, I used an old necklace that I never wore and polymer clay to make this beautiful charm bracelet. I always look for costume jewelry on sale and find a way to reinvent them in interesting ways...I also used a lot of things that I had around the house to complete this...
Things you may need:
- Polymer Clay or any clay that can be oven-baked
- Wire cutter and or needle nose pliers
- Galvanized wire or jewelry wire (optional)
- Necklace/Bracelet or anything to hang a charm from
- Nail Polish (optional)
- Glitter (optional)
This stuff is just amazing! it is super smooth and praised in the doll making and sculpture world big time! It is really easy to work with and leaves no cracks or lumps in your work.
- I will be showing you how to make two heart charms and two heart pins. First, roll two pieces of your clay into balls that are roughly smaller than a dime (us currency).
- Using your finger, flatten and roll them into a capsule type shape--leave the ends rounded.
- Should look like this (#3).
- Using a thin wire (galvanized wire) or thin blade, cut the clay diagonally as shown.
- Cut through.
- Should look like this (#6).
- Flip over one side and match the two sides together to form a heart.
- Should look like this! (#8).
- Without moving the pieces, squeeze the bottom ends together.
- Should look like this (#10) It's THAT EASY!
- Without moving the heart, press your jewelry pin or earring backs in at this point-This flattens the other side for you nicely.
- Should look like this when removed from your surface (#12). Shape the sides better than I did.
- If you want to hang your hearts as charms, cut about 2.5" of wire and shape as shown (#13)
- Make a loop in the middle and twist with your pliers.
- This totally depends on the size of your charm.
- Should look like this (#16).
- Measure against your charm and cut just a little less than the actual height needed.
- Cut, use a pliers that have a wire cutting area in it or a heavy scissor works fine also.
- See how the wire is shorter than the height of the charm? This way it does not stick out. Press the wire into the clay so that it is hidden.
- Use your fingers to smooth the clay over the wire.
- Without moving, try to smooth as much as you can. Make sure the top of the heart remains rounded and juicy :)
- My heart pins and heart charms...
Use your sculpting tools if you have any of course, but if not, use anything around the house that makes it easier to smooth your pieces out.
I removed some beads from the necklace and placed them into my clay charms...they were hard plastic so I was not worried about baking and melting them. Oh yeah, make sure the holes don't show like mine below.
I used my makeup brush and eyeshadow glitter to cover this! everything is prettier in glitter... No need to run to the craft store on this project...
These two look lighter in color because it's the skin color clay.
For the old unworn necklace below, I removed the chain portions to make a bracelet. Use your needle nose pliers to pry the links apart to remove.
This is so easy, it's crazy!
Heat and bake your pieces according to the instructions on your oven-bake clay packaging. I pre-heated my oven to 275 degrees and turn it off when it was heated. I then put my pieces into the oven and baked for 7-10 minutes. Maybe less. After these were done, I made a few more heart charms and placed them in the oven. Even though my oven was off, it was still hot enough to bake them perfectly...
If you do not have colored clay nor craft paint-use Nail Polish! They are handy little paint cans for small projects like these. Use clear polish to cover and protect and that's it! You're done.
OK. So I left my PINK glitter pin in too long and this is what happened...it turned PURPLE! Hey it still works for me...
I hope you have enjoyed reading this...Please kindly share it!
~Thank You~
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