Baked clay pendants

Big Sister was star of the week in her her little class in school earlier this month. Usually on the last day they are the star, the kids take treats or trinkets for their classmates. We decided to make a fun project out of it and make something for her 30 classmates.

We love baking, we love jewellery, so we baked jewellery!


Here's how we did it...



We used Sculpey Polymer Clay. It is pretty easy to work with and 'cooks' well. If you are using a different type of clay, make sure you follow the prep instructions. With this, we start out by kneading a small ball of clay until soft.


Then using a rolling pin, roll it out flat to less than 1/4 inch thickness. (If you do not have separate tools for crafts, make sure you wash them THOROUGHLY before using them again for their intended use.)


Now you can use any shape molds you have lying around. Kids toys have interesting shapes to cut out from. I used my cookie cutter's top. Alternately, if you are good at it, you may also sculpt your own shape.


This is a fun part for the kids. Press the mold on the flattened clay.


Make a number of cutouts and remove the remnants, which can be kneaded and used again.


The cutter I used is not specifically a cutter. It is used for decorating and making indents on cookies. So the edges ended up being not sharp or defined enough.


I corrected this easily by pressing the imperfections lightly with my fingers into the shape.


Place the prepared shapes onto a baking sheet.



Now pierce a hole at the top of the shape. (You will need this to hook a jump ring to make it into a pendant or an earring or a charm)



Follow your clay's baking instruction. With Sculpey, I baked this at 275F (130 C) for 15 minutes.



With some leftover clay, I rolled out some beads for another project for homemade earrings.


Once cooled take them out of the baking sheet.


You might want to perfect some of the holes using a bead reamer.



Paint away. I used non-toxic ceramic paint. You can also use acrylic. But this being a project with kids for kids, make sure you use non-toxic paints.


I am not that good with brush work, but I wasn't aiming for perfection either. But next time, I am planning to use a foam brush, which I think will not leave as many stroke marks.

You might want to wait for the paint on one side to dry before you paint the other side.


Once both sides are dry, add jump rings.



You can sculpt shapes or cut them out. Definitely a fun project to do with your kids.


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