So you may have discovered the amazing versatility of using Polymer Clay and have created earrings… BUT you’re ready for something else! I have 5 ideas of other types of accessories and gifts you can create with Polymer Clay that ARE NOT EARRINGS!
You can use these polymer clay ideas to create gifts for your friends and family, or keep these polymer clay accessories to yourself… I won’t tell, promise. Let’s get into it.
Some links to products are my own products handmade by me, and some are affiliate links - but pinky promise only to products I would use/have used myself!
Polymer Clay Bookmarks
My new favorite thing to create is Polymer Clay Bookmarks! These bookmarks are so versatile in the style and how you can design them, plus they are super practical for any book lover.
You can create a classic polymer clay bookmark using this polymer clay bookmark cutter or really any shape will work!
And here are some ways that I use different clay techniques to style the bookmarks:
- Use the image transfer technique to transfer any image to your clay
- Stamp lettering onto the bookmark for a unique phrase
- Clay slab technique
- Or Use polymer clay textures to create a unique textured design
TIP! When I roll out the clay to create a bookmark, I like to use a thin setting on my pasta machine. Typically for earrings it is setting 1 or 2 and that’s a ¼” thickness, but for bookmarks I like to use settings 5-8. This creates a very thin bookmark and it lays nicely into the book.
I also like to use these colorful tassels and connect them to the bookmarks with jump rings to add a fun touch.
Polymer Clay Necklaces
Surprisingly polymer clay necklaces were easier than I thought to create! You can use your imagination to create ANY style of necklace you want. Here is an example of how I used this polymer clay cutter with a mama stamp to create a unique polymer clay necklace for myself and some of my special mama friends!
For the necklace chain, I purchased a ready-to-go necklace chain from Hobby Lobby, or you can check out these gold necklace chains with clasps from Amazon.
Use a wire cutter to cut the center of the necklace chain. This created 2 parts. Then drill a hole in both sides of the mama stamped polymer clay piece, and using jump rings that fit the necklace chain, connect the necklace chain to the polymer clay stamped charm.
You can create more simple necklaces by doing a pendant type of necklace where the polymer clay necklace charm hangs off the chain with a jump ring. Then you can skip all the wire cutting involved!
TIP! If you are going to do the first method, make sure that your jump ring will fit inside of the hole of the chain of your necklace. You can double check by looking at the diameter of the chain links, and the diameter of the jump rings you have. I allllmost created my own jump rings because I like a very fine gold chain for necklaces, and you can learn how to do that here and here is the gold wire I purchased.
Polymer Clay Keychain Charms
Just like the polymer clay necklaces, you can create charms perfect for a keychain! These make great gifts and crafts for kids or to sell at a market.
Here are the keychain rings that I have used before to create my own keychains and the stretchy jewelry cord I use when creating long beaded key chains.
Then you’ll need polymer clay cutters that are a little bit larger if you are going to do a stand alone charm. But you can let your imagination take you in many directions for this one.
- If you like to model clay, you can use eye pins and then connect it to the key ring
- Use larger polymer clay cutters and connect the keychain charm with a jump ring
- Build a keychain with polymer clay beads and decorate with other beads
- Use vinyl and resin to decorate a customized keychain charm
- Stamp and texture on the polymer clay to create your own unique charm
Using jump rings to connect your charm can keep this craft very simple and you may already have all the tools you need to create the keychains!
Polymer Clay Beads for Necklaces, Bracelets, and Key Chain Rings!
I have used a homemade setup to create my own polymer clay beads so that I can create custom keychains. However, there are so many options now if you want to create your own beads and you can create a lot of different bead shapes by using clay bead rollers!
Because you are turning your polymer clay into beads, you can create any accessory you can think of that needs beads! I love to use this stretchy wire when creating bracelets and key rings.
How to Create Clay Beads
To create handmade polymer clay beads you can use this Sculpey Round Bead Maker or typically I roll the clay in my hand for the type of bead I wanted (typically a small circle or cylinder).
Roll the clay onto plain white paper to remove any finger prints or imperfections from working with your hands.
Then use any tools you have to create a texture. Like lines, dot indents, roll on sand paper, etc. (Sometimes I do this step after putting it on the bead kabob stick)
How to Bake Clay Beads
If you want to buy a kit to bake homemade polymer clay beads, check out this bead baking rack for polymer clay makers!
Otherwise, I like to use a homemade process using wooden kabob stick, since I don't make beads often and I already have these materials at home.
Use the pointed end of the kabob stick to create a beaded hole in the polymer clay. Make sure the bead is not too tight onto the stick. Repeat this process until you have multiple beads on a single stick.
Then I lay the stick across a bakeable cake pan. This way, the beads don’t get a flat edge, they stay round.
Bake the polymer clay beads as normal! (If you are using Sculpey Premo or Souffle, usually it’s 275 degrees for 30 minutes) Let the beads cool after taking them out of the oven, and then you can pull them off of the kabob stick. The beads are ready to use!
Polymer Clay Hair Clips
Polymer clay hair clips are so fun to create! And, if you made it this far I’m sure I sound like a broken record, YET AGAIN, clay hair clips are so versatile that you can use any method of working with polymer clay to create your own hair clips.
- Use the image transfer technique to transfer any image to your clay
- Stamp lettering onto the clay for a unique phrase
- Clay slab technique
- Or Use polymer clay textures to create a unique textured design
To create a hair clip, I use these polymer clay hair clip cutters to prep the polymer clay. These clay hair clip cutters are sized perfectly for the standard hair clip sizes and styles you’ll find on sites like amazon.
These are the hair clips I have used and would recommend when starting out!
Bake your polymer clay as normal. Then I use super glue adhesive to glue the hair clip onto the clay.
TIP! You can also buy other polymer clay add-ons or other bow accessories to glue further onto your polymer clay hair clip base. I have used these when creating polymer clay Disney hair clips for my daughter and my nieces! (Which THEY LOVED!)
Helpful Tools for Polymer Clay Makers
I hope these 5 polymer clay ideas gave you inspiration in what you can create other than earrings! It’s nice to expand your creativity with the same tools you already have! My shop has several polymer clay cutters made for polymer clay makers and to help further your creativity with polymer clay.
Here are some of the products mentioned in this post: