Polymer clay: how to make at home. How to make polymer clay jewelry

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

If you no longer want to spend money on expensive industrial polymer clay sold in craft stores, you can make your own. For this, simple ingredients available to everyone are used. This material can be dried outside or in the oven.

It is slightly different from the factory one, but when using the right production technology, it is not inferior in quality. Please note: This is not classic polymer clay. How to make this product at home without using the plastic that is used in factories, we will understand further.

Glue and corn starch

With this recipe, you can make a material that is almost indistinguishable from the industrial one. Its only feature is that it dries out more strongly. The weight of finished products is reduced by 30 percent compared to the original, but this does not affect their shape in any way. Do not forget about this property when planning work on a future craft. Make it a little larger than it should actually be. Then your creation will be reduced to the required parameters.

How to make your own polymer clay? To do this, mix three-quarters of a glass of glue and one glass of cornstarch. Use a non-stick pan as a container. Put it on the table or on the stove, but do not turn on the fire. Bring the components to a homogeneous state.

Wood glue works best for this method. Although a simple children's one is also good. If you choose the second option, the clay will turn out to be more liquid than in the first case.

Now pour two large spoons of mineral oil and one of lemon juice into the mixture. Mix all ingredients carefully. Alternatively, you can use any motor or baby oil, but it should not be gelatinous.

Coloring and kneading

How to make polymer clay colored? Just add acrylic paints or food coloring to the finished mass. But this must be done carefully so as not to change the structure of the material. If you are going to make a multi-colored craft, cover each part of it with paint after you finish sculpting.

Now heat the mixture over low heat. In this case, it is necessary to stir it constantly. When it becomes similar in consistency to mashed potatoes, the pan should be removed from the stove and placed on any cold and even surface.

Add some more mineral oil to the clay. It will lubricate your hands so that the material does not stick to them as you work. Knead the clay on the table likelike kneading dough. It should be as hot as possible so that your hands can withstand this temperature. You can wear rubber gloves to protect your skin.

Next steps

Knead the material until it is perfectly smooth. Clay should be similar to pizza dough. Roll it into a sphere and put it in an airtight container, before that, removing as much air from it as possible. If the mass has not yet cooled completely, place it in a bag with a small gap. And after the temperature finally drops, put the workpiece in the refrigerator.

To make polymer clay jewelry, lubricate your hands with cream. So the material will not stick to the skin. Roll out the mass and sculpt from it any parts that you need. Then combine them together and wait at least a day for the clay to dry completely.

After that, you can start working with color. You will need to cover with paint even those places that you want to make white. Otherwise, they will be transparent.

Glue and glycerine

If you want your products not to crack, polymer clay made from glue and glycerin will come in handy. How to make such material at home? It needs a lot of glue. This component will make the mass sticky, but very durable. And thanks to him, cracks will not appear on finished products. Glycerin will enhance the effect of this component and minimize the number of possible splits.

Products from thisClay dries in just half an hour. But before we start working with them, we will have to wait a night (or better, a week) so that the finished dough is not too sticky.

Separate stages of work

Before you start creating clay, it is better to dress in old things that you don’t mind getting dirty. How to make polymer clay at home? To do this, mix half a glass of water and 2 cups of glue in a non-stick pan. Boil the mass for a couple of minutes, while constantly stirring it. As in the previous recipe, wood glue is ideal because it is stronger. But children's PVA can also be used.

Now, in a separate bowl, combine the corn starch with a quarter cup of water and pour them into the main saucepan. Mix all ingredients thoroughly. After the finished mass becomes homogeneous, cover it with a lid and wait for it to cool completely.

If you are going to use food coloring, add a drop or two of your chosen color to the mixture. In order to achieve a more saturated color, increase this amount. You can also paint the product after it has dried.

Final steps

Sprinkle the surface you plan to knead the clay with cornstarch. Then put the finished mass on it and carefully knead. In the process, add more starch to the mixture so that the dough is completely no longer sticky.

Stop kneading when the material is pliable and the surface is smooth. On theAt this stage of work, the gluten contained in the starch makes the mass plastic and soft. Now put the finished mixture in an airtight container and refrigerate for a while.

Latin American recipe

How to make your own polymer clay? There are many recipes for its preparation. One of them came to us from Latin America. The locals call this mixture Pasta Franchise. From it you can sculpt a wide variety of crafts.

According to the classic recipe, 10% formaldehyde or formalin must be used. But these substances are harmful and toxic, so we will replace them with ordinary white vinegar.

We need a strong and flexible polymer clay. How to make such material at home, we will understand further. To start, take a glass of cornstarch and half as much water. Place the ingredients in a Teflon saucepan and heat over low heat until the powder melts. When it spreads over the water, add glue to the container.

Additional components

Then add one and a half large spoons of glycerin, the same amount of cold cream with lanolin and white vinegar to the contents of the pan. Heat the mixture over the same heat as before, until it turns into a homogeneous mass, lagging behind the sides of the pan.

Be careful not to overheat the components so they don't harden too much. This is the ultimate answer to the question of how to make polymer clay soft. You can also dilute the finished mixture with water, but you need to do this carefully and measuredly so as not to overdo it.

Don't be intimidated by complicated ingredient names! They are actually very easy to get. Glycerin is widely used in baked goods and sold in grocery stores, while cold cream with lanolin is available in beauty aisles.

Sculpting features

Before you start modeling, apply lotion or cream on your hands and start kneading the clay. Then cover the material with a damp cloth and allow the mass to cool. When you see that the dough has become homogeneous, you can start working on the shape of future products.

At the end of creativity, finished crafts should dry for at least three days in the open air. When all the parts have hardened, you can start painting them. Store unused mass in sealed plastic packaging in a dark and cool place.

Very strong clay

Some crafts require the use of particularly durable materials. So, for example, to make a polymer clay doll, it is best to use the following method of preparing the material. It will require additional components. They will give the product such a density that it will not break when dropped.

Pour into a saucepan a glass of ordinary glue, half a tablespoon of stearic acid, one and a half tablespoons of glycerin and petroleum jelly, half a tablespoon of citric acid. Heat the mixture over very low heat, stirring it thoroughly.

We bring the material to working condition

Start adding cornstarch to the bowl. In total, you need to use half a glass of powder, which you will add to the main composition in small portions. To prevent lumps, remember to stir the contents of the pot all the time until it begins to lag behind the walls.

Over time, the clay will harden and become more difficult to mix. But you can’t stop until the moment you pull the mass out of the pan. Then knead it for 20 minutes by placing it on baking paper.

The mixture will be hot, sticky and lumpy. After you knead it, it will become smooth and even. Then leave it on the table until it cools down. Wrap the finished clay in a plastic bag, releasing all air from it. From the resulting material it will be possible to make a variety of jewelry and accessories. Use acrylic paints to color details.

Liquid plastic

How to make liquid polymer clay? There is nothing complicated in its preparation, and the finished material can be used to create a wide variety of textures, translate images, and also to make the effects of dew, enamel, stained glass and more from cooking cream. In addition, it serves as an excellent tool for gluing parts. There are several ways to create this material.

1. With the help of a special gel that is added to standard polymer clay. This component performs a softening function. For each craft, you need to choose the proportions separately. In this case, it is necessary to be guided by an important rule: the less gel, the thicker the plastic will be, and vice versa. Thisan additional additive must be baked separately, since it will not be able to dry on its own on the craft. Keep it in the oven for a quarter or a third of an hour at 130 degrees.



2. Many masters manage to save money and make liquid clay with Vaseline or hand cream. These components give almost the same effect as the gel, but the product is less transparent.
3. You can even try to dilute the clay with water. But this is not a very reliable method, because excess liquid affects the quality of the composition, and it loses its properties. So, for example, clay ceases to be durable.

Clay products

It is possible to make a wide variety of crafts from this material. They can consist of a single piece, or many small elements. There are many ways to make polymer clay flowers. For example, mold each petal and core individually, and then glue them together. To create a beautiful rose, cut out a wavy line and twist it as shown in the image below. Attach the leaves to the bud - and the flower is ready.

Making polymer clay earrings is also quite easy. You are able to create the most unusual models. These can be, for example, food products such as cakes, cake pieces, fruits, berries, ice cream, donuts, candy or even sandwiches. Handmade jewelry in the form of animals and cartoon characters is also popular. Even the most ordinary coloredcircles, squares, rhombuses, triangles will look very stylish and bright.

The principle of creating any earring is to mold the necessary figurine from mashed clay, decorate it with details, cover it with paint and attach it to a hook, which can then be threaded through a hole in the lobe.

For the manufacture of any product you will need polymer clay. You already know how to make this beautiful and versatile material at home. Now you can use it to make unique jewelry, key chains, figurines, fridge magnets and many other interesting things. These crafts are not only colorful, but also durable. They will delight you and your loved ones for a long time, for whom they will become an unforgettable gift.