5 Fun & Creative Ways to Make Polymer Clay Beads

Polymer clay is an amazing material that can be used to create an incredible variety of objects. If you've thought about trying it, but have no idea where to start, consider making some beads. They're small so they don't take much time or clay to make, and if your experiments don't all work you won't have wasted that much clay. And if you're successful, you'll have some new jewelry for your collection.

1. Marbling
This is probably the first thing anyone tries with polymer clay. Since the clay comes in so many different colors, you can try mixing colors together with your hands to make other ones. But (and here's the tip)-if you don't mix them completely you'll get swirls of the original colors and the blended ones.

Try playing around with different colors and shades of the same color. For example, see what happens when you mix white and black, or black and red. You can also try different mixing techniques. For example, instead of just "smushing" the colors together, try making two small "logs" and twisting them around each other. The results may surprise you!

2. Textures
If you'd rather use only one color, you can leave it as is or give your beads some surface texture by using the following methods:
- stamping them with rubber stamps
- pushing them into, or rolling them over, a textured surface (try crumpled aluminum foil)
- pressing objects into the clay (try knitting needles, nails, screws, washers, or the end of a cup hook)

To make sure the clay doesn't stick to the object, you can dust the clay with cornstarch or talcum powder (it will wash off easily later) or even plain water.

These techniques will work for clay that hasn't been baked yet. If the clay's already baked, you can carve it with anything that's reasonably sharp. Most woodcarving tools will also work on clay.

3. Mica powder effects
This is a powder that contains both a pigment (for color) and mica particles, which reflect light in different ways. You can coat the surface of your clay with this powder to make it look like it's made from gold, silver, or copper, or use other colors of powder for other effects. The nice thing is, there's no actual metal in the powder so it's safer to use and much less costly.

Mica powders can also be mixed together, so if you're looking for a particular color of powder but can't find it, you can always try making your own. Just be careful; this powder can fly all over!

Some mica powders are formulated so that they won't rub off the clay after it's cured, but some need to be sealed with varnish. Any kind of water-based varnish will do; oil-based varnish will never dry.

4. Painting
Polymer clay can be painted with acrylic (craft) paints. If your bead isn't flat and you decide to paint it before baking, you'll need to find some way to prop it in the oven so the paint doesn't rub off. You can also wait until after the bead has been baked to paint it.

You can try different effects with paint, like swirling one color of paint with another, or you can paint little designs, like dots, circles, spirals, and triangles, on your beads. As with mica powder, you may need to varnish to keep the paint from coming off.

And if you want your beads to really sparkle, try using-

5. Glitter!
Today's glitters-especially the fine and ultra-fine types-stick really well to unbaked polymer clay. You can roll your beads in the glitter or put them with the glitter in a small zip-type plastic bag and shake it gently. Either way, it's a good idea to smooth the surface of the bead afterwards to remove glitter particles that didn't really adhere well. You might also want to separate your materials from the rest and cover your work surface to make cleanup easier; as you can probably imagine, glitter has a tendency to get in everything.

Once again, you may need to varnish your beads after baking to seal in the glitter.

And a bonus tip
Glitter, paint, and mica powders can also be mixed in the clay-as can many other materials, including everyday herbs and spices. If you want a more understated look-or want to save on the mess-try this method. Just don't get carried away and add too much of any of these materials; they'll dry out the clay and you'll have a lot of trouble shaping it.

If you're using paint, you'll need to paint the surface of the clay and then let it dry (so the water in the paint will evaporate) before mixing. And try not to overmix; it will make the flakes of paint too small to be seen.

These are just a few of the things you can do with polymer clay. They will all make beautiful, unique beads that you can turn into fabulous jewelry; if they're big enough you can even put them on chains and wear them as pendants. You can probably guess that these techniques will work for other objects as well. So try a few, and see where your imagination takes you!