How to Make Your Own Clay Knobs

You can make your own decorative clay knobs for your dresser or cabinetry very affordably and easily. It's a lot of fun too! All you need is oven bake clay (Sculpey brand is my favorite), spray polyurethane, clay tools (plastic ones work fine), 8-32 x 2 inch knob screws (one for each knob you intend to make), nuts that match the diameter of the screw, Gorilla Glue, an oven, and some creativity. There are several colors of Sculpey clay. You can choose to purchase some of the colored ones, or you can get a larger box of natural colored clay and paint your knob after you have baked it. If you choose to paint your knobs, you'll also need acrylic paints of all the colors you would like to use, and a detail paintbrush. Also, the nuts you purchase should have a casing on one side so that when the screw is installed, it won't stick out of the other end of the nut to prevent injuries.

To begin, take your clay out of the packaging and begin to work it in your hands. Make sure you don't throw away the packaging, though. You will need that later. You need to work with the clay, pushing it, flattening it, and pulling it until it is soft and pliable. Once you've reached this step, determine how many knobs you would like to make and how large you would like for them to be. Once you have that established, tear off the amount of clay you want for each knob and roll the clay into a ball. Do this for every knob you intend to make, making the balls all at once so you can get them all roughly the same size.

This next step is up to you and your creativity. Mold each knob into what you want it look like. You can make flowers, different shapes, animals, animal heads, or even keep them round as they are now. When you are done making your knob, make a hole in the back and insert the screw. Be careful not to warp your new creation. Don't worry about covering over the screw entirely with clay. Only the head needs to be embedded thoroughly.

Following the directions of the packaging your clay came in, bake your clay with the screw enclosed.

Once your knobs are baked and cool, this is the time to paint it. If you opted not to paint your knobs, then you'll be moving on to the next step. Using the Gorilla Glue, fill the hole you made halfway. Gorilla Glue tends to grow in size, and you don't want it to ooze out of the back or run down the knob. Keep an eye on it as it dries and wipe away any excess with a damp rag. Do this with all of your knobs.

Once the glue is dry, spray the knobs with polyurethane. Make sure you do this outdoors or in a well ventilated area. The fumes can be harsh. You will also want to make sure that you get as little on the screws as possible and that the coat is even. Don't spray too much at a time, however, or it will cause drips. If you determine that you need a thicker layer, then spray one coat at a time. It takes roughly 24 hours for the polyurethane to dry, depending on humidity. There are some brands that are fast drying, so you'll want to read the can to see drying times for those.

Once the polyurethane is dry your new knobs are ready to install. To install, you simply stick the end of the screw through the pre-drilled hole, and attach the nut to the back.