Welcome to the first of many how to guides on creating a flower charm out of polymer clay. In this guide I will go through the process from start to finish and what you need to create a single flower which can be used as a charm or as jewellery.
Depending on what you adorn to the end of the finding, depends on what this will be for you. That is your decision, You can make a necklace, keyring, have it hanging from a bag, the choice is yours!
Below I have listed the ingredients and tools used to create this little flower.
Note: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you I will earn a commission if purchases are made.
What you will need
- Polymer Clay – Clay Guide Here or Purchase from Amazon
- Findings – Eye Pins
- Needle nose plyers
- A ball tool – Tool guide here or Purchase from Amazon
Lets begin with step one! Prepare and assemble your items.
Prepare your surface, I’ve taped a piece of baking paper down to a table for this tutorial as I’m using a wooden table. There is a previous post regarding worksurfaces you can use here which outlines what you can use.
Assemble all of your items. I chose to do this in Sculpey Premo Blue as you can see from the pictures, There is also green and black which I used for the stem and leaf. Other clays can be used, I outline other brands in this post
Swap and change the colours to suit your project.
You may want it in red with a black stem or to even make this is a copper colour for that steampunk vibe. It’s completely up to you.
Step 2 – Bend the finding
Take the finding and put a bit of a bend in it. I usually try to incorporate a bend of sorts within the finding as it allows the clay to adhere and stick to it better.
Rather than pulling a straight finding out and having to glue it back in again, the bend will keep it in place.
Step 3 – Condition the clay
Conditioning is used to soften up the clay. The clay I’m using hasn’t actually been touched for around 3+ years so it was a bit flaky. Roll the clay in your hands, squeeze it, fold it, make it a bit softer. The flakiness of the clay soon disperses and you’re left with a nice ball which can be used and worked to your needs!
If you find it’s too soft put it in the fridge for 30 minutes or sandwich it between two pieces of paper. This draws the liquid content out and allows you to work with a firmer clay.
Once you have done this, then roll it out into a long, thin, sausage shape and cut 5 little bits off the end.
Throughout this I will do batches of 5 petals at a time, this allows you to change the sizes if you want to at any time!
Step 4 – Roll them up & press them out.
Once you have the first 5 cut then roll each ball up in your hand.
You can now begin to press some of them out as shown below. One of these will be a base for you finding, the other 4 will be the start of the flower.
I used the ball tool for this as I find it provides a smoother and more equal pressure to the clay.
If you do not have a ball tool though, gently flatten these with your fingers into the rough shape as shown.
Pick out the worst one, one which may be a bit of an odd shape, too thin, or you just didn’t like. This will be the base of the finding.
Step 5 – Lets start building the flower charm
Take your finding and the piece of clay you didn’t really like, and wrap it around the finding.
This will be the base of the flower where all the other petals will ultimately stick to.
Make sure this is as secure as it can be, you will find it moves a little bit as the clay doesn’t adhere to the metal too well. This is why I always drop a little bend somewhere in the finding itself.
Once that piece is in place then give the centre part a little jacket.
Get another petal and wrap it around the centre as shown. Once this is in place then you can start building it up.
Step 6 – Add more petals
Exactly as the step states, you should have 3 more petals to use, begin by covering up the front of the jacket with another petal.
Then start building around the flower piece by piece.
When adding these, apply a little pressure to the base of the flower so they adhere correctly being careful not to touch the top of the petals.
Once you have exhausted your petals, repeat Step 4. Cut a few more pieces of clay off, roll them up, flatten them out and adhere them to your flower.
Step 7 – Lets add the Sepals & the Stem to the flower charm
So for this step I didn’t have a dark enough green so mixed this up with a little bit of black. Condition the clay by rolling it between your fingers, squishing it, folding it etc… again until both colours are fully mixed together.
It only take a little bit of black to darken the green.
When you’re mixing colours always increase the amount little bit little until you reach your desired colour. It’s easier to add than try and remove!
Once you have mixed your desired colour, roll it out and cut out some small triangles.
These will be the sepals for the flower (The little green bits under the flower head). Add as many or as few as you feel.
Once you have done this part then it’s onto the stem.
Using a bit of the same colour you used for the sepals, cut and flatten a small bit of the clay.
This will need to be around as long as the rest of the finding and wide enough to wrap around it as well.
Then wrap it around the end of the finding.
After doing this part I found the clay to be a little bit overworked and too soft to work with so I put it in the oven for 5 minutes.
The good thing about polymer clay is that you can bake it a few times. If you want to continue to work on the piece you have, I would suggest putting it in the fridge for a little bit. If you no longer wish to work on the piece you have, you can bake it a little to harden the clay.
Step 8 – Add the leaf to your flower charm
As I’ve mentioned in the last step, I put the flower charm in the oven for 5 minutes. I was happy with the progress made and confident that this wouldn’t need further changes. A guide on times & temperatures can be found here.
Even though I had part baked the clay, the good thing about it is that you can keep working on it after baking and re-bake it again if you want. So lets add the leaf.
To make the leaf at the end, First create another petal using any remainder of the green clay you have and cut it into a triangle shape.
Leave the excess on the bottom as this will become part of the stem.
When you have your leaf cut, Wrap it around your stem and give it a little pressure to adhere properly.
You’re now ready for the oven!
Step 9 – Baking and finishing
Depending on which clay you used to do this tutorial depends on the full baking time. If you followed above and baked for 5 minutes, disregard this time and bake for the full length. You will want the heat to penetrate the clay and bake all the way through.
A guide on temperatures and times can be found here
Place some baking paper on the tray you’re using. I knocked up a little jig using some wire I had just to keep it suspended.
Bake the flower charm for around 15 minutes and then took it out to cool. I wouldn’t try handling it straight away, they can get hot!
If you have been following along then congratulations! This is the end of the guide.
You can now add your flower charm to anything you like.
You can turn this into a keyring, a necklace, You can make two and have a set of earrings! The choice is yours.
I hope you have enjoyed this guide and it has helped you with the creation of this charm. I look forward to creating more how to guides for you!