Polymer Clay Flower Earrings

(The earrings I took to my sister's baby shower)

Personal touches mean the world to me.  I would much rather receive something homemade any given day over something that was bought.  Likewise, I like to make personal gifts as much as I can.  I also like to be frugal (husband appreciates this part).   T minus 5 weeks = baby shower; I am cutting as many corners as possible to make it happen and make it happen in a cute way.  Today, I put together a tutorial on polymer clay flower earrings.  I took a basket of these to my sister's baby shower as favors and they went over really well.  Last year, I had overstocked my Etsy shop with these little guys and happened to have a few left over.  It seemed like a good idea to make these for my own baby shower in the themed colors since Sarah's friends loved them so much.  

This is a not a difficult project, but it is a bit time consuming.  However, I'll let you in on the extreme perks: I made 40 pairs of earrings for less than $8.00. (I'm not kidding, I swear...and I even had clay left over)


Breakdown: 

Sculpey clay (2 @ $2.27)

Earrings posts with backs (2 @ $1.49) (These were on 50% off)

Total: $7.52 + tax

Now, bear in mind I already had the cabochon flower mold and the E6000, but you could easily do it for under $20 even if you started with zero supplies.  I'll attach links for the molds I use.  

You Will Need

• Sculpey Oven-Bake Clay (Hobby Lobby)

• Earring Posts with backs (Hobby Lobby)

• E6000 or other strong adhesive (any craft store)

• Silicon mold (these are my favorite)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 275.   (If you're using a clay other than Sculpey, the directions will be on one of the sides of the packaging; some clays differ in heat requirements)

I like to be comfortable when I start a batch of these guys because it takes a little while.  So, I curled up on my couch and used my coffee table as a work space while I watched The Firm (I'd never seen it; it's actually really good).  For the first part, you're only going to need your mold, clay, and something to set your flower cabochons on.  I bake mine on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, so I just used that.  

Start off by breaking off a small piece of Sculpey and kneading it slightly with your hands. You don't want it to get too soft (because it won't hold the shape of the individual petals as well), so just do this until it's workable.  Then roll it into a ball and squish it into one of your mold depressions.  Make sure the back is nice and flat, that way your post will set flush against the flower when it's time to glue them together. 

To get the flowers out of the mold, bend it slightly until you can gently roll the flower out with your fingers.  Expect to squish the first couple.  It's an easy fix! 

 Repeat this process until a) your husband starts to question your sanity or b) your eyes start to cross.  I ended up making 40 pairs of earrings for the baby shower in my colors and may possibly add some white ones as well.  

When you have the amount you want, pop those little guys in the oven (which should be gooooood and preheated by now) for 12-15 minutes.  Some colors will scorch much easier than others, so I start checking my flowers at around 11-12 minutes for discoloration.  

After they are finished cooling, it's time for the final steps! 

Dab a bit of E6000 on the back of your cabochon and stick the post to it.  I have found E6000 to work the best of the adhesives (although it greatly distresses me that the lid continuously fuses to the top of the tube).  Allow this to dry.  

Now, pop the butterfly backs on them and those babies are ready to go!  Since I'm putting mine on a type of display (in a basket, perhaps?), I had some kraft paper earring cards in my stash that I used as display cards.  You can buy them in bulk really cheaply on Etsy. They have them at Hobby Lobby, too, but they are pretty pricey for the amount that you get.

I feel like I need to reiterate that all 40 of these sets cost less than $10.  I am so beyond happy about that.  So, they are personalized, handmade, in my shower colors, boutique-ish, and displayed on recycled paper: major mommy win.  This also frees up quite a bit of my budget for other things, plus I plan to add a few more favor items like homemade sugar scrub and bath bombs.  

The freedom of this project is really great because they can be used for so much more than shower favors.  Plus, the market for oven-bake clays has grown exponentially in the last 10 years or so, giving you so many more options.  I've used Fimo and Primo clays in addition to Sculpey, and I like them as well.  I find that Sculpey tends to carry more of the color combinations that I'm drawn to, so I'm an avid Sculpey user.  As for the molds, there are tons of them out there.  I've found the most cost-effective ones from Etsy.  They range from small flowers (my flower mold is a chrysanthemum) to very large cameo-type molds.  The range for them seems a bit overwhelming at first, but the most important thing to keep in mind is the size.  Most molds will have a penny or a quarter in a picture for comparison.  I typically use molds that range from 10-15mm; that seems to be the sweet spot for stud earrings.   Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this tutorial; there will be many more baby shower crafts to follow! Have a wonderful day! 

xo, Karee