Posts
Today Mallory Hoffman of For the Love of Beads shows us how to make polymer clay buttons in a snap!
After smoothing out the clay, turn the cookie cutter to the dull (non-sharp) side and use it to make an impression on the clay.
Easy Peasy Polymer Clay Button Tutorial
Gather a small ball of well conditioned polymer clay, an acrylic roller, a small circle cookie cutter, and a needle tool.
You can make your buttons any size you like. I decided that I would make this one a bit thicker than other ones I've made. I broke off about half of the polymer clay that I conditioned and rolled it into a ball that was about as high as my cookie cutter and a little bit wider.
Flatten the ball with your hands. To get rid of the fingerprints, use the acrylic roller to smooth the clay out, keeping the clay round.
After smoothing out the clay, turn the cookie cutter to the dull (non-sharp) side and use it to make an impression on the clay.
Turn the clay over and repeat the process. This is what it looks like when you're finished. See what I mean, easy peasy!
Using the needle tool, poke holes in the button, then turn it over to make sure the holes went all the way through.
You will notice in the final product that I do need to clean up my holes. I'll do this with my Dremel later. Here's what my button looked like before I put it in the oven to cure.
Check the manufacturer's directions and cure the button in an oven dedicated only to clay at the temperature recommended for about 15 minutes. (This is where you really need to follow directions so the clay will cure correctly.)
This is what the button looked like after curing. The holes are easily rounded and cleaned with a Dremel. Making a button this way is easy peasy!!!
Mallory can be found at her blog, For the Love of Beads, and her Etsy store where she sells handmade glass beads, Rosebud's Lampwork Beads.
