Jewelry from
Everyday Objects:
Beads
Materials:
Super Sculpey clay
(hardens in home oven to ceramic-like hardness)
Objects to poke holes
through beads,
depending on how thick the cord you will string them on is:
Toothpicks, wood skewers, wire
Aluminum foil to put beads on while in oven
Acrylic paints
Cord for stringing
Findings (parts of
jewelry for closing
bracelets or necklaces, earring hoops, etc.
Note: "jump rings" which have a split in them will not work --
your cord will pull through the split.
Use fasteners with solid loops for tying your cord to.
Instructions:
Pinch off little
pieces of clay and roll into balls.
You can leave them round, elongate them to egg shapes,
and/or cut the ends off to make cyllinders.
Having two different shapes in a pattern
can make an interesting string of beads.
Poke holes through
the beads large enough to thread them.
Remember the paint may get in the holes a bit and make it harder,
so make the holes plenty large.
Bake in home oven
according to instructions.
Make sure your windows are open, and use a fan to ventilate well,
especially if you have pets like birds or fish
that can't come and go as they wish.
When you remove them
from the oven,
they will be a little soft, but will harden when they are cool.
Paint each bead on
the outside
but not in the hole if you can help it.
It is easier if you put your bead back on whatever you used
to poke the hole, so you can paint the whole surface
without touching the bead with your fingers.
If you are going to have more than one color on your bead,
let each color dry completely before adding the next.
Once acrylics are dry,
they will not run when the next coat is put on.
To get a nice glossy finish, make sure the entire bead
surface has at least 2 coats of paint.
Or you can use a clear acrylic glaze as a final coat.
Otherwise, it will look like you painted it with poster paints.
String your beads and attach findings.
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