return on creativity: polymer clay charms

There's no doubt about it, playing with clay is fun.  If you haven't done it since you were a kid, you definately need to do it again.

Here's an easy tutorial for making a clay charm.  Note:  It's probably a good idea to keep tools used for clay and tools used for food seperate.

Make your clay into a ball and roll flat.  I used Polyform Sculpey Original Clay for this project.

Cover with saran wrap and cut out a circle.  Cutting through the saran wrap will create a beveled edge for your charm as shown below.  My circle cutter was originally purchased for the fondant work, but is now dedicated to clay since I don't do cakes much anymore.

Press a rubber stamp into the clay to make an impression.  Words are nice, but so are designs.  

Brush lightly with some colored chalk to make your design really "pop".  If you don't have colored chalk, try some old eye shadow.  (I've not personally tried this, but it *seems* like it should work.  Let me know.)  Use something sharp to make a hole in the top of your charm.

Bake per instructions and let cool.  Now you have a lovely handmade charm!

I just know that you will come up with lots of clever variations on this project.  I can't wait to see them.  Email me or post them to my flickr page.