21 Clever Polymer Clay Crafts You’ll Love To Try For Yourself This Summer
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There is nothing quite like polymer clay crafts to chase away that absolutely annoying feeling of summer boredom. Crafting with clay can be a lot of fun and your own imagination is the only limiting factor here.
Whether you want to relive your youth spent playing with play doh or want to craft something useful for around your home, a couple of blocks of polymer clay can chase away any sort of summer blues.
Many clay projects will also make some pretty sweet handmade gifts if you’re looking to get into that sort of thing too. Quite a few people love nothing better than to receive a unique and customized gift, and it can mean a lot to get something handmade.
In this post, I’m going to share with you 21 of my favorite inspiring ideas to get those creative juices flowing. These ideas are beginner-friendly and will not require a ton of materials to get started, so what are you waiting for? Let’s get started!
Types of Polymer Clay To Consider Using
Like many things, there is a lot of choice out there for finding polymer clay to use in your crafting projects.
Oven baked clay is better for a few reasons:
- The clay project will not shrink if it’s baked in the oven. Air dry clays sometimes will.
- You have time to create your project; you don’t have to worry about it hardening while you work on it.
- Greater variety of colors are available in oven baked clay over air dry.
Besides getting a plethora of brilliant clay colors for the following projects, you might also want to consider a couple of extra items that will be useful in almost any clay project you want to try.
- A working surface. A ceramic tile or tray is great because it can go into the oven with your project.
- A rolling pin or a clay roller (it looks an awful lot like a pasta roller) as both can get you a nice gorgeously flat piece of clay!
- Various clay tools to create different effects in the clay. I like this simple plastic set from Amazon.
- Sometimes clay sets will come with tools inside, so keep that in mind!
- A cookie sheet and parchment paper.
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Now, let’s get on with some inspiring polymer clay crafts!!
Geometric Wall Hanging
I love this gorgeous DIY wall hanging tutorial from Alice & Lois. It’s very simple to make and the best part is you can pick clay colors that suit your decor or pick something entirely neutral to suit your ever changing style.
Pretty Patterned Forks
You can use polymer clay for so many things, but I love this colorful idea from A Kailo Chic Life to use it to make adorable patterned forks. Perfect for parties or even just to dress up a plain old bit of silverware for yourself. It’s so easy and so much fun.
A Marble Clock
I love making marbled clay, and this project is perfect for practicing that technique. All you need is a few different colors of clay and a clock mechanism. Learn how to make a gorgeous marbled clock with this easy tutorial at Gathering Beauty. Emma even shows you how to get that perfect marbled look with your clay!
Cactus Place Holders
Clay is perfect for creating unique place card holders for your next party. This prickly idea from Bird’s Party is to create cactus place card holders.
Garden Markers
Keep track of where you put your plants in your garden bed with these cute little garden markers. All you need are some sticks and clay to create an army of veggie and fruit themed markers so you can stop guessing where you planted your peas and carrots!
Check out my full tutorial here.
Clay Coasters
I’ve done a few posts about drink coasters here on the blog. I love these adorable DIY rainbow themed ones that Your DIY Family has posted about. Super simple, but will add just that perfect touch of whimsy to your coffee table!
A Pretty Clay Necklace
Sometimes the best pieces of jewelry are the simplest and I love this gorgeous DIY Clay Necklace tutorial from Lia Griffith. These would make great gifts too!
Damask Clay Pendants
Keeping with the jewelry theme, another way to use clay is to make a gorgeous damask style pendant using this fun tutorial from Autodesk Tutorials. You could probably pick a different stamp design if damask patterns aren’t your thing as well!
3D Art For Your Wall
This clever tutorial from The Lovely Drawer is all about creating a gorgeous 3D piece of artwork that will add some serious texture to your wall. I am loving the delightful mosaic pattern that you can create and then frame with an inexpensive wooden frame.
Pretty Clay Earrings
Besides necklaces, you can make a pretty sweet pair of earrings. Earlier I shared this clay earring tutorial that you can check out. The geometric design and bright colors make this an awesome set of earrings.
FIMO “Leather Effect” Purse
I have to admit, when I started researching for this blog post, I did not know this would pop up, but this is seriously cool. You honestly can’t tell that this Fox Pouch Tutorial from Stadtler is made of polymer clay!
Polymer Clay Keychain Gifts
If you’ve ever had a collection of keys that you can’t keep track of, this craft is right up your alley. I love the idea of personalizing your keys with these lovely clay keychain ideas from Soda Pop Public Relations. Now you can tell at a glance instantly which is your house key and what might be your mail key!
Polymer Clay Figures
One of the more standard crafting projects is to create figurines with your polymer clay. These are so much to make and they can add a punch of personality to your home decor easily. They are also great ideas for a thoughtful handmade gift for someone as well!
Some interesting ideas try:
FIMO Easter Bunny Scene from Kiddy Charts
Clay Gnome & Mushroom from Lemon Zest
Clay Fish Sculpture from Creator’s Joy
You can create pretty much any animal you set your mind to. My recommended trick is to have a picture of the animal while you work. It helps keep the right visualization in your head!
Polymer Clay Trinket Boxes
A trinket box is perfect for storing precious items like rings or small pieces of jewelry, and I love the idea of using clay to create these little boxes. It’s a great way to add a pop of personality to your dresser top and I like to use containers to store jewelry pieces that I don’t wear that often as the containers keep the dust and other things off of them so they look sparkling new when it’s time to wear them!
Some clever ideas for polymer clay boxes you can try:
Mermaid Box from The Artisan Life
Fruity Wooden Bracelet Trinket Boxes from Damask Love
DIY Clay Light Switch Covers
Earlier I shared an adorable Halloween light switch cover tutorial where you can create an amazing Halloween scene with just clay! I like this idea because you aren’t just limited to a Halloween craft, you can think about ways to create something for Christmas or another holiday or even just something unique and pithy for everyday use that will dress up those plain light switch covers.
Polymer Clay Rose Pendants
The Girl Inspired shared this absolutely gorgeous clay rose pendant tutorial that you should definitely check out. You can also create other flower themed jewelry pieces. You just need to find a silicon mold!
Clay Christmas Ornaments
We can use also polymer clay create handmade Christmas ornaments for the holidays. Again, similar to the clay sculptures, I recommend finding a picture of what you want your ornament to be, so you have the inspiration right in front of your nose while crafting.
DIY Ice Cream Cone Wall Planters
Who doesn’t like ice cream? Some of my favorite childhood memories are heading to a local ice cream shop for a cone. I love this tutorial from Aww Sam to create your own clay wall planters inspired by the wonderful waffle cone!
Wrapping Things Up
So there we are, 21 clever polymer clay crafts to inspire your hobbies for this summer! I love the practicality of many of these, like the wall planters or the drink coasters. All you need is a couple of blocks of clay and your ideas to create something beautiful.
Whether you just want to make something for yourself or create something special and handmade for someone as a gift, these ideas are sure to get your creative juices flowing. Pinterest is a great place to find further inspiration for your crafting plans and speaking of Pinterest, I would love it if you pinned this post there!
Until next time, stay crafty, my friends!!
