This project is a quick one, it’s pretty simple. Sometimes simple is good. In this post I am making some polymer clay pumpkin earrings.
Usually when I use polymer clay I make it one colour and paint it afterwards. I am by nature a painter and find it easier to get things to look the way I want that way. For this project I decided to utilize some of the pretty colours you can get polymer clay in. However; I still ended up painting them a bit in the end.
Supplies: polymer clay in a few colours, earring findings, brass loops, black acrylic paint.
I started this process by gathering my supplies. I bought a pack that came with all the findings needed instead of buying it all separately.
Because I can’t just leave anything alone I mixed myself a few colours. I mixed a little bit of the orange with some green in varying amounts. I also mixed a couple greens so I had a few more shades. Before I got to sculpting I had 4 shades of orange and 3 green.
I took pieces of each of my oranges and twisted them together just a bit to make it one piece then I rolled it in a ball and sculpted out the shape. Pumpkins are so simple there is no messing it up they look cute no matter the shape.
For the stem I took my 3 greens and rolled them together. I flattened one side then gently blended the edges with my pumpkins. I gave it some detail scoring up the sides then gave it a little twist and curled it around. I trimmed the very end with some scissors to get rid of the round rolled look.
Once they were finished I took a pin and pushed it through the pumpkin from top to bottom to ensure it would be at the right spot on the top. Then I removed it and place a head pin in the hole I made from the bottom to the top.
I really love the orange and green really bumpy pumpkins so after my pumpkins were a good shape I made them lumpy. I added on small chunks of my orangey green clay and used the tip of a pencil crayon to make it all knobbly. Then they were ready to bake! I baked them at 275° for 20 minutes.
When they were cooled I turned them into earrings! I trimmed the pin in the pumpkins slightly then bent it in a loop around a jump ring using needle nose pliers. I took my hook and opened its loop slightly putting it around both the jump ring attached to my pumpkin and the brass hoop.
Once they were completely done I painted them, I definitely could have done this step before putting the earrings together but I wasn’t 100% sure I wanted to do it. I ended up painting them them to give them a bit more of a rustic look.
For the painting I just watered down some black acrylic paint then covered the whole pumpkins. I left them to sit for a minute then I wiped them off with a napkin. I went back in with a wet paint brush and re-wet a couple parts where the paint didn’t lift as much as I was hoping.
After they were done I went outside to look for leaves and lost one… I hadn’t even taken pictures wet it was dark and rainy and my eyes just aren’t great so I gave up and went back inside. My husband went back out with a head lamp and found it right away thankfully. Now I think I like them more.
They got several compliments at the farmers market this morning.
