Succulents are one of my favorite plants. They hold the magical power that brings contemporary feeling to any flower arrangement instantly. In today’s tutorial, I will show you how to make polymer clay succulent and match it with soft colored roses to create a trendy and romantic look. I'll also show you how to attach the polymer clay creation to an earring post so you can easily convert your clay master piece to a beautiful piece of jewelry.

 Materials:

• Two earring posts
• Two white zircon beads
• Four jump rings
• Two 10mm round connectors
• polymer clay (color recipe at the end)

Step 1. Theory first...

Before jumping into making earrings, let's think about how to make polymer clay flowers in general first. Most flowers are made of multiple layers of petals ranging from small to large. When crafting them, we generally need to determine four factors:

1. the number of layers
2. the size and number of petals for each layer
3. the petal shape
4. the petal arrangement

Since flower petals are generally uniform in size for each layer, we need to come up a way to divide the polymer clay evenly. The traditional approach is to roll the clay into a long tube and slice it into round discs using a craft knife. It is better than eyeballing but still not as accurate.

My approach is to roll the polymer clay through a pasta machine into 1mm thickness and use a round piping tip ( I usually choose Wilton No. 7) to cut out circles (later referred to as "a circle"). This is a very accurate method as each circle is exactly the same size.

Step 2. Making polymer clay succulent

The polymer clay succulent shown above has 4 layers. The size and number of petals can be found in the table below. You can also refer to picture 2 and 3.

• 1st layer: 1/4 of a circle*3
• 2nd layer: 3/4 of a circle*3
• 3rd layer: 1 circle*3
• 4th layer: 1 1/4 circle *2

Then shape and arrange petals as shown in picture 5-8.

Shop the material needed for this project

Step 3. Making polymer clay rose

There are three roses for each earring -- a large, medium and small. Again, here comes my table!

Large rose

• Center: 1 circle
• 2nd layer: 1 circle *2
• 3rd layer: 1 circle *3

The small and medium roses only have two layers of petal. The difference is the medium rose have three petals outside and small rose only has two.

Shaping and arrange the petals as shown in picture 12-14.

Step 4. Adhering flowers to the earring post

I used Sculpey translucent liquid clay to attach my flowers to the metal plate. After baking, you need to remove the baked flowers from the plate and apply a thin layer of super glue between them.

Step 5. Baking polymer clay

Fimo Soft polymer clay should baked in the oven at 110C/230F for 30 minutes. A little longer is fine as long as the temperature is not above 110C/230F. If you use other brands, check the package for baking instruction.

During baking I like to put my creation in an oven-proof container (I use a deep ceramic dish) and cover the container with aluminum foil for extra protection.

Another important question about polymer clay baking is how to test the doneness. Fully baked clay is flexible. You can slightly bend the flower petal and it will spring back. The under baked clay, on the other hand, is prone to crumble under force.

Now it's time for you to rock this project! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comment area, I will answer them ASAP. Happy crafting!

Polymer Clay Color Recipe

If you love polymer clay succulent, we have another great in-depth tutorial for you! Check it out!

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