When you’ve mastered the basics of polymer clay modelling, put your new skills to the test with this colourful necklace. As guided by Sydney-based jeweller Nadine Sharpe of Own Sweet Time, you can work through the different elements of the necklace and bead techniques to try, although the hardest part might be choosing which colours you’re going to use! We’ve chosen mint, baby pink and orange, with some added bronze as a fun accent.

Before you get started making the polymer clay beads, mix up the colours, as instructed below. Once you have them all, you’re ready to start modelling. Let’s go!

We created polymer clay beads out of Sculpey Premo, then threaded them onto a necklace.

‍What You’ll Need

To make a polymer clay necklace, you’ll need various Sculpey polymer clay colours, a roller, cutters, cord and a craft knife.‍

Create the Custom Colours You Need for the Polymer Clay Necklace

Mixing custom colours is as simple as following the conditioning polymer clay process (it’s outlined in our Polymer Clay Modelling for Beginners article here), just twist together different coloured logs to blend your custom colour. 

These are the custom colours we’ve used to make the beads for this necklace.

Mint: 4 parts white, ½ part blue and ¼ part green

Baby pink: 4 parts white, ¼ part red

Orange: 4 parts red, 2 parts yellow

Hot Tip: For best results, make sure all the base colours you use to create your custom colour are the same brand. 

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Making Tube Beads with Polymer Clay

Roll out the Sculpey polymer clay around a skewer to create tube-shaped beads.

‍Step 1: Grab a ball of modelling clay a little smaller than a golf ball. Roll it into a smooth ball, making sure there are no visible cracks. Insert a skewer through the centre of the clay ball then move the ball of clay to the centre of the skewer.

Step 2: Lay the skewer on your work surface and start rolling the ball back and forth. Apply pressure to the clay. Don’t roll by pressing on the skewer as that will make the hole through your beads too big. Roll full revolutions, rather than simply rocking back and forth, otherwise you’ll end up with an oval shape instead of a round one.  

Step 3: Your bead will start to elongate. Once it is 5-7cm long, begin rolling with two hands, gently teasing the clay along the length of the skewer.  

Step 4: Once it’s as long as the skewer, roll it with something flat, like a book, to smooth out the surface. 

Step 5: Clean up the ends of the tube by slicing off the ends. This can take some practice, but start by putting the tip of your tissue blade or craft knife on the top of the tube where you want to cut. Using your blade to apply pressure, roll the tube forward so you’re slicing through the clay. Use your spare hand (i.e the one not holding the knife) to steady the tube as it’s rolling.

The trickiest part is lining your blade up with the cut as it comes around. If you don’t master it the first time, move in 2mm on your tube and try again. Repeat at the other end of the tube.  

Step 6: Now, using the same technique, cut the long tube into smaller ones to create the beads.  

Step 7: Repeat the process with the other colours, until you have enough tubes to make a necklace. Leave the beads on the skewers to bake.

Making Marbled Disc Beads with Polymer Clay

Making disc-shaped polymer clay beads gives your necklace a unique look.

Marbling is super easy and creates truly unique patterns. Essentially, you follow the log, fold, twist process used to condition the polymer clay, except you roll together different coloured logs. There are no rules when it comes to marbling, but to get a striking effect choose colours with a lot of variation. For example, adding a light colour to two darker colours will make them all pop.

Step 1: Choose your colours, then roll each out into a log 10–15cm long. Stick them together and roll into a single log. Fold, twist and roll the clay into a ball again. Repeat the process if you want a finer marbled effect.

Step 2: Once the modelling clay is marbled to your liking, use the guides and an acrylic roller to flatten the clay out to a thickness of about 5mm. Roll from one edge of the clay all the way past the other. If you don’t, the clay will have varying thicknesses.  

Step 3: Using a shape cutter, punch out equal portions of the clay.

Step 4: Roll each portion into a ball then, using something like a piece of acrylic or glass from a photo frame (spritz it with water to stop it from sticking to the clay), press each clay ball into discs. Use the guides to create discs that are perfectly level and a consistent thickness of around 3–5mm.  

Step 5: Use a skewer to add holes in your discs. Go in from one side until your skewer hits the work surface, then flip the bead over and come in from the other side to create neat holes.

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Decorating Your Polymer Clay Beads

There are endless ways to decorate your beads, but here are three techniques you might like to try:

Technique 1: Using Different Coloured Polymer Clay for Decoration

Decorate your beads by adding pops of a contrasting colour of polymer clay before rolling.

Add small dots of contrasting clay to the ball of clay before it is rolled out. This has the effect of creating longer stripes of colour, as the dots stretch out during the process of rolling the ball into a tube.

If you don’t want this to happen, you can roll out your tube first then add dots to the tube instead. You then roll the tube to make the dots flush with the rest of the clay.

Technique 2: Using Gold Leaf on Your Polymer Clay Beads

Wrap and roll your polymer clay beads in imitation gold leaf for a striking metallic effect. ‍

Imitation gold leaf adheres well to the surface of unbaked clay and creates a striking effect.

To stop the metal leaf sticking to the natural oils in your skin, try and limit contact and avoid picking up the sheets with your fingertips. Instead, use two skewers to tear off small pieces of metal leaf then roll a ball of clay over it. Alternatively, pick up the pieces of leaf with a skewer and place them on the ball. 

Very lightly roll the ball in your hand to ensure the leaf has stuck to the clay. Any overlapping leaf will break off.

For a more dramatic effect, cover the whole round bead in metal leaf.

Technique 3: Using Glitter on Your Polymer Clay Beads

Try rolling your modelling polymer clay in glitter to bring added sparkle to your necklace.‍

Everyone loves glitter and glitter loves polymer clay. After Step 3 of making flat beads, roll your bead in glitter before shaping it into a disc. To help reduce waste (and mess!), try adding a small amount of glitter to the lid of the tub it comes in. You can then roll your bead directly in there to keep everything slightly more contained. 

Hot Tip: It’s best to make your glitter beads last to avoid any glitter getting on your non-glitter beads.

Finishing Off Your Polymer Clay Bead Necklace

Baking polymer clay is essential to harden up the beads before threading them on to your cord. 

‍Step 1: Now your beads are ready for baking. Keep the tube beads on the skewers and lay them across a baking tray, so that the ends of the skewers suspend the beads over the tray. 

Hot Tip: You can anchor the skewers down by pressing them into a thin strip of scrap clay to stop them moving.

Step 2: Follow the steps in the Curing Polymer Clay section below to bake the beads.

Step 3: Remove the beads from the oven, then allow them to cool completely. Once done, you can string them onto a cord of your choosing – twine, cord, waxed cotton or leather works well. You could create a wabi-sabi (beautifully imperfect) look as in the image, or make a more colour-blocked pattern. It’s up to you.

Step 4: Enjoy your unique piece.

Curing Polymer Clay

The great thing about polymer clay is it stays soft until you cure it in your oven, meaning you can keep refining your projects until then. It also means you should never throw out any leftover clay, because it’s handy to practise on or to blend with other leftover clay to create new colours.

Polymer clay is non-toxic and bakes at a low temperature, so you can cure it in your home oven.

The best way to cure the clay is in a tent-like setup. That can simply be a sheet of paper over your clay or something like a foil barbecue tray with a lid. Having a ceramic tile in your lidded tray creates a stable temperature, as the tile absorbs the heat and distributes it evenly within the enclosed space, making it less likely you’ll burn your clay.

The baking instructions will vary depending on the brand of polymer clay you’re using, so check the instructions on the packaging. The minimum time for baking a piece is 45 minutes, but the longer you bake it the stronger it will be. If you create a tent setup, you could have your clay in the oven for hours with no issues. If you detect any springiness once the clay has cooled, you’ll have to bake for a little longer.