How to Craft a Heart Button

You can craft a sturdy heart button from polymer clay.

A charming heart button adds the finishing touch to a handmade or purchased garment. A series of these crafted buttons add extra pizzazz to a little girl’s knitted cardigan. Make the buttons in any size desired with polymer clay, which is found at craft supply stores. The clay is available in a wide variety of colors and is hardened in a kitchen oven. The same technique used to make a heart button can be used for round, square or triangle-shaped buttons.

Things You'll Need

• Parchment paper roll
• Kitchen oven
• Ruler
• 1-ounce polymer clay
• Rolling pin
• Heart-shaped cookie cutter
• Cookie sheet
• Toothpick

Instructions

1. Rip off a 10-inch wide section of parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Roll the polymer clay in a ball with your hand and put it on the parchment paper. Flatten the clay ball with the rolling pin and roll out the clay on the parchment paper to a thickness of 1/4 inch.

3. Press the heart-shaped cookie cutter in the clay. Remove all excess clay from the parchment paper.

4. Place the parchment paper and the clay on the cookie sheet. Press the toothpick in the center of the clay heart twice to make two buttonholes.

5. Place the cookie sheet in the oven. Bake the heart button for 20 minutes. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, and let the clay cool for 10 minutes before removing the finished heart button.

References

• “The Polymer Clay Techniques Book”; Sue Heaser; 1999
• “Polymer Clay for Everyone”; Suzanne Thompson; 2001