How to Make Petal Decorations for Polymer Clay Bowls

There are two different types of flowers you can put on polymer clay bowls. One is a cane flower, made by rolling logs of clay and layering them. The other flower is the traditional petal flower, such as a rose.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Contrasting colors polymer clay
• Knife
• Rolling pin
• Scissors

Make Cane Petals

1. Pick three contrasting clay colors and choose one color as the center of your flower. Roll this color into a log around 6 inches long.

2. Choose your petal color and roll the clay into a long log. You will cut this log into six smaller logs around 4 inches long, so you need the petal log to be about 24 inches long.

3. Attach the petal color logs to your center log. Work in a circular motion, connecting all the logs to the center.

4. Roll out the last clay color and cut that log into six pieces, the same size as the petal colors. Take each log and work it into a triangle shape, so you can wedge the top part of the log in between the petal colors.

5. Wedge the top of the triangle logs in between the petal logs. Squeeze the petal colors together, so the two colors mesh well together. Continue working around the log, adding the triangle logs. When finished, you will see petal decorations in the polymer clay cane.

Make Flower Petals

6. Choose your clay based on what color flower you want. Condition the clay before working with it, by rolling it around in your fingers and warming it up.

7. Roll the clay into a ball, about the size of a large marble. Pull that ball apart and roll six more balls, each a little smaller than the next. In the end, you should have seven clay balls, all a little smaller than the one before it.

8. Flatten each ball using your hand or your thumb and index finger. If you want the flower to look natural, work with the petal shape you get when you flatten the ball. If you have a particular flower in mind, use a sharp blade or scissors to cut the petal into a specific shape.

9. Fold the smallest petal in half, leaving the top part open. Continue creating the flower by working from smallest to largest and wrapping each petal around the previous one, working in a circular motion.

10. Create hard to shape petals by rolling out a large piece of polymer clay and making it very thin. You can use a pasta roller or a rolling pin to get a thin sheet of clay. Use a sharp blade to draw the flower petal, cut it out and create the flower.