Things You'll Need:
- White polymer clay
- Craft pasta machine (optional)
- Clay cutting tools
- Bead reamer tool or toothpick
- Parchment paper or bead rack
- Cookie sheet
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Step 1
Unwrap and cut off a quarter-inch slab of polymer clay with a clay-cutting tool.
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Step 2
Supplies for a skull bead include polymer clay and clay tools.Condition the polymer clay by working it with your hands to warm it. If the clay is particularly hard, you might want to run it through the rollers of a pasta machine dedicated to clay use.
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Step 3
Roll a small ball of clay between the palms of your hands when it is soft enough to work with.
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Step 4
The skull is first molded from a small ball of clay.Mold the ball into the shape of a skull with your fingers. The top of the head should be slightly larger than the jaw area.
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Step 5
The round end of a clay tool forms the eye sockets.Press the round end of a clay tool into the clay to create two eye sockets.
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Step 6
A curved cutting tool can be used to sculpt the nose.Press a triangular-shaped clay tool, such as the pointed end of a curved cutter, into the ball where the nose cavity should be.
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Step 7
The same curved clay tool can be used to form the mouth.Press a curved clay tool into the bottom of the head to form a mouth cavity.
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Step 8
A bead reamer creates a stringing hole through the skull.Take a bead reamer tool or toothpick and pierce a beading hole into the skull. Go from under the jaw to the top of the head if you want a top-drilled hole, or go between the ears if you want a side-drilled hole.
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Step 9
The skull bead goes into the oven on a bead rack.Leave the skull bead on the toothpick, or place it on a wire for the beading rack. Place the beading rack on a cookie sheet, and bake the skull bead following the directions that came with your clay. Different manufacturer's have slightly different temperature and time specifications. If you don't have a beading rack, you can place the skull on parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet.
