How to Make Your Own Broken Heart Necklace
Broken heart necklaces are a popular sentimental keepsake used to represent shared feelings between two people. These necklaces feature a heart that has a zigzag cut down the middle. Each person wears one half of the heart to show that when they are apart from the other person they feel their heart is torn in half. These necklaces are also fun to make, and if you make the heart yourself, you can personalize the heart to your special person.
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Things You'll Need
- Heart design
- Polymer modeling clay
- Aluminum foil
- Small plate
- Wood modeling tool
- Piercing tool
- Paring knife
- Baking sheet
- 2 jump rings
- Needle nose pliers
- 2 necklace chains
Instructions
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1
Draw by hand or select a heart design for your necklace. Because you are making this heart from polymer modeling clay, you can make the design at full size, since polymer clays have minimal shrinkage.
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2
Knead your selected polymer modeling clay with your fingers. The clay comes in many colors, and you can mix or blend to create the color you prefer. Work the clay until it is softened and easy to flatten out. Position the clay on a piece of aluminum foil. Use a small plate to press the clay until it is an even 1/8 inch thick.
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3
Trace your design onto the clay with your piercing tool. When you are satisfied with the shape, use the paring knife to cut the perimeter of the heart shape. Roll up your excess clay and save for other projects.
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4
Round the heart edges using a wooden modeling tool. The heart should have a soft, pillowy look with the center slightly thicker than the sides. Lightly trace the zigzag cut onto the clay starting where the rounded parts of the heart come together in the center.
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5
Use the paring knife to cut the zigzag. Be careful to keep the edges of the clay clean of any small bits of clay. You want the zigzag to have a sharp, torn look. It is okay to cut through the foil so that the heart is on two pieces of foil.
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6
Pierce the top of each half of the heart using the piercing tool and smooth the hole. Press or hand draw your initial or your name on one half of the heart and the initial or name of your special person on the other. Clean up the names so that they are smooth and even.
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7
Place your two heart halves (on the foil) onto a baking sheet and insert the sheet into a 225-degree-F oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Allow the heart shapes to cool slowly by placing the baking sheet on the stove top.
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8
Add jump rings to each half of the cooled heart by using needle nose pliers. String the broken heart halves onto individual necklace chains and you are ready to give your gift to that special person.
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Tips & Warnings
It is easy to make beads from polymer modeling clay; you can add beads to the necklace chains to personalize your necklaces even more.
Use an oven mitt when moving the baking sheet into and out of the oven.
