How Do I Make Polymer Clay Tube Beads
Polymer clay is a versatile material for making beaded jewelry. Polymer artists create beads that resemble a wide range of natural materials like ivory, coral and wood. Before baking, polymer clay is soft enough to form into a variety of shapes and emboss with patterns and textures, but becomes quite durable. Tube beads offer a simple project for polymer clay novices.
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Things You'll Need
- Dowel
- Saw
- Aluminum foil
- Polymer clay
- Non-stick work surface
- Pasta machine
- Measuring tape
- Cutting tool
- Polymer tools
- Oven dish
- Oven
- Acrylic paint (optional)
- Paintbrushes (optional)
Instructions
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1
Use a dowel to determine the diameter of the hole in your tube bead. Choose dowels with a diameter of 1/4 inch up to 1 inch. Cut a dowel so it is slightly longer than your oven dish. Wrap the dowel in a strip of aluminum foil.
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2
Condition the polymer clay by putting it through a pasta machine. Roll it out and fold it over. Decrease the setting on your pasta machine to make thinner beads. Repeat this process 25 times.
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3
Roll your conditioned polymer clay to a desired thickness. Use a larger pasta machine setting for chunky beads and a smaller setting for thinner beads.
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4
Place your flattened slab of polymer clay on a nonstick work surface. Cut your beads to the desired length with a cutting tool.
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5
Wrap a tape measure around the dowel to measure the perimeter of the dowel. Cut your polymer clay to this width.
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6
Wrap the clay around the dowel. Trim the width of the clay if necessary. Press the ends of the clay together to form hollow beads around the dowel.
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7
Use tools to smooth out the area where the beads come together. Decorate the beads with polymer tools. Use textured objects or needle tools to add surface decorations.
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8
Rest the bead-covered dowel on the lip of an oven dish. Preheat the oven to the temperature provided by the polymer clay manufacturer's instructions.
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9
Bake the clay according to the manufacturer's directions. Allow the beads to cool.
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10
Slide the beads off the dowel. Leave them their original color or paint them with acrylic paint.
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References
- Photo Credit prayer beads image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
