How to Make Buttons in Sculpey Polymer Clay

Creating Sculpey beads is an easy, functional craft project.

Sculpey, a widely used brand of polymer clay, is an excellent medium for all sorts of crafts. Because it is an oven-baked clay and does not dry out until baked, Sculpey is ideal for using at home. Sculpey can be used in everything from children's crafts to jewelry making. One quick, creative way to use Sculpey is to create buttons. This project requires only a few tools and, because Sculpey is so easy to work with and because there are so many color choices, the possibilities are endless.

Things You'll Need

• Clean working surface
• Rolling pin
• Toothpicks
• Thread spool
• Objects with texture (such as buttons or beads)
• Oven

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit (135 Celsius).

2. "Condition" the clay by kneading it or rolling it between your hands. This softens the clay so that it is easy to work with.

3. Roll out the clay using a rolling pin. To prevent the clay from sticking to your work surface, peel up the clay each time you roll it. The clay should be 1/8 inch in thickness when you are done.

4. Press the end of the thread spool into your clay to create your buttons. Think of the thread spool as your "cookie cutter." Then, peel up your buttons and smooth out the sides.

5. Press a textured object into your clay button. Experiment with things like other buttons, beads or any household object that has an interesting texture.

6. Press holes into your buttons using a toothpick. Place the toothpick in the clay button where you would like the hole to be, then swirl the toothpick around a few times. Be sure to smooth out any bumps that may arise from doing this.

7. Bake your buttons. Package directions state to bake the clay for 20 minutes per 1/4 inch of thickness. Since your buttons are 1/8 inch thick, you will need to bake them for about 10 minutes.

Tips & Warnings

• Another type of button you might wish to create involves creating a clay cane. You can create this type of button by twisting two different colors of clay together, then wrapping a flattened piece of clay around the twisted portion. By cutting this cane into 1/8 inch rounds, you can create colorful, patterned buttons.

• Thread spools are a convenient button-sized cutter for clay. However, there are several alternatives. You can also look for molds in crafts stores or find appropriate sized cookie cutters. In addition, you could also simply use a blade or knife to freehand your button shapes.

• If a crack occurs while baking, do not fill in the crack with unbaked clay and return to the oven. This could cause the crack to worsen. Instead, if a crack occurs use Plumber's Putty or make "sawdust powder" from Sculpey and mix with an epoxy glue.

• Be sure to follow the directions on the Sculpey package when preparing to bake your clay; otherwise, cracks and breaking make occur.

• Do not use a rolling pin that is also used for food. For safety reasons, you should have a rolling pin that is strictly dedicated to crafts or clay.

References

• Polyform: Clay Lines
• Craftstylish: Make Your Own Buttons from Polymer Clay
• Polyform: Baking FAQ

Resources

• Polyform: Home