How To Do Just About Everything
Maybe you played with this toy as a kid, using a button and string. I will teach you how to make this fun Whirly Toy out of polymer clay. Kids will have hours of fun watching the clay twirl. This is a great summer project. Read the instructions and then let your kids use their imagination to come up with different designs for their own personalized toy!
Cut two 1” X 3” sheets from PM1 Sculpey™ prēmo! Pearl Red, Pearl White and Pearl Blue Clay. Note: In all the instructions for Poly Clay Play Projects, PM stands for Pasta Machine and the number stands for the thickness setting. On the machine I use and sell through polyclayplay.com #1 is the thickest setting.
Stack the same colors together, red on red, blue on blue and white on white, to make double thickness of each color. Stack the double thickness on top of each other making one stack.
Press the end so you can get the jelly roll started.
The uncut, raw end of a jelly roll cane.
Roll the stack together into a log, pushing air out as you go. Roll the log on your work surface to make it round. You have just made a jelly roll cane!!
Inside the first cut.
Trim the end off and then cut about a 1/4" thick slice from your cane.
If your slice isn’t round, lay it on your work surface and use a large circle cutter. The toy works best if it is round. The cutter I used is the largest of the 3 that come in the Makin's® package of circle cutters. You can find lots of different shapes and sizes of cutters at Poly Clay Play.
Lay the slice on your work surface and determine the center of the circle. You may want to use a button as a guide.
Use your Button Hole Tool to make holes centered in the cane slice. Get them as close to the center as you can. In the Poly Clay Play Kid's Club, their kit comes with a corn cob holder and instructions for decorating it to use as a Button Hole Tool.
When the varnish has dried, run a string in through one hole and out the other making a big loop.
To play with the toy, hold the two loops, one on your first or middle finger of each hand and pull your hands apart.
Once the string is twisted, pull your hands apart with a little force (not too hard or the string will break). This will make the button start spinning, and when the string has unwound, the disc will continue to spin, winding the string in the opposite direction. This makes a sideways yo-yo effect and the toy will keep spinning as you move your hands apart when the string is twisted and back together as it starts to untwist.
Article By: PolyClayPlay
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Comments
kaseysviewblog said
on 9/1/2008 Excellent instructions, Thanks.
IcyCucky said
on 8/5/2008 I remember this toy! What a wonderful thing to know how to make one..5 stars
abbyleeb said
on 4/30/2008 I am going to try this with my little man as soon as graduates' preschool. Only three weeks left!