How to Make Beautiful Beads Out of Polymer Clay

Beads can be fun and easy to make out of polymer clay. All you need is Sculpey or Fimo Clay in five different colors, a pasta machine, a clay blade, several bamboo skewers, or firm floral wire, and a pasta roller machine. I use a piece of flat, hard, floor tile to roll out my clay beads on.

Start out with one section of a small block of each color of clay, cutting it with your clay blade. You will then need to condition your clay by kneading it with your hands and then running it through the pasta roller several times until it is soft and pliable.

Roll one of the rolled out clay colors gently around the bamboo skewer, pinching the ends closed, this prevents air from getting trapped inside. Trapped air will make the clay crack when it is baked. It will look similar to a thin tootsie roll.

Take the remaining colors and stack one on top of the other. Cut the edges into a square shape. It will look like stacks of colored paper, approximately an inch in diameter. Then poke holes in it, cut it apart and stack in different directions. It will look like a crazy quilt.

Slice very thin sheets off the multi-patterned block. You will see the beautiful design on the base clay. Carefully wrap around the base color on the skewer. Do this all down the skewer. Gently roll the clay slice around the skewer on top of the base clay. It will become elongated. Slice the roll in the middle and gently place on another skewer. The holes through the block will show the bottom color of clay on the skewer when the bead is done.

Gently cut into beads. You can measure by sight or measure more carefully if you want more exact sizes. I like to have varying sizes of beads. Then take the clay from beads that are not successful and roll into round beads. They will match the pattern of the beads you have already made.

You can put these on the skewers and bake all in the oven for approximately fifteen minutes on 250 degrees in a standard oven. They will still be slightly pliable until they cool and harden. If they are still soft, bake a little longer.