Sunday, June 16, 2013

Polymer Clay Tags

I have always wanted to make the clay tags that are so popular on the blogs.  I was so excited that my sponsor Wholeport.com offered polymer clay.  I ordered some and was most anxious to try making the them.

Here are the supplies you will need:
(it is always best to designate your clay crafting supplies to be just for clay and not for baking anymore)
polymer clay
rolling pin
parchment paper
cookie cutter of desired shape
4-5 straws
sand paper, sand (or any desired texture)
baking sheet
disposable vinyl gloves (optional) 
translucent color glaze (optional)
string or suitable ties

You first need to unwrap your clay and condition it.  I simply folded it back and forth and worked it like dough, smoothing out a desired shape to then roll out.  The clay was stiff to begin with but the longer I worked with it the easier it was to shape.  It had a great texture that got better the more I handled it.

For my work surface I just used parchment paper on top of a table.  I also used a piece of parchment paper on top of my clay when I rolled it out.  Rolling it out between the parchment paper kept it from sticking to any tools and made for a smoother clay surface.

I am making round tags so a fondant cutter was perfect for the shape and size of tag I wanted to create.

When handling the tags I used a pair of disposable vinyl glovesThis kept my fingerprints off of the finished product and made the clay easy to work with. 

The hole for my tags was created with a drinking straw.  I used it on about 4-5 tags and then had to get a new straw to cut a clean hole in my tags.


For summer, I wanted to create tags with a sea theme.  So I used some sea creatures and shells from my collection to emboss the tags.  You can order these online from a number of suppliers.  The tags I created were 2 1/4 inched across.  The perfect width to roll these would be 1/8-1/4 inch thick.  

Here is a sample of the tags I created.  I made 15 in all.  I choose the tan and white color of polymer clay because it resembled the Atlantic sand and the Gulf of Mexico's sand.  I wanted to give the tags some texture around the shell/creatures I pressed into them and I at first used real sand to try to make texture but, that was a bit of a mess.  The sand doesn't go on evenly and it sticks to the clay and won't come off.

So, then I tried using coarse sand paper, this is 60 grit, and that worked great.

Here is a tag all made and ready for the oven.  I baked the clay tags at 265-275 degrees F (129-135 degrees C) for 15 minutes.  Allow to cool completely.  I let mine sit overnight.

Here are the finished tags.  I took them after they cooled a bit and wiped them down with a translucent color glaze, made for faux painting.  I used Valspar in Mocha.  A grey would work nicely too.

These have the sandpaper texture.

 The translucent glaze helps define the pattern a little more.

I actually liked the ones that had a few grains of sand embedded into them the best, like this tag.  It just made it look more natural.  
The only thing I would do differently is that I would have rolled the clay to 1/8 inch think.  I think my tags are a bit too thick.  They are around 1/4 inch think.  I loved the polymer clay from Wholeport!  I would recommend it highly!  The more I worked it the easier it was to use and it performed perfectly.  
Thank you Wholeport for sponsoring this polymer clay project.

 Sherry
I will link to;
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style 
Strut Your Stuff Saturday at Six Sisters Stuff 
Inspired Sunday at Sunday View 
Monday Funday Link Party at An Extraordinary Day
Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House
The Scoop Party at Cedar Hill Ranch  
Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House
Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits at Stonegable 
Transformed Tuesdays at PJH Designs 
Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts
Blissful Whites Wednesday at Timewashed
Inspire Me Please at Liz Marie Blog 

17 comments:

Unknown said...

That's so cool! I will be definitely trying this. Thanks so much for sharing.

Laura Turner said...

Hi Sherry! These tags are wonderful! I love the texture you added with the sandpaper and the real sand. Now I want to go pull mine out and make some! I would love for you to link up with my Inspired Sunday blog party, www.sundayview.blogspot.com

Laura

Kirsty Girl said...

They look fantastic! Love the big shell one!

Our Hopeful Home said...

Love the different colors, very natural. Your beach theme is perfect! I've made some clay tags, never thought to use sandpaper. Great idea! (I made a few bad ones at first b/c I made the holes too small and couldn't put any string through!)The straw seems to be just the right size.

Diane | An Extraordinary Day said...

Sherry your tags are fabulous!! I'm pinning for future reference. This is a project that I've always wanted to do. Thanks for the detailed tutorial.
And thanks for linking up to Monday Funday Party!
Blessings!

Debbie said...

These turned out so cute! I love them all, especially the seahorse. Thank you for the tutorial.
Have a great week.
xo

Unknown said...

These are just beautiful - HAVE to pin them :)
Thanks so much for sharing!
XOX

PAINTORDIG.blogspot.com said...

I love these! The sandpaper texture is wonderful on them. I am going to get out my clay and try this.

BECKY said...

Absolutely love these, Sherry! They look like shell or rock! I love making clay tags, but haven't in awhile! I may have to make some larger versions of these!!
Thanks for the great tutorial!
Have a lovely week!
Becky

Magali@TheLittleWhiteHouse said...

Your tags are beautiful. I love the shells on them.

Joanne Bischof said...

Those are so sweet! They turned out beautiful!

Donna Wilkes said...

I will have to try this - You gave a great tutorial on the tags.

Jacqueline~Cabin and Cottage said...

What a fun summer project! Love your results. I could see getting carried away with ideas for tags. I love the sea theme!

Unknown said...

I love these tags!!! They look like they're made from natural clay haha.

Micupoftea said...

Fun projects, Sherry! I can imagine these made into garden markers- voila! :)
Thx for sharing~

Katie Mansfield said...

These are adorable!

Unknown said...

Lovely Polymer Clay creations. So talented :)