In case you missed it, the heart pendant tutorial

This tutorial was originally posted over at Vintage Wanna Bee last week. In case you missed me over there, here it is again!

A pretty and feminine necklace with a polymer clay pendant! My original inspiration came from this:

{Anthropologie, $48}

I took one looke at it and thought "PSH! I could so make that."

"Make what honey?'

"....uh..."

Sometimes I don't realize I'm thinking out loud. I got to thinking {in loud, not out loud this time,} "But out of what? Cardboard, shrinky dinks, soda can..." and then my eyes wandered over to a little block of polymer clay. Bingo. Polymer clay gets a bad rap sometimes, but it really is fun to work with and extremely user friendly.

You will need:

• Polymer clay
• Acrylic paint
• Glitter nail polish (optional)
• Cutting tool
• Skewer
• Paintbrush
• Something to cover work surface, but NOT newspaper (I used freezer paper, the lovely waxy backing is a nonstick dream)
• Oven, baking sheet, aluminum foil (not pictured)

Please keep in mind that anything you use for polymer clay should not be used again with food. So don't use that nice marble rolling pin, get out a plastic knife, and make sure to line those baking sheets. Cut yourself a small chunk of clay and begin working it with your fingers.

Mash it, smash it, knead it and work the clay until it is soft and supple. The warmth from your hands will help speed up the process.

Roll out the clay into an even sheet. It would be super awesome if you had one of those clay roller thingies but I don't. The sheet shouldn't be more than 1/4" thick but not less than 1/8" inch thick. Use your best judgement.

Draw your shape. Or use a cookie cutter, but I like things a little wonky to add interest and character, so I just freehanded it.

Peel the "negative" clay away and leave your image on the freezer paper. Let it set for a few minutes. Don't worry, polymer clay doesn't dry out but it will harden slightly when it cools. If you try to pull it up at this point it will just tear and make you frustrated. Patience is key, young grasshopper.

When it's hardened enough to handle (use your knife to loosen it if you need to), get our the skewer and make the hole. Stick the pointy side in halfway, take it out, flip the pendant over and stick it in again. This makes a nice looking hold on both sides, with no clay that's been pushed out and funny looking. PS make it a little bigger than you think you need, because the clay does shrink a teensy bit when baked. Last chance to smooth out anything you don't like!

Bake according to the package directions. Mine was 275 for 15. Do NOT over bake, you don't want crispy brown pendants! When it's done, take it out and let it cool completely.

Paint it. Two coats oughta do it.

This is totally optional (but very helpful), but I wanted to add sheen and shimmer to my pendant, so I coated with with clear glitter nail polish. It also acts and a sealant and a varnish, so it'll help the pendant last a little longer. Put on a movie and wait for that puppy to dry, then you can play with it.

I hung it on a very long chain but then was totally bored with it, so I added a key charm, a freshwater pearl, and a little bow to make it more pretty. I like it much better this way, and I am convinced adding little keys, pearls, and bows to anything will make it better. (watch out hubs, this totally means you.) Use your pendant as a blank canvas to inspire your creativity, or mix it up and decorate the pendant itself. really, this could go a bazillion different directions, so have fun with it. (whoah, bazillion is a word now? Spell checker didn't underline it!)

And don't forget to show me what you make, I looove seeing stuff you make. Also check out the parties  sometimes link up to, I'm such a slacker lately.