Sculpey Premo™ Crescent Earrings

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Getting Started:

Please make sure your work area is covered and you are not working on an unprotected surface. We recommend working on the Sculpey® Oven-Safe Work Mat, wax paper, metal baking sheet, or disposable foil. Uncured clay may damage unprotected furniture or finished surfaces. Be sure to cover your crafting area appropriately.

Start with clean hands, unwrap and knead clay until soft and smooth, or condition by running clay though a Pasta Machine. We recommend using a designated machine for clay purposes only. When working with multiple colors, clean hands with soap and water or baby wipes (we have found that baby wipes work best) before switching colors. Shape clay, pressing pieces firmly together. Wash hands after use.

Baking:

Begin by preheating oven to 275 °F (130 °C). After you are done creating; for best results bake clay on an oven-proof surface such metal, aluminum foil, an index card or the Sculpey® Clay Mat at 275°F (130 °C) for 30 minutes per 1/4" (6 mm) thickness according to package directions. Oven safe glass or ceramic surfaces are also acceptable for baking; however please note that the baking times may take longer as the glass or ceramic surfaces take longer to heat up. For best baking results, use an oven thermometer. DO NOT USE MICROWAVE OVEN. DO NOT EXCEED THE ABOVE TEMPERATURE OR RECOMMENDED BAKING TIME.

Use the Acrylic Clay Roller to flatten each color to a thickness of not more than 1/8”. Cut out equal size squares of each color. A 1.5” square cutter is perfect for making all the pieces the same size which will ensure that you have the same volume of each color.

The Light Beige color is a mixture of Beige and White mixed 2:1.

Stack the colors as shown. This is a mokume gane technique. Each color will slightly blend into the color directly next to it, so it’s important to be thoughtful about which colors are next to each other. I have sandwiched my accent colors - Yellow Gold Glitter and Gray Granite - between the flat colors which will have a really pretty blending effect.

Roll over the stack of colors with the Acrylic Clay Roller to flatten it out and to thin the colors. Here I’m showing the size of my flattened sheet in reference to the square cutter that I used so you can see how much it has stretched.

Use the blade to divide the layered sheet into four equal size pieces.

Stack the thin layered sheet up as shown.

Roll over the stack again to thin it once again. Thin it to approximately 3/16”-1/4”.

Cut into the sheet using all three sizes of the circle cutters. If the clay sticks to the cutter, just push it out with a fingertip and replace it into the area where it came out of the sheet. You can overlap circles, or center circles, making any random pattern that you like. Just make sure to cut all the way through to the work surface.

Next make holes in the sheet with the blunt pointed tool, again going all the way through.

Roll over the sheet to heal up the cuts and holes that you made in Steps 8 and 9. The cuts and holes should be much less visible now.

Roll over the clay once more to make it stick to your work surface. Next we are going to take very thin shavings from the surface of the sheet so it’s important that the piece of clay stick down to your work surface and not move around.

Carefully hold the blade parallel to the clay sheet and slowly shave away a very thin layer of clay.

Flip the shaved piece off of the sheet of clay to reveal the really cool and unique pattern that the impressions left in the clay.

Shave the entire surface of the front side of the clay. (You can set aside the shavings and use them to create another pair of earrings by applying them to an accent clay sheet backing.)

Carefully lift the sheet from your work surface and flip it over. Roll over the back side now to stick the sheet to your work surface again.

Shave the back side of the sheet just as you did the front side. Because we made our cuts all the way through the original clay sheet, you will also see the image in reverse on the back but in a different dominant color. This will look nice on earrings because they will be decorative on the front and the back.

Flip the sheet over to the front if you prefer. Cut out two of the largest circles.

Use the largest cutter to cut away a section from the top to create crescent shapes. Set aside the football shapes that were cut out. These would make great earring shapes too!

Poke two holes - one at each of the tips - in both crescent shapes using the needle tool. Poke from front to back and then back to front to make sure the holes are nice and neat. Bake the crescents following the baking instructions for Premo.

When the crescents are completely cool, add the jump rings to each hole using flat nose pliers.

If you like, you can use needle nose pliers to bend a hook in the tail end of the wire loops so they will stay in place when worn.

Thread the wire loops through the jump rings and the crescents are ready to wear.