Polymer Clay Candy Corn Bracelet

I love October.  The colors and smells of autumn bring my senses to life.  I love to bury my nose in the first bag of candy corn I buy in October.   I open it with relish and pour it into a clear glass candy jar.  That's when it's fall to me!
Three years ago I went to Italy with three friends to take polymer clay jewelry classes with Louise Fisher Cozzi and Donna Kato.  We had so much fun!  
Louise taught us how to achieve an amazing technique to give polymer clay layers of color.  She uses translucent polymer clay and colors it with oil paint.  After it's cured, she adds more oil paint on top of that.  After that's dry, she uses color pencils to give the piece another layer of fabulous color.

Here I've started conditioning translucent polymer clay.  After the clay is fairly soft you can add a tiny bit of oil paint.  An inexpensive oil paint is fine.

Continue to condition until the clay is a uniform color.  It helps to have a piece of the candy corn to look at while you're tinting the clay.  Be sure to add only a dab of paint each time, and do the yellow before the orange.  It's okay to get yellow paint on your orange clay, but not okay to get orange paint on your yellow clay.

                                                                 

The orange roll will be the largest, the yellow is half as large as the orange and the white roll is half as large as the yellow.  Lay the rolls side by side and slice evenly.  Begin by rolling the white piece into a cone, the orange piece an egg shape and the yellow piece into a slightly flattened oval.

Gently roll the pieces until the all edges touch and it looks like a continuous cone shape. 

Flatten the cone shape slightly.  It's a good idea to have that candy corn to look at for dimension.

For the bracelet beads, bend a wire or paper clip to mark where the holes will be.  I made mine to mark both holes just inside the orange part.  For earring beads, you might want to make a vertical hole through the candy corn.  Remember to hold the clay very gently as you pierce it, so you don't squish it.

Bake the clay as directed on the package.

When making a bracelet, I line my beads up against a ruler to make it seven inches long.  The length you use depends on who the bracelet is for.  I wanted this bracelet to look full, so I used three strings in each bead hole and strung smallish beads.  Larger beads would make it look chunky, if that's your preference.

Have fun making your beads and bracelet, and send me a photo! 



October Halloween Art Giveaway





Candy Corn Riot Earrings

This week's Cool2Craft Creative Play giveaway  is a pair of these earrings!  I made them using real candy corns that have been sealed completely.  They are embellished with colorful glass beads and are a must-wear for your holiday parties!

Leave a comment on this blog for a chance to win them!  Next Wednesday I'll announce the winner as well as the giveaway for the following week!

The October Tease

Tonight on Cool2Craft Pajama Party Live with host Lisa Fulmer, I will announce the Cool2Craft Creative Play theme for October.  Here's a teaser:

Ooh!  It's so scary!

I'll also be announcing giveaways that will be happening every Wednesday, on the Cool2Craft Pajama Party Live!  Tune in to find out how to win!

Candy Corn Riot Earrings

These fun funky earrings are made with real candy corn!

I love the smell of candy corn! It's the smell of autumn for me. I got the idea to try this 15 years ago, and I still have the original pair. They are quick and easy to make, but you'll need several hours to condition the candy corn. Here's what you'll need to make these earrings:

• Candy Corn (about $1.50 for a bag)
• 1 Spool of 24 Gauge Wire , any color (about $1.30 for 17 yds)
• 1 Pair of Earring Wires (about $1.30 for 6 pair)
• Tacky Glue (about $2.50 for 4oz)
• Assorted Beads
• Any Kind of Acrylic Spray Sealer (about $2.50)
• Small Wooden Skewer

Joanns has the next three tools for $20 in a pack

• Needle Nose Pliers
• Round Nose Pliers, the Wooden Skewer can be used in place of these
• Wire Cutters, or Old Craft Scissors

1 Place several candy corns on a newspaper and in a well ventilated area spray them lightly with sealer. Let dry completely. Turn the candy corn over and repeat. Turn and repeat. Turn and repeat...You get the idea. You'll want to coat each side ten or more times. If you try to spray a heavy coat of sealer, the colors will run, so patience is key.

2 Cut about 2 inches of wire for each piece of candy corn. Fold about one third of the wire over the wooden skewer. Use the long end to wrap around the short end, keeping the short piece as straight as possible. What you end up with looks something like a screw with eye at the top.

3 Put a drop of Tacky Glue on the end of the eye screw and screw it gently into the top of the candy corn. You may also want to put a tiny drop of glue where the eye meets the candy corn. Let dry overnight, if you can. You should be able to give the wire a gentle tug and have no movement.

4 Now comes the fun part! Cut a three inch length of wire. Make a loop around the skewer not quite in the middle and don't twist it. Choose an accent bead and slide it on the wire. Now make a loop on the other side of the bead.

5 Slide the candy corn onto one of the loops and holding the loop with needle nose pliers, twist the straight end between the loop and the bead. Twist at least twice, then cut off the what's left sticking out.

6 Cut five 5 or 6 inch wire pieces. Choose one accent bead per wire. Thread one wire at a time through the loop below the bead. Slide the bead on and give the wire one complete twist so it won't work itself out of the loop.

7 Holding the wire on the bead side close to the pointy end of the skewer, wrap the wire around the point to make a coil. Slide it off and repeat with the other end of the wire. I repeated this with three different colored beads on the loop.

8 Slide the untwisted loop onto the loop of an earring wire and holding the untwisted loop with needle nose pliers wrap the end around to close it. add two more beaded wires and wrap the ends on the skewer point. The coiled wires can be arranged any way you like for maximum bling.