How To Make Jewelry From Clay

Did you know that the earliest jewelry finding was around 25,000 years ago? It was a necklace made of fish bones in Monaco inside a cave. If you are picking up a new habit of making your own clay jewelry, we are here to share how to make jewelry from clay.

The great thing is that this craft will not take you all day (unless you have so much fun you can’t stop), and the jewelry pieces will make great gifts. Read on to learn more in our clay jewelry guide below.

Making Clay Earrings

An easy place to start with making your own clay jewelry is with clay earrings. You will need to gather the following supplies to get started:

  • Polymer clay (choose your favorite colors)
  • Knife
  • Rolling pin
  • Jewelry pliers
  • Earring posts and backs
  • Jewelry jump rings
  • Superglue
  • Parchment paper
  • Baking sheet

Before you start working with the clay, come up with the color palette you want to use. You can also try a marbling technique if you want to mix clay colors for a unique jewelry piece. With this technique, you will choose a base color and set a midsize sample of it aside.

Next, you will choose between 1-3 secondary colors and roll each into a small ball. Then, roll each ball out into long clay pieces (like when you made “snakes” back in kindergarten when you played with clay). Once you have the secondary colors in long pieces, you will wrap each color around the base color and use your hands to roll them together.

You will need to stretch and fold the clay a few times until you are happy with how the colors blend into a marbled look.

Instructions for Clay Earrings

First, preheat your oven to 225º. Next, you will use parchment paper to line a baking sheet to keep the jewelry from sticking.

Then, choose a clay shape you want and create it while the oven is preheating. Make sure you prep your surface before you start working. You can lay out a large piece of parchment paper to roll the clay on top of. Also, when you take the clay out of its package, you will need to warm it up in your hands to help revitalize the clay.

When you first start out, a popular shape choice is dangling rectangles or circles. Use your rolling pin to flatten the polymer clay, and then use the knife to create the desired shapes. You can also opt for small cutters similar to cookie cutters but meant for earrings.

If you are going to use jump rings, then once you create the earring shapes you want, use the sharp end of the earring post to create the holes at the top of your earring. If you are going to make dangling earrings and plan on connecting two shapes (like a small circle and a rectangle), then make a hole in the bottom of the shape as well.

After you are done cutting out your shapes and poking holes through the clay, place the clay on the baking sheet you lined with parchment paper earlier. Allow the clay to bake for 30 minutes for every 1/4″ thickness.

Once they are done baking, you need to let the earrings sit out for a few minutes to cool down. If you want to smooth the surface of the clay after you bake the earrings, you can dip a cotton swab in an acetone nail polish remover and brush the jewelry piece.

You can use jump rings to put two pieces together if you choose, and then glue on post-earring backs for stud earrings or ear hooks for dangling earrings. We recommend browsing online on sites such as bodypiercejewelry.com for some inspiration.

Other Jewelry Options

You can also make clay necklaces with polymer clay or necklace charms to put on a necklace you already have. A simple necklace is to rolling small polymer balls in the colors of choice and then use a toothpick to make a hole from one end to the other (so that you can slide a string through the holes).

Once you roll a few small balls, place them in the oven for around 30 minutes. Measure out a piece of twine or leather necklace cord around your neck to get the length you desire. Slide the tiny balls (between 5-10) through your twine until you have a look you prefer.

Another option is to make small discs instead of small balls or beads. You will start out by rolling the clay into small balls and then cutting each ball in half. Place each ball in between two sheets of baking paper and use your finger to press down to create a flat disc.

Use a toothpick or skewer to make tiny holes through the center of each disc, and then bake the discs. Once they are done baking and cooling down, place as many or as few discs as you want through your twine or necklace of choice.

Now You Know How to Make Jewelry From Clay

Now that you learned how to make jewelry from clay, you can go out and buy the materials you need to get started. Have fun getting those creative wheels flowing to create some unique jewelry pieces. The options are endless; you can make absolutely any color you choose by mixing up some of the clay colors you use.

If our blog post helped you, please continue browsing this section for our latest tips and tricks.


Carla Gayou
Carla Gayou

Carla is a high performing marketing professional with 5+ years of experience driving growth of in a variety of corporate and entrepreneurial environments. Strong command of digital operations with exposure to influencer marketing strategy, branding, analytics, SEO/SEM, customer success, content development, and social media Core expertise lies in managing end-to-end campaigns, creating memorable content, and facilitating improved conversion rates to enhance e-commerce operations. Adept in ensuring alignment with organizational goals, facilitating streamlined operations, and leveraging a data driven strategy used to make insightful marketing decisions.

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