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Happy Hour Projects logo

05/15/2013

Leaf-Imprinted Clay Necklace

I love trees, which you frequent readers already know.  Nature is so beautiful.  I was thinking over the weekend about some nature-inspired jewelry, and while this look isn’t all that earthy, it’s an easy technique that you can implement really inexpensively with some polymer clay and leaves.

Leaf-Imprint Polymer Clay Pendant at happyhourprojects.com

What you will need:

  • Small leaves
  • Polymer clay and roller, possibly a clay cutter depending on your design idea
  • Jump ring and chain
  • Optional acrylic paint and sealer (like Sculpey Gloss Glaze)

You only need just a little bit of clay for this project, so leftovers work great.  If your clay is new, though, you will need to condition it by rolling it for a few minutes until is softens.  I like to work with clay on wax paper or parchment paper to protect my work surface.

Roll it out to about 1/4 inch.  press your small leaf into the clay, vein side/backside toward the clay, then flip your clay over and roll it out a little.  The reason I suggest flipping it over is so your leaf can’t move.  I learned not to try to roll your clay out any flatter here – it will break your leaf apart and make it harder to remove.  I was still able to work with it, but keeping it intact is neater and faster all the way around.

Now, peel your leaf off.  You can see where mine wasn’t able to stretch when I rolled my clay, so I just had a little extra work to gently remove all the pieces.  Use a toothpick if this happens to you.

Leaf-Imprint Polymer Clay Pendant at happyhourprojects.com

Now, trim your clay to the size pendant you want.  I opted for a 1 – 1/2 inch circle.  This is actually a cookie cutter that I snagged for my clay supplies – kitchen and cookie utensils work awesome for polymer clay with one disclaimer: once you have used them for clay, do NOT use them for food again, they are no longer food safe.  I recommend you hit up thrift stores or yard sales for an old rolling pin or cookie cutters to play with clay – it’s much cheaper than the new supplies you will find in the clay aisle of your craft store and work every bit as well, but don’t use your regular kitchen gear to play with clay.

When I cut it, I went for an offset look.  You can center yours is you like – I just liked this!

Leaf-Imprint Polymer Clay Pendant at happyhourprojects.com

Poke a hole in your pendant with a toothpick (or a drink stirrer also works well) and lay it on a baking sheet.  I would recommend the same thing here – repurpose an old baking sheet just for your clay projects to be safe!

Leaf-Imprint Polymer Clay Pendant at happyhourprojects.com

Now, bake it according to the package instructions.  This will vary by brand, but what you can expect is that it will take about 30 minutes for each 1/4 inch thick your pendant is in a low-temperature oven.

Once it’s baked and cooled, you can add some paint if you like to help add contrast!  I didn’t bother with a paintbrush, I just used a bit of paper towel to coat my pendant with paint (making sure all the cracks were totally painted).

Leaf-Imprint Polymer Clay Pendant at happyhourprojects.com

Then, with a bit of damp paper towel, I wiped off the excess pain from the surface, leaving the paint just in the leaf veins.  If you wipe off too much, just try again. :) You can add some Sculpey Gloss if you want to seal it with a shiny finish, but that’s totally optional.

Leaf-Imprint Polymer Clay Pendant at happyhourprojects.com

Then, when it’s dry, just add a jump ring and chain!  Now you can wear a little bit of nature!

Leaf-Imprint Polymer Clay Pendant at happyhourprojects.com

You could try this same technique with flowers or other types of leaves, or turn these into gift tags or other kinds of jewelry, too!  There are a lot of ways to use a beautiful natural imprint!

Adrianne

Filed Under: Fashion, Jewelry, Necklaces, Polymer Clay, Tutorials Tagged With: jewelry, leaves, nature, necklace, polymer clay, stamped

copyright policy and terms of use

I love it when you love my work! All tutorials and photos published at Happy Hour Projects are copyrighted. If you would like to feature my tutorial on your website or share it on your social media you may use one photo to feature, as long as you provide a link back to the original post.

If you feature a photo, it may not be accompanied by the project tutorial or recipe, whether in my own words as it originally appears or paraphrased by you. This also includes personal sharing on social media and Pinterest. Publishing multiple photos from a project, or including instructions with an accompanying photo are not permitted and you will be asked to remove them.

I love to share my projects, and my tutorials, recipes, and e-books are ALL free for your personal use. However, photos and ideas that are published to this site are my protected intellectual property. You may print them at home, but please do not copy or distribute them. I also allow all designs to be made and sold at fundraisers, craft fairs, etc. If you are selling a piece made from one or more of my free tutorials in your online shop, I require that you use your own, original photography, and include a link back to my website to credit me as the designer.

I hope you enjoy what you read here, and please be fair when you share!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Aileen St.Onge says

    08/05/2021 at 8:08 am

    Beautiful! I was looking for a craft for a family vacation for mostly old kids and adults and this is perfect! I’m using acrylic paint and it seems to stain the entire pendant. When I try to wipe off the excess to keep the paint in the impression as you show it stains all of the clay. What type of paint are you using? Any tips to keep the paint in the impression only?

    Reply
  2. womens clothing says

    01/21/2018 at 3:21 pm

    I’m 6’5″. Can you give Lisa my number please :)

    Reply
  3. AmyLee says

    07/24/2017 at 10:10 pm

    BEAUTIFUL! Thank You for using ur precious time to share ur creativity & talent with us!?

    Reply
  4. Jenn says

    05/07/2017 at 2:52 pm

    If the cookie cutters are not safe to use for making food after using them to cut the clay, is it safe to use an oven to bake these clays in? Will anything you cook in an oven that you baked sculpty in be okay? Noob here, and I really liked your DIYs! Thanks in advance!

    Reply
    • Lesley says

      05/23/2018 at 3:43 am

      Cookie cutters ARE safe to use for baking after they have been used for polymer clay. You simply have to make sure they are washed, that’s all.

      Reply
  5. Becky says

    02/15/2016 at 6:44 pm

    Great pendant, beautiful job. Blitsys prices are outrageous though, their heat took is 15 dollars more than another sight I found, and no shipping charge…sorry

    Reply
  6. Sangeeta says

    10/28/2015 at 1:40 pm

    Hi Adrianne,

    Wow! this is so so very beautiful. and how I wish I can make this too.!
    Just came across your tutorial for this leaf necklace as I am really keen to start working with polymer clay. Some time back I started with terracotta jewelry but not very successful :( and which searching for best way to use terracotta I came across lots of tutorials, designs etc on polymer clay and was thinking, wow this is much easier than terracotta and and has such a versatility for making jewelry. I am from India and we do not get all brands of polymer clay. Have seen Premo Sculpey and Premo Accents online. Which is the best clay brand to use for a beginner like me! Premo Sculpey has 24 color small pack which costs here like 30+US$. Would really appreciate if you can guide me !

    Reply
    • Mrs. Butterworth says

      10/24/2019 at 8:58 pm

      Hello Adrianne,

      Personally, I would suggest that you just buy a small sampler pack and the basic tool set to start with. The Sculpey Premo line is good to make jewelry with because it is more resilient once baked than Sculpey Original or Sculpey III. See if you like how the polymer feels and works. Try to make a couple of things and see how they come out. I do wish there was more of a variety of polymers to choose from. Thankfully, you mentioned the Sculpey Premo line is able to make it to you in India but it’s unbelievable that it costs that much. Hopefully that price includes the shipping cost. I actually feel as though the price for polymer clay is too high here in the U.S. so to here it is close to $30 there, for you, just blows my mind. I see you did post this a while ago so you probably figured things out for yourself by now but hopefully my reply helps someone else who comes through here.

      I hope you are well and wish you the best.

      Happy crafting, Sincerely & Respectfully,

      Mrs. Butterworth :-) :-)

      Reply
      • Mrs. Butterworth says

        10/24/2019 at 9:06 pm

        Hello! It’s me again! :-)
        I meant to start the above reply in response to you, SANGEETA. My apologies for any confusion and/or inconvenience this may have caused. Sangeeta, I’m sorry I started it with Miss Adrianne’s name. LOL. :-)

        Sincerely & Respectfully,

        Mrs. Butterworth :-) :-)

        Reply
  7. Alisha says

    05/22/2015 at 2:35 pm

    What kind of paint did you use? Acrylic?

    Reply
  8. Cindy deRosier says

    11/15/2013 at 11:40 am

    I’m the Editorial Assistant for Fun Family Crafts and I wanted to let you know that we have featured your necklace! You can see it at funfamilycrafts.com/leaf-imprinted-clay-necklace.

    If you have other kid-friendly crafts, we’d love it if you would submit them. If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above. Thanks for a wonderful project idea!

    Reply
    • Tomas says

      08/23/2014 at 9:55 am

      I read a lot of interesting content here. Probably you spend a lot of time writing,
      i know how to save you a lot of time, there is an online tool that creates high
      quality, google friendly posts in seconds, just type in google – laranitas free
      content source

      Reply
  9. Stacy says

    11/14/2013 at 10:25 pm

    I wonder if I could find some holly leaves that were small enough to do this with, add a few tiny red balls of clay for berries and use for Christmas ornaments?

    Reply
    • Adrianne says

      11/14/2013 at 10:29 pm

      Oooh, that would be beautiful!

      Reply
  10. cucicucicoo says

    11/08/2013 at 5:43 pm

    Wow, that is just gorgeous!! I love the way the paint stays in the veins. I’m thinking that these would also make wonderful Christmas tree ornaments. Thanks for sharing! :) Lisa

    Reply
  11. JAMES R. says

    08/23/2013 at 6:26 pm

    This is so cool!! 8 )
    Q: Since I have never worked with clay, I’m wondering just how permanent the paint is that you used?

    The midwestern summers can be hot & I worry about the paint getting wet from sweat & running…

    Also, this Polymer Clay, just how durable is it?
    Is it as durable as the “regular” clay?
    I’m sorry for the Questions, but I know absolutely nothing about working with clay of ANY kind.

    Reply
    • Adrianne says

      08/23/2013 at 8:07 pm

      Okay a couple of notes – polymer clay is very durable, but it is more like plastic. It is lightweight and almost flexible. So it will certainly last.

      Acrylic paint is water-based, so I would not advise wearing it while you’re doing anything wet or sweaty, etc. there is another product you can coat it with after the paint, Sculpey Gloss (I’m pretty sure that is what it’s called) that will help a lot with protecting your paint, so you will probably want to add a coat of that.

      Reply
      • JAMES R. says

        08/23/2013 at 9:57 pm

        and this polymer clay can be bought….at any craft shop? online? both?

        This project of yours has me thinking of all kinds of different ways to give gifts to friends of mine….not just for holidays, but “just because”…

        I’m anxious to try my hand at this. 8 D

        Reply
        • Adrianne says

          08/23/2013 at 10:17 pm

          Yep – you will definitely find I at Hobby Lobby or Michaels (that is what I have here) and the good news is, polymer clay is really inexpensive am a little goes a long way. Good luck and if you try it, come back and show it off! :)

          Reply
  12. Maria says

    08/10/2013 at 1:08 am

    Very pretty — thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  13. john w says

    05/30/2013 at 3:05 pm

    nice idea, i was able to get my 10 year old boy into this project. we are working on a gift for mom’s bday. raspberry leaves and mint leaves are working well. we decided to write the name of the plant next to the image. should be a success…..

    Reply
    • Adrianne says

      05/30/2013 at 7:54 pm

      Very cool!! Come back and share photos of how it turns out, I would love to see!!

      Reply
    • hotrodroxie says

      09/05/2015 at 10:36 am

      =O. GARDEN TAG SPIKES!!!!!
      {takes a bow} Thank you…Thank you.

      Reply
  14. Dori says

    05/29/2013 at 12:50 pm

    I LOVE THIS SO MUCH! I wonder what else you could imprint in a fun way like this…

    Reply
  15. Martine Frampton says

    05/25/2013 at 4:33 am

    Someone post this on facebook, how fabulous, very simple and inspiring.

    Reply
  16. wendy says

    05/23/2013 at 2:15 pm

    this is just lovely, what a great idea and thanks so much for sharing your technique

    Reply
  17. Marilyn says

    05/23/2013 at 11:59 am

    Adrianne, I just LOVE this necklace more and more every time I see it! Simple yet elegant! I have a “nature buff” friend who would definitely love getting one of these!

    Reply
  18. Erica says

    05/19/2013 at 3:50 pm

    I freaking love this. So simple, so beautiful. xo

    Reply
  19. Samantha says

    05/16/2013 at 4:35 pm

    Very cool but simple

    Reply
  20. Suzanne McClendon says

    05/16/2013 at 2:19 am

    This is beautiful. I love the way that you painted it. I have a yard full of trees, various types, and will have to give this a try some day.

    Reply
  21. Tara says

    05/16/2013 at 12:05 am

    That is GORGEOUS, Adrianne! I want it! I may have to invest in clay and all sorts of other baubly-bits in order to make my own.

    Reply
  22. Marilyn says

    05/15/2013 at 10:42 am

    Adrianne, this is simply GORGEOUS!

    Reply
  23. Crystal says

    05/15/2013 at 10:24 am

    I love this! Great for boys as well with a leather cord. I see a summer project coming on!

    Reply
  24. Melissa says

    05/15/2013 at 9:00 am

    Wow! this looks like something I could also do with my daughter, there is nothing she loves more than a good leaf walk :)

    Reply
  25. Natalie says

    05/15/2013 at 6:52 am

    Adrianne – how gorgeous! I really need to give clay another chance dont I? Wow!!!

    Reply

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Hello, and welcome! I'm Adrianne, an artist, author, designer, and blogger in mid Michigan. I work from home, chase my two kids, and this once-city-girl is learning how to care for chickens and adjusting to life out in the country. I have a compulsion for daily creativity... sometimes it's jewelry-making, paper crafting, metal stamping, mixing and baking, or giving new life to recycled items. But with 2 young kids, time is short! My goal here at Happy Hour Projects is to share projects and tips that you can do in an hour or less. The ideas you find here are designed to add a little creativity in your day, no matter how much (or how little) time you have!

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