Make Your Own Polymer Clay Cabochons

If you are a crafter you probably already know that cabochons are fabulous for embellishing cards, scrapbook pages, hair clips, picture frames, jewelry, and more. In my last tutorial
http://craftingrebellion.blogspot.com/2012/08/make-your-own-cabochon-molds.html I showed how you can easily make your own silicone molds to create an endless supply of cabochons. Now that I have demonstrated how to make the molds, the fun begins in using your molds with a variety of mediums. Todays tutorial is how to use polymer clay with the molds. Polymer clay is a really good kid friendly project. My 8 year old Daughter absolutely loved making these cabochons. I now think of polymer clay as grown up play dough! 
This project was inspired by the recent Web Finds http://www.simplesimonandco.com/2012/06/how-to-make-your-own-cabochons.html that used molds purchased from Etsy. If you do not want to make your own molds, just head over to www.Etsy.com and type in "silicone molds" in the search bar for oodles of molds for sale. Once you have your molds you can create multiple cabochons. It's fun, easy, and makes a great rainy day project with your kids!

For this project you will need:

Polymer clay

Silicone mold (Etsy, or make your own http://craftingrebellion.blogspot.com/2012/08/make-your-own-cabochon-molds.html)

Rolling pin

Knife or polymer clay cutting tool

Clear acrylic spray, or polymer clay glaze


Start by pinching off a small amount of polymer clay. Polymer clay needs to be "worked" in order to be moldable. The easiest way to do this is to take your piece of polymer clay and roll it flat with a rolling pin. Ball it up and roll it a second time. Now it should be pretty moldable. 

Roll it into a small ball and press firmly into the silicone mold.

If you want to create a striped or variegated look to your cabochon experiment by rolling two or three different small balls of polymer clay together before pressing into the mold. 

If you put in a little too much clay into the mold, take a knife or polymer clay cutting tool and slice off the extra. This way your cabochon doesn't have a lip around it.

Now carefully pop out your cabochon onto a cookie sheet.

If you would like to turn your cabochon into a dangle make sure to poke a hole into it before baking. You can also press a metal bale into your cabochon before baking to turn it into a pendant.

Bake according to the package directions.

Once cooled you may want to shine up your baked and hardened polymer clay cabochons. You can spray coat them with a clear acrylic sealer, or use the brush on polymer clay clear glaze sold in the polymer clay section of the store.

Check back soon for more fun ways to use your silicone molds.

XOX,

The Rebel Crafter