How To Make Polymer Clay Crayon Beads Tutorial

Video #628: My original article about polymer clay crayon beads has been quite popular on Pinterest... here's a video update... More Info: beadsandbeading.com/blog/?p=19455 Polymer Clay Tutor.

Topics Covered In This Video:

* Showing you how to make polymer clay crayon beads.

* Been making these crayon beads for a long, long time.

* Recently someone found an old post of this tutorial on our blog, and added it to their Pinterest Board... it is now getting lots of re-pins.

* So Doug suggested that I make a new video for you all... and I said sure!

* All you need is some polymer clay... I'm using Premo White Translucent... and some wax crayons.

* I have a big bag of broken crayons some from my kids and some from my Mom who is an Elementary School Teacher.

* Here are a few crayon beads made with some no name brand crayons. The color is kind of faint because of the low amount of pigments in the lower quality crayons.

* For more punch of color, use a good brand such as Crayola Crayons which have a higher pigment level than the cheaper brands of crayons.

* I show a bead fresh out of the oven, with melted crayon drips on the underside.

* You can wipe the drips using a paper towel while the bead is still warm.

* My bead had cooled down too much to show the wiping, so I will warm with a heat gun later to clean up the drips.

* I used fairly large chunks of crayon in my sample bead, and you can see the pitting where the wax melted out of the clay.

* It is similar to those "retro" candles in the 70's where wax was poured over ice cubes leaving holes in the wax when it hardened, after the ice had melted away.

* Take translucent clay and warm it up to condition and soften the clay.

* Grate or chop 1 or more colors of wax crayon into a pile.

* Add chopped crayon to translucent polymer clay, kneading until well mixed.

* You can add a little or a lot of crayon, depending on the look you want.

* The larger the chunks of wax are, the more of that holey melted ice look you will get.

* The smaller the crayon bits are, the more it will tint the clay.

* You can add one color or twenty... it's up to you.

* Multiple colors will give kind of a confetti look.

* Some crayons will melt really well... some won't.

* You can have some on the outside if you like.

* Don't run the clay/wax combo through your pasta machine. The crayon chunks are too hard on the pasta machine rollers, and could get stuck behind your scrapers. Just mix the clay by hand or use a NeverKnead Machine to work it in.

* Then shape your polymer clay into whatever bead shape at you want.

* When baking your beads, make sure to line your bead rack or pan with paper or cardboard to catch the melted crayon wax drips.

* Try to avoid getting fingerprints on your beads.

* You can see by the sample I show in the video... of the baked and thhe unbaked beads where I used the same crayon colors and translucent polymer clay... that the color changes quite a bit after baking.

* Some crayons are quite opaque and will change the translucency of the bead.

* This technique give an almost stone like look.

* Crayon beads are a great way to use up old crayons (or new ones if you want)... you can even use the shavings from a crayon sharpener.

Related Video: Crayon Shavings Polymer Clay Bead making Tutorial... beadsandbeading.com/blog/?p=79#video

Related Article: Dried Flower Jewelry Bead Inclusions... beadsandbeading.com/blog/?p=3406

Related Video: Mixing Thread Fibers with Handmade Beads... beadsandbeading.com/blog/?p=775#video

And... more info about today's video is at my blog... beadsandbeading.com/blog/?p=19455

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Polymer Clay Tutor... "Make what you love... Love what you make."