Play with clay: make these cute clay necklace pendants

I never considered myself a DIY’er or a crafter but since I started some crafts for this blog a while ago, I can’t seem to stop.  It’s so addictive.  My latest crafting obsession is making stuff with home bake clay.  Oh the possibilities!  My first DIY clay project was making clay necklace pendants for kids. We chose moon and star shaped pendants but you could go any any shape you like.  Here’s what we did:

Materials:
Home bake clay
Cookie cutters
Wooden bamboo skewer or similar
Necklace cords (18 inches)
Acrylic paints + paintbrush
Fine tipped marker pen
(I have included links at the bottom to all the supplies I used)

Roll out your clay to about 7-8mm thickness.  You can’t go thinner than this as you will need to make a hole later to string the necklace – so any thinner and the hole won’t be big enough.  Using your cookie cutters, make your shapes and very gently push the clay out of the moulds.

Take your bamboo skewer (or similar) and make a hole at the top of each shape as per the pictures below. Be as gentle as possible as you don’t want to distort the shape of the clay.  Keep pushing your bamboo skewer through the hole and gently expanding the hole until it’s big enough for your necklace cord to go through.

Bake the clay shapes according to the instructions on the packet.  Once they’re baked and cooled, paint them with your acrylic paints – you’ll need at least 2 coats.  I used ash pink for the star and antique white for the moon.  Draw on the sleepy eyes with a fine marker pen.  Finally thread the shapes on to the necklace cords and your sleepy moon and star necklaces are ready.

These DIY clay necklaces are a cute accessory for your own kids but they also make fun handmade gifts or party bag fillers.  Making clay necklace pendants is also such a fun activity to do on a play date.  We often bring out the clay when Anya has friends over and they love it – and it’s really not messy so I’m happy too.

Where to get the supplies:
Home bake clay – UK readers can find it here and US readers here.
Necklace cords – find them here
Fine tipped marker pen – UK readers can find it here and US readers here.
Matt acrylic paints  – this is the brand I use and love

P.S. Here is another cute and easy DIY project which also makes a lovely handmade gift.