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kikums — Charms 101-Polymer Clay Tutorial Part 3
Published: 2012-06-11 16:58:51 +0000 UTC; Views: 8117; Favourites: 144; Downloads: 997
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Description
Ready to make your own charm, butdon't know where to begin??
This tutorial can help!
This is part 3 of my 3-part tutorial of Charms 101 (polymer clay charms). It shows how to make a loop for your charms and has a little overview on how to use the pliers. This tutorial is meant to help with ideas and provide a little bit of information. I like to use this technique because it can be used in other projects like using bead instead of charms like used here [link] or you can do this technique the top and bottom of your charm to add more items like used here [link]
Again, these tutorials are made from my own experience throughout these years therefore some techniques might be different from others.
Here are some really helpful sites with more information on pliers that were also helpful
when I first began making charms.
[link] [link]
This is part 3 tutorial here is the link to:
Part 1 [link]
Part 2 [link]
This concludes my 3-part tutorial
I hope it helped! Feel free to ask questions and
have fun making your own charms!!
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Comments: 10
I use the same method you do to create the loops. 
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Hello, I want to ask you something.
1. Do you not glaze it after you're done? u v u
2. Where did you bought those pliers?
3. Is it okay if I only buy the round one/cutting one? (not the flat nose one)
4. Where did you bought your cell phone straps?
Thankyou<3
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Hello! I will try to answer as best as possible 
1. Do you not glaze it after you're done? u v u
Glazing helps the charms by keeping them clean after they are baked, helps strengthen a bit if there are fragile pieces, and seal in any decoration added after baking. You should glaze your items before attaching them to any necklace, earrings, or cell phone charm, glazing can get really messy! I glaze most of my items especially if it is one that is going to be sold but in my personal collection I don't always glaze all of my charms. The glaze I use is glossy, sometimes I like to keep the soft look of of the charm (and if I didn't use any paints on it) I decide to leave it without glaze.
I used multiple onigiri charms to make the 3 parts of this tutorial. In specific the onigiri charm used in the third part was solely made for the purpose of showing how to use the pliers so I did not glaze it, but you can see how I glaze my charms in the second part of the tutorial 
2. Where did you bought those pliers?
Actually the pliers were a gift from my boyfriend
3. Is it okay if I only buy the round one/cutting one? (not the flat nose one)
The good thing about pliers is that you only need to buy the ones you need
4. Where did you bought your cell phone straps?
I bought my cell phone straps in a store near my house called Hobby Lobby [link] they sell them there in sets of 10, but when I was getting ready for a craft show and I needed to buy wholesale cell phone straps I bought them from ebay. I couldn't find the seller I got them from but I did a quick search and I found a listing here [link] you can choose the color you want for a very good price.
Sorry for the long answers, but I hope this helps you with your charm making!
I appreciate that you take your time to see my tutorials and ask questions.
If there are any more questions do not hesitate to ask!
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Oh my gosh, you're so helpful!
Thank you, thank you so much.
Nonono, I really love long answers. They really help me lots.
Can I ask a few more if that's okay with you?
1. How do you make the hook/wire/loop inside the charm NOT falling off from the charm? Do you need to use glue or..? And also if you use glue, do you glue it after you're done baking it or before baking it?
2. What types of paint should I probably use? My clay is Sculpey III Pearl. I'm wondering if I should use chalk pastel paints, or acrylic paint?
3. Can we just dip the charm inside the glaze bottol or can we brush the glaze on the charm instead? people said that if we're beginners, painting the glaze on the charm isn't such a good idea.
4. How many minutes should we let the clay dry after baking and glazing?
Thank you!<3
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Your welcome
1. How do you make the hook/wire/loop inside the charm NOT falling off from the charm? Do you need to use glue or..? And also if you use glue, do you glue it after you're done baking it or before baking it?
I had trouble with this when I started making my charms but what works best for me is to use a flat-head pin and make it go trough the entire charm. The "flat head" of the pin prevents the charm from slipping through. If you don't want to stick the pin all the way through you can try a fast drying glue like super glue to glue the pin in place after the clay has been baked. The pin might still fall off with the second method though. Another method that's a little more tricky is to make a little hook with the wire and "hook" the charm, covering the clay that was misplaced with either more clay or Translucent Liquid Sculpey. It's hard to explain in words but in this video [link] shows us how to do it
2. What types of paint should I probably use? My clay is Sculpey III Pearl. I'm wondering if I should use chalk pastel paints, or acrylic paint?
You can use any type of materials to decorate your clay after it is baked, if you are starting out I suggest trying out different ways and materials and find the one that works best for you
[link] shows a great example of how to use chalk pastels to color on the clay.
3. Can we just dip the charm inside the glaze bottol or can we brush the glaze on the charm instead? people said that if we're beginners, painting the glaze on the charm isn't such a good idea.
Both ways are good and it depends on your preference. If the charms are small enough to fit in the bottle then I like dipping them. When the charms don't fit in the bottle I grab a paper napkin and make myself a brush with it (I know it sounds weird lol ) I used a brush before but it wasn't a very good one so there would be bristles that would fall out and stick to the charm =/ and I didn't know how to properly clean it afterwards, so it would be a one time-only use brush, very wasteful and not very cost effective either.
4. How many minutes should we let the clay dry after baking and glazing?
Hmm this is a little hard for me to give a definitive answer, but it would come to you with practice
Glazing drying times will depend on the directions of your materials. The glaze I used to work with before in the directions it said to let dry 2- 4 hrs but I would let them dry overnight for a better result. The glaze I use now is much quicker to dry, but I always like to leave charms to dry longer than what it says on the directions to be sure they dry good. Sometimes the weather affects this, where I live it gets really humid during the summer so it delayed the drying process a little bit.
In the end there is a lot of trial and errors involved. When I started making charms I knew nothing about them so I used the internet to find answers but still many times I bought the wrong materials, wasted a lot of things, and made lots of silly mistakes. But these will help you greatly in improving your charms & your abilities and make good stories for the future! lol
I hope this helps! and have fun making your charms
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Nice tutorial! It takes away the fear of going ahead and selling charms.
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Thank you so much! I'm glad it helps and best of luck!
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This is a great tutorial. It took me ages to be able to make a neat loop from my headpins.
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Thank you! Same here, my loops did not look like loops before lol
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