How to Make Your Own Ceramic Jewelry out of Clay
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Pottery is such an amazing art form that you can make pretty much anything with! A new project that I have been loving lately is ceramic jewelry making. I’m not really into wearing a lot of jewelry, so I didn’t think I would love this craft. As it turns out, making jewelry is really fun! It is also satisfying if you are looking for a faster moving ceramic project. As a mom of a little one, I don’t always have a lot of time to devote to my pottery or a set schedule like I used to. Ceramic jewelry is a great way to enjoy pottery in the little pockets of time that I do have.
From ceramic beads, pairs of earrings, or even ornate pendant necklaces, there are so many different pieces of jewelry you can create. By following only a few basic steps, you can create so many different, beautiful variations of jewelry. If you want to learn how to make your own wearable art with clay, just follow along with this step-by step tutorial. By the end of the article, you will know the tried and true techniques that will help you create beautiful ceramic jewelry. Just add your own artistic touch! You can also make jewelry with polymer clay using these basic techniques,but that is a slightly different process. You can read all about how to make polymer clay jewelry HERE.
Materials:
The great thing about ceramic jewelry is that you really only need a few materials that you can find from pretty much any of the pottery stores near you or online. It is also a great project if you have excess clay or glaze that you’d like to use. Many ceramic artists like to make porcelain jewelry, but you can use various types of clay for this versatile project!
-clay body of your choice
-jump rings
-Flat pad earring posts or earring hooks
-necklace chain or leather strap
-ceramic glaze in any color or clear glaze OR
-gold luster (optional)
-kiln bead rack (optional)
-access to a kiln ( be sure to use a kiln shelf!)
- Other options to help you decorate your beads include texture mats, stencils, or carving tools
Creating Your Ceramic Beads
The first thing we are going to do is make our ceramic beads. Ceramic beads and pendants can be created a few different ways: sculpting, from a slab, or by rolling. If you want to make three dimensional beads, such as traditional round beads or beads that are a three dimensional shape like a flower, you will create these by sculpting. For round beads, roll small balls of clay in your hands and poke a hole all the way through the center of the bead. This can be done with any shape of bead. For sculptural beads like a three dimensional flower, you will sculpt the flower and add a hole in the location that you want the bead to be strung from.
For this tutorial, I will be making beads and ceramic charms from flat sheets of clay (slabs). You will end up with a flat shape for your jewelry pieces instead of a three dimensional form. Roll out your slab of clay uniformly and around 1/4 “ thick or less. Cut out the desired shapes of your beads using either a shape cutter or an x-acto knife. Poke a hole in the top of your charms. This is where the jump rings will go if you are creating a necklace, dangly earrings, or a bracelet charm. For stud earrings, skip this step. As the clay starts to dry, take a sponge or a damp finger and smooth out any unwanted blemishes or rough edges. Allow your charms to dry flat.
Bisque Firing your Ceramic Jewelry
Once your ceramic beads are dry, it is time for them to go into the kiln for the bisque firing. Place your charms in the kiln and bisque to the cone temperature that your clay body requires. Most of the mid-range clay bodies need to be bisque to around cone 04, but be sure to verify before you fire. Allow your kiln to run the firing cycle and cool down completely before opening it. Once the bisque firing is completed, take your charms out, lightly sand with a medium or fine grit sand paper, and prepare to glaze!
Glaze Firing Your Ceramic Jewelry
Now it is time for the final firing: the glaze firing! Choose the ceramic glazes that inspire you the most and apply to your pieces. Be sure to choose a glaze that is compatible with the clay body you are using. Mid fire clay requires a mid fire glaze and so on. Some glazes will be thicker than others, so you want to choose a glaze that best shows of the beauty of your beads. For beads with lots of complex textures, you may want a thinner glaze like a celadon to show off the carvings. For flat or texture free beads, any glaze will work! Always test your glaze on a test tile to see how it will look before applying to your final pieces.
When glaze firing, be sure not to place any glazed pieces directly on the kiln shelf. During the glaze firing, they will fuse to the kiln shelves and make a big unwanted mess! Instead, leave one side of your beads bar and without glaze or use a kiln jewelry rack when you fire them. On the jewelry rack, you can hang the beads while they fire. This will allow you to glaze all sides if you want a completely coated bead.
Adding Gold Luster
Sometimes we want to create jewelry that feels a little fancy. Gold luster is a great way to add that special feeling. It is completely optional to add luster, but it does add an elegance to ceramic jewelry. You can also find luster in silver or even opal or pearl. Simply paint your gold luster onto your beads in the desired areas. Fire in the kiln in a luster firing, which is usually around cone 019 or cone 018. Allow the kiln to cool and remove your pieces.
Painting your Ceramic Jewelry
If you don’t feel like glazing is the appropriate way to decorate your beads, you can always paint them! Using acrylic paints, oil paints or even alcohol inks, you can pint your pieces to look however you’d like! if you go the route of painting your beads, you will need to seal them to keep the paint in tact. You can get a transparent gloss or matte sealant. You could even seal them using resin or a fixative. It is up to you and what sheen/finish you want on your beads. Never place a painted piece of pottery in the kiln.
Assembling Your Ceramic Jewelry
Now is the moment we have all been waiting for! It is time to assemble our ceramic jewelry. For ceramic earrings, put a dot of high strength jewelry glue onto the flat part of your earring posts. Place your ceramic bead or stud onto the prepared earring back and allow to dry. For dangly earrings, you can assemble the earring using jump rings and earring hooks. Use the jump rings to connect your ceramic pieces and to hang them from the holes in the earring hooks. The application will depend on your design. For a pendant necklace, charm necklaces or bracelet charms, use the jump rings to thread through the holes in your charms. Thread the jump rings through the desired link on your necklace chain. You could also thread your charms onto a leather strap or string-whatever you desire! Add jump rings and lobster clasps to the ends of your chains and your pieces are ready to wear!
Ceramic jewelry is such a fun and satisfying craft that any potter can enjoy!Create personalized jewelry pieces, ceramic necklaces with fancy gold luster, or even an earthy, leather piece. Don’t be afraid to experiment and play around with lots of different designs or ideas. The most important thing is that you enjoy the creative process! I hope this article has helped you learn a little more about ceramic jewelry making. For more pottery or polymer clay projects, you can click HERE!
