Learn how to make DIY polymer clay earrings with a cute rainbow design.

I first made these earrings liiiiike two years ago.

The FIMO team flew a few of out to LA for a two-day polymer clay craftstravaganza hosted by Kara of A Kailo Chic Life.

One of the projects we made was a glass vase covered in a polymer clay slab. I did a pattern of these little rainbows. One of my fellow crafters cut the extra out for me to make earrings instead of throwing it away.

The rest is history.

Just kidding. That was super dramatic. The rest was just earrings. But really cute ones.

P.S. I turned the rainbow design into a polymer clay Christmas ornament, too!

P.P.S. If you’re on a clay kick, try this DIY baby clay handprint keepsake tutorial.

Thanks to the knockout Carley for modeling for me! We took these pictures on a family vacation in Mexico, and I can’t get enough of them!

DIY polymer clay earrings may be easy, but the process might have you asking a few questions. Here are the answers!

Is it safe to bake polymer clay in a home oven?

Heck yes, it’s safe! The ingredients in polymer clay are nontoxic, so don’t fret. I recommend keeping your clay tools separate from your kitchen tools. But honestly, washing everything thoroughly will keep everything as safe as needed.

Will polymer clay harden without baking?

Air dry clay will harden without baking, but polymer clay needs to be heated in an oven. The heat cures the clay and fuses the plasticizers together. Long story short, you have to bake polymer clay.

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How to Make DIY Polymer Clay Earrings

Supplies

Polymer clay: White and three complementary colors
Clay roller
Exacto knife
Jewelry glue
Flat-back pearls
Flat bails
Fish hook ear wires
Jewelry pliers
Optional
- Pasta maker: Can be used in place of the clay roller
- Clay extruder
- Oven thermometer: The best four bucks you’ll ever spend!

Instructions

1. Condition your clay thoroughly before starting.

2. Roll out a full block of white clay until it’s smooth and approximately 1/8″ thick.

You have two options for rolling the clay:

Use a clay roller like the one pictured above. You can put something 1/8″ thick on two sides of the clay — like coasters, for example — so that the roller rests on their surfaces. This will help you get an even thickness without having spots that are too thin or thick.
Run the clay through a pasta machine. Begin on the thickest setting, and gradually decrease the thickness.

The pasta machine method is much easier and produces a much more professional-looking result. But either way is fine, especially if you’re just giving it a try!

3. Make tiny little snakes from your three colors. You want these to be about as thick as a spaghetti noodle and as even as possible.

You have a couple options for making the rolls, too:

Use your hands to roll the clay out. Be careful to keep it super even. If you roll too much in one spot, the “snake” will break.
Use a clay extruder with a small circle insert. You’ll crank out perfectly even little clay snakes.

Again, the clay extruder is going to give you a much more professional-looking result. But if you aren’t ready to invest in polymer clay supplies, you can do it by hand with similar results.

4. Cut the snakes into stripes for your rainbows. The outer stripe of the rainbow will be the longest. The next will be a little shorter, and the inside stripe will be the shortest.

You can see in the picture above that the pink — the inside stripe — is much shorter than the blue for the outside stripe.

5. Lay the stripes on the white clap in a rainbow shape. You can use the exacto knife to pick them up.

I like to start with the outside stripe and work my way inward. You can use the tip of the exacto knife to nudge the stripes into place to get them into the right shape.

6. Gently flatten the stripes onto the clay. As with the white clay, you can either use the roller or the pasta machine.

7. Cut out the rainbows, leaving a white border all the way around.

You can use the edge of the blade or an offset frosting spatula to lift them out of the background.

8. Cut out the inside of the rainbow very carefully using the tip of the blade.

9. Bake the rainbows to cure the clay. Use the temperature listed on the package instructions, but bake for an hour to make sure they’re fully cured. Don’t worry — the clay won’t burn from being baked longer than the instructions state.

The Fimo that I used bakes at 230° Fahrenheit (110° Celsius).

But make sure to use an oven thermometer! My first batch of these (the ones pictured in the tutorial, sadly), crumbled into tiny little chunks. I thought it was because they were overdone. Makes sense, right?

But that’s when I bought an oven thermometer and discovered that our oven runs 40 degrees lower than the programmed temperature. When it doesn’t get hot enough, the polymer doesn’t fuse properly.

10. Glue flat-back pearls to the ends of the rainbow to make clouds. Make sure you let the clay cool completely before you glue anything!

11. Either glue a bail to the back of each earring, or drill a hole in the top.

I really recommend against poking a hole in the clay before you bake it. It makes it warp and get a wonky shape.

12. Attach the fish hook ear wires to the bails.

If you drilled a hole instead, thread a jump ring through the hole. Attach the ear wires to the jump rings.

Yield: 4 pairs

Rainbow DIY Polymer Clay Earrings

Learn how to make DIY polymer clay earrings. These cute little FIMO rainbow statement pieces are as cute as can be and surprisingly easy!

Active Time 1 hour

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 2 hours

Difficulty Beginner

Materials

Polymer clay: White and three complementary colors
Jewelry glue
Flat-back pearls
Flat bails
Fish hook ear wires

Tools

Clay roller
Exacto knife
Jewelry pliers
Optional: Pasta maker
Optional: Clay extruder
Optional: Oven thermometer

Instructions

Condition the clay.
Roll out white clay to 1/8" thick with a roller or pasta machine.
Make tiny little snakes from your three colors.
Cut the snakes into stripes for your rainbows.
Lay the stripes on the white clay in a rainbow shape.
Gently flatten the stripes onto the clay with the roller or pasta machine.
Cut out the rainbows, leaving a white border all the way around. Cut out the inside of the rainbow.
Bake the rainbows to cure the clay. Use the temperature listed on the package instructions, but bake for an hour to make sure they're fully cured.
Glue flat-back pearls to the ends of the rainbow to make clouds.
Either glue a bail to the back of each earring, or drill a hole in the top.
Attach the fish hook ear wires to the bails.