What you need to start making polymer clay earrings - Beginner's Tool Guide

You have discovered polymer clay and are now intrigued and wondering how to start. In this blog post, I will be providing a beginner's tool guide to everything you need to explore your new hobby of creating with polymer clay without breaking the bank. I will include tools that I found necessary and some that will make things faster. Polymer clay is a versatile material and can be used for creating many things, from jewelry to home décor. This tool list is catered to those who are looking to get started with polymer clay earring making.

Quick guide

• Polymer clay (Sculpey Premo, Sculpey Soufflé, Hobby Lobby Advanced Clay)
• Surface to work on (glass or glossy ceramic tile)
• Roller
• Pasta machine (optional)
• Guides (optional)
• Tissue blade
• Shape cutters
• Oven
• Baking surface
• Earring posts or hooks/earring findings

Polymer clay

The main ingredient you will need is polymer clay. I didn't know there were different types of polymer clay until I started researching the tools I needed. I already had some Sculpey original polymer clay that I had purchased from Walmart for a different project in the past, so I decided to test it out. The white pieces turned beige in the oven and were not flexible and broke when bent too hard. Clays such as Sculpey Original and Sculpey III are not great for making the small and thin pieces used in making polymer clay jewelry. 

The best clay that I have worked with for polymer clay earrings is Sculpey Souffle. Sculpey Premo is also great and recommended. If you want to go for the cheapest clay possible to explore before fully venturing in, I recommend the Crafter's Collection Advanced polymer clay by Hobby Lobby. It's frequently on sale for about 77 cents.

You will also need liquid polymer clay, as I found this necessary to adhere to earring posts before embedding them. I bought the Sculpey liquid polymer clay in clear when I started. 

Working surface

Craft stores will usually sell a glass surface for polymer clay, but the use of glossy ceramic tiles is often recommended. You can purchase them from your local hardware store for cents to a few dollars. Make sure to buy a glossy tile, as you want the polymer clay slab to adhere to the tile and not your tools.

Roller

As I am writing this post, I have yet to purchase a roller marketed specifically for polymer clay. I have an empty Kevita Kombucha bottle that I use if I need to hand-roll my clay. The most common type of rollers marketed for polymer clay are acrylic rollers, and they are affordable and can be bought from your local craft store or online. I have also heard about stainless steel rollers, which I have yet to try out.

Pasta machine (optional)

The use of a pasta machine is not necessary, especially when starting out. However, after a couple of sessions of hand rolling, my hands were dying, so I went to Michaels and bought one. I do not recommend the pasta machine from Michaels because it is not durable and broke in less than a month. Atlas 150 is a brand of pasta machine frequently recommended for conditioning polymer clay. It's not the most affordable, but you can find pre-owned ones on marketplaces such as Facebook Marketplace, Mercari, or eBay for a fair price. That's how I got mine.

Guides (optional)

Guides are important when making polymer clay jewelry if you are concerned with maintaining a certain thickness for your jewelry. They are especially important when you are only hand-rolling and not using a pasta machine. You can use a stack of cards or purchase guides online.

Tissue Blades

Tissue blades are long, flat pieces of sharp metal that are used for cutting the clay and lifting the clay from the working surface.

Shape cutters

Although you can use your hands to mold the polymer clay into a shape, it is easier for a beginner to use a type of cutter. Cutters can be made from different materials such as plastic and metal. After conditioning the clay and placing it on the working surface, the sharp side of the cutter is pressed into the clay to cut out the shape indicated by the cutter.

Baking surface

You can bake on the same ceramic tile that you use as a working surface. You can also use silicone baking mats. When I bake with ceramic tiles, I bake for a longer time as the ceramic tile will take longer to get hot even when the oven is at the correct temperature. I also place my pieces on a piece of copy paper before placing them on the tile to avoid the back of my pieces from being spotty and shiny.

Oven and Oven Thermometer

I started out by baking polymer clay pieces in the same oven that I used for food, but now I use a dedicated toaster oven that I got for about $20 from Walmart.

 In addition to an oven, you will need an oven thermometer to ensure that you are baking the polymer clay at the right temperature to make sure it's well baked and does not get burnt. Most oven temperature settings are not exact, and an oven thermometer ensures that you are baking at the right temperature. A tip is to tent your pieces in the oven by placing aluminum foil over them.

Findings

Since I assume that you will be making some kind of earring or other jewelry, you will need to purchase some findings. There's no need to get anything too expensive. I would recommend getting a variety pack from Michaels. That's what I got started with, and Michael's frequently has sales, so you don't need to pay full price. If you don't have a Michael's close to you, you can purchase from your local craft store or from online stores like Amazon.  

When buying jewelry findings, be aware of your allergies such as nickel sensitivity, which is common in jewelry findings.

When working with polymer clay, as with many things in life, you improve with practice. Let me know if I missed any essential tools. Thank you for reading and feel free to ask your questions in the comment section. Subscribe to my newsletter to get updates when I post.