I have a small ornament tree that is perfect for year round holiday decorating. I love the idea of hanging small ornaments on it, but hate buying them for all of the various holidays. So, I wondered how could I make Valentine’s ornaments for a nominal cost. Perusing the holy grail of craft ideas, Pinterest, I found polymer clay. That’s all I needed for inspiration.

So, after a quick trip to my favorite craft store, I was ready to get my hands a little dirty.  I set out to create these super cute Valentine’s Day ornaments.

Supplies 

To make them you will need one small package of Sculpey III ®, a heart shaped cookie cutter, a doily, ribbon, a knife and a small dowel for rolling out the clay. I bought the starter tool set for polymer clay, it was all of $10 bucks and I figured I would get a lot of use out of it.  I also picked up wax paper to roll the clay out on.

Directions for Polymer Clay Ornaments

Take a little of the clay in your hand and warm it up by playing with it. Think of it as play dough.  Then, place it on the wax paper and roll it out to about a ¼-inch thickness.  Next, place the doily on top of the clay and press it into the clay with the dowel.  This will leave a pattern on the clay.  When you have the pattern the way you want it, cut out a heart with the cookie cutter.  Once I had the heart cut out, I took one of the tools to place two small holes in the tops of the heart to run a ribbon through.

To finish the ornament, bake it in a 250-degree oven for about 15 minutes.  Any longer and it may burn; any less and it may not cure properly.

Notes

Polymer clay is durable and does not necessarily need to be sealed. It’s plastic clay and is said to hold up to the wear, weathering and washing.  Still, you may choose to seal your polymer clay creations.  To seal it, brush it with a thin layer of a product called Varathane. I would recommend not letting your kids do this part.

For more info check out these resources:  The Blue Bottle Tree and Waterlily Charms