Air Dry Clay Gems and Crystals

Hi!

Let's admit it, we all like crystals and gems. So it's satisfying when you know that you can make your own ones.

So let's create some treasures using simple air dry clay!

1. air dry clay (I used DAS clay - it is easy to sand, so it works well. But you can give other clays a try and see if they're easy to sand)
2. sandpaper or files
3. paint

Optional:

1. craft knife
2. thin wire
3. wire trimmer
4. nail polish
5. necklace cord / chain

First, think about what kind of shape you want to create. Shapes that are not completely symmetrical are easier to make.

You can look at references on the internet or use gems you already have as inspiration.

We'll use the clay to make very simplified versions of the gems we're going for. For a long crystal, I shaped a long cylinder. For a rectangular gem, I just shaped a simple rectangle.

I often work with soda cans, so I just used a piece of a soda can to cut the clay into shape.

Once the basic shapes are done, let the clay dry.

Next, we need either sandpaper or files so we can create the facets that you can see on crystals and gems.

In the beginning, you want to use a rougher grit. At the end, you can use finer sandpaper or files to make the end result smoother.

You create a facet by making sure that you keep holding your piece at the same angle while you're sanding it. Whenever you change the angle, you create another facet.

For my long crystal, I wanted roughly 6 facets, but it didn't matter too much for this shape.

After I was happy with that, I worked on creating a pointy tip.

At first I was going for symmetry.. but I gave up on it in the end. Perfect symmetry is definitely hard to achieve. But for this crystal, asymmetry worked quite well.

To turn the rectangle into a gem, I just needed to sand the edges at an angle. The hard part was trying to achieve symmetry.

(I forgot to take a picture of the end result before the painting stage, whoops. It's the red gem in my other pictures)

To turn a crystal or gem into a pendant, I used a knife to create a groove in it. Since the clay I used is not too hard, I didn't need much force at all.

The groove can be used to wire wrap the crystal. But first, I painted the crystal.

Acrylic paint is good for a more matte finish. If you want, you can also use glossy paint like nail polish to create a more shiny gem. I still recommend a base coat of acrylic paint though.

To wire wrap a crystal, take two long pieces of thin wire and twist them in the center. Insert the crystal and twist the wire on the other side. Keep twisting the wires on both sides - the crystal should be held in place by the wires now. Then fold the wires to the top and twist them on top of the crystal. Next, create a loop with one of the wires and wrap the same wire around the base of the loop. Then also wrap the other wire around the base of the loop and trim both wires. Lastly, bend the ends so they don't stick out.

My wire was quite rigid, so it cut into the paint. It was quite easy to touch up the areas with more paint though, because I only used acrylic paint on the crystals.

If you want to add nail polish to the crystal, I would do an acrylic base coat before the wire wrapping and only add nail polish after it has been wrapped.

Now you can use the gems and crystals in your projects or wear them :)

I hope you like the idea!