Play-Dough Necklace

Play-dough (Play-Doh) or modelling clay is fun to work with in any modelling project. Here I have tried my hands at making a colorful necklace with play-dough. I have used air dry clay which cures and solidifies when exposed to atmosphere.

• Different colors of air-dry clay. I got a pack with seven different colors of play-dough. However, I will be using only orange, yellow and green colors for the necklace project.
• Gold plated jewelry making eye pins about 120 pieces
• Gold plated jewelry making wire
• Red crystal beads about 40 pieces. These beads are about one mm in size and will cover the gap between beads on top wire
• 3 mm size gold plated beads about 160 pieces
• 5 mm size gold plated beads about 40 pieces
• End pieces 2 numbers
• Adjustable necklace cord with jump rings

• Play-dough stick to normal surface. Here I have used a piece of granite slab for working with play-dough
• Wire cutter
• Round nose pliers
• A syringe type mold maker which makes 5 mm dia cylindrical molds from play-dough. This one was bundled with the play-dough package. You can use the granite slab to make the cylindrical shapes.
• A knife to cut the cylidrically molded play-dough

• Take a small amount of play-dough and put inside the mold maker after taking out the plunger
• Replace plunger and press the play-dough
• There are three 5 mm dia holes through which the play-dough is pushed out
• Lightly roll them on the granite slab to make them straight
• Use a knife or thin plastic cutter and cut 10 mm long pieces as shown
• Again roll the cut pieces over the slab to remove the deformation from the cut edges
• Insert gold plated eye pins through each piece
• Allow them to cure for about 24 hours in shade.

The last picture shows the pieces being dried on the granite slab

We need to make eyes on the free end of the eye pins. However the eye pins are longer than required to make the eyes. Using the wire cutter trim extra length from each piece. This should be done only after the pieces have completely cured and hardened

Using round nosed pliers make eyes on the other end of the eye pins. Now we have eyes on both sides of the long beads.

• Take about 50 cm length of gold plated jewelry making wire
• Insert alternately one red crystal bead and one orange play-dough long bead. The second picture shows the completed piece after this step.
• Now take another 50 cm length of wire
• Insert one 3 mm dia gold plated bead and one yellow colored play-dough long bead. Then run the wire through the bottom eyes of orange colored beads already assembled on another piece of wire.
• Repeat the same step this time with gold plated 3 mm bead and one green colored long bead, running through the bottom eyes of yellow colored beads already assembled.
• Run another piece of 50 cm long wire through the bottom eyes of green colored beads, alternating with 5 mm dia gold plated beads.

The last picture shows the completed piece after this step.

• At one end insert 10 pieces of 3 mm dia beads on the end wires and 9 pieces of same size beads on the middle wires
• Run all these wires through the holes provided in the end piece
• Make knot with all four wires at the back of end piece and trim excess wire
• Repeat the same step with another end piece at the other end.
• Now attach the adjustable necklace cord with the end pieces using the jump rings provided with the cord

Our colorful play-dough necklace is ready