Two-tone Rose Ring

I love modeling things out of Sculpey/Premo clay. It's a great medium. So when the Rings Challenge showed up on Instructables, I thought ...perfect! A clay rose transformed into a ring. You only need a few supplies. Choose your favorite color(s) of clay to create your ring.

• a rolling pin
• two colors of premo, sculpey or fast drying clay
• an adjustable ring with a flat surface (I purchased this: http://www.amazon.com/Beadaholique-RNG3SP-4-PieceS...

• a small cutter ~ I used the end of a piping tip because that's what I could find to use as a small cutter
• pictured later, E6000 glue

You'll also need a cutting board or you can use parchment paper and optional ~ a plastic spoon.

Take a small amount of clay of the two colors you've chosen.

Knead them well until they are pliable. Use the rolling pin and roll them out on a clay dedicated cutting board (don't use the same board you use for food) , and then gather the clay back. Repeat this a few times; this procedure will prime the clay.

Once the clay is smooth and pliable, roll out each color very thin (about 1/8"). Put the colors on top of each other and roll them out again even thinner, about 1/16". The thinner you roll it out the more realistic the petals will look.

Once you're rolled out the petals, start cutting out the petals ~ I used a piping tip because it was a good size to cut small petals.

You'll need 9 petals for this rose.

You'll also need a cone center. Pinch a bit of the leftover clay and roll into a ball, then roll it into a cone with a fine point.

This next step you can do with your finger, but I prefer to use a plastic spoon. On half of the petal, press the edge even thinner ~ paper thin. You can see on the reverse of the spoon how the edge is thinned out and the darker color just highlights the edge.

If any of the petal edges get slightly torn, no worries. That will add to their character and make them look even more realistic. There is no perfect rose!

Repeat for all the petals.

1. Take a petal with the thin edge at the top and completely wrap it around the cone. This will create the center bud.
2. Take 3 petals and with the thin edge at the top again, start wrapping it around the bud. Each petal will overlap about 1/3 of the way around, with the last petal being tucked under the first. Squeeze the petals at the base to make sure they're well attached as well as to start forming the shape of the flower.
3. Take the last 5 petals and again with the thin edge at the top, start wrapping around the flower. Each petal will overlap about 1/5 of the way around, with the last petal being tucked under the first.
4. Squeeze the petals again at the base to make sure everything is attached.
5. Take a knife and off the stem. You want to cut just about where the petals end.
6. Using your finger, start separating the petals and curl some of the edges outward to give them some movement.

Bake the flower according to your clay instructions.

In my case, I used Premo clay and it called to bake for 30 min based on 1/4" thickness.

The petals on the flower are really thin, so I only needed to bake them about 8 min at 200 degrees.

Also, I use a dedicated toaster oven to bake clay since I don't want the clay toxins in my food.

Once the rose is cooled, add a little dab of E6000 glue to the adjustable ring and glue on the rose.

Allow to dry completely.

Wear it and see how many people will want to know where you got your awesome ring!