Faux Sea Glass Beads -Polymer Clay Tutorial

Learn how to make handmade faux sea glass beads and them put them together into a summery, cheerful bracelet with cute ocean themed metal charms.
Share photos of what you've made on Keepsake Crafts' Facebook page. keepsakecrafts.net/blog/facebook
For written directions go to: keepsakecrafts.net/blog/2014/09/15/sea-glass-charm-bracelet-video-tutorial/
For more polymer clay ideas and inspiration please check out keepsakecrafts.net.
Music - Porch Swing Days by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com

[@dromagnakelt]

Sandy, I LOVED how you didn't shy away from showing the fail--which I actually love. Good for you!

[@SandyHuntress]

Thank you, Randee! Happy creating :-)

[@victoriasmith1657]

Thank you for sharing the mishap!! It's great info to convey, especially for the inexperienced with polymer clay. I love it when an instructor is confident enough of their skill, yet, enough of a realist to know we all make mistakes....even when we know better. These kinds of things are great tips, and, I appreciate so much that you chose to include it. This looks like such a fun project!! Thanks so much!!

[@alyAwayLemonade]

Gorgeous faux sea glass beads made out of polymer clay! The burned beads ended up looking really interesting as well!

[@Mishetta13]

I learn so many wonderful things from your tutorials, Sandy. I basically am a beginner and just taking in all the learning I can. Now I am SO EXCITED to create my own polymer beads. I didn't realize how easy it is. At least you make it look easy! Thanks for all the time you put into helping others out! Bless you 😃

[@iseejewelz3874]

your voice and way of talking reminds me of my aunt so much, very soothing

[@bjbusick]

Great tutorial and thanks for showing the beads that burned and what can be done with them as well!

[@RubaiyatA]

I love your project and I love your honesty thank you very much

[@gnjkimble]

I like your burnt sea glass. Gives it the look of obsidian. : )

[@Mychannel-nk7mi]

That's what I was thinking about

[@sherri54]

I enjoyed the video. I'd been looking for something like this for awhile. Thanks

[@47bettie]

That was very interesting to watch real like how you made the sea class beads, enjoy the video thank you for sharing! Liz...

[@rebeccablackraven3594]

I found similar results using gel food colors...(cuz instant gratification with what's on hand is my forte) Awesome tips here. Thanks. :)

[@zoeemiko8149]

Wearing finger cuffs is a great way to prevent fingerprints on your clay. I got a box of 500 for $5 usd. Also, baking on a piece of Tshirt works great. If you have pieces with odd shapes you want to keep you can bake on a piece of batting.

[@SandyHuntress]

Thanks for all the tips, Zoe!

[@limeycheesehead97]

I have to admit the burnt beads also look amazing! I'm going to try this myself to see if I can duplicate. Thank you for your great work...as you can see I am new to polymer clay crafting so I'm going through your older videos as well.

[@SandyHuntress]

You are so welcome!

[@lindalevy6396]

Thank you for such clear instructions, really enjoy your tutorials

[@SandyHuntress]

You are welcome, Linda! Glad you enjoy the videos. :-)

[@shirley6996]

thank you for uploading the tut. I so enjoyed it and the mistake. Its nice to know I am not the only one who does things like this.

[@CPC-Wanda]

Such a nice surprise to tune in to your video and hear such a nice voice. I'm certainly going to try to make these. Thanks for sharing!

[@SandyHuntress]

Thank you, Wanda, for the nice compliment! Hope you enjoy the project.

[@elizabethvallely4044]

They turn out Pretty! Thank you for sharing!!

[@elizabethvallely4044]

+Sandy Huntress Your welcome!

[@angeegold]

While you're adding the holes to each bead, are you getting fingerprints on each of the beads?

[@roselinprimrose1637]

this is very informative the idea of making you're own gems also saves money thank you

[@SandyHuntress]

Glad you found it helpful, Roselin!

[@SweetCupcakeSprinkles]

That's so cool! ^^

[@kelliehutzley5021]

love it so

[@robinstowers1969]

Very nice! Thank you!

[@biancalee4537]

are you able to use colored translucent clay because the michels at my neighborhood has it.

[@janacoufalova6660]

Thank you for this tutorial:)

[@juliewaxler767]

Thank you. So helpful!

[@SandyHuntress]

You’re very welcome. 🙂 Happy creating, Julie!

[@tremillopink12]

love them they are great

[@SandyHuntress]

Thank you, Maritza!

[@dallydally6684]

Honestly.ty

[@janicebradford9780]

I liked both sets of beads. Will the beads work to put around my I’ve cactus. I have a couple I found and they are about the size you made. I think the black beads with silver or gold painted on them would be beautiful.

[@SandyHuntress]

I don't see why you couldn't use polymer beads around your plants. Happy creating!

[@iseejewelz3874]

burnt ones looked really unique I actually liked them a lot

[@iseejewelz3874]

***** totally of course😊

[@Morna777]

Wearing gloves can get rid of the finger print problem, or wet a finger tip with water and rub it over your finished piece to smooth out any fingerprints. If you cure in a packet made out of aluminium foil, and use an oven thermometer, it will help keep the surface from developing weird white spots. The foil also helps prevent burning.

[@SandyHuntress]

Thanks for the tips!

[@marystoddard9138]

Thanks , I never knew how to make how to make these before.

[@chuckychan6627]

cool idea!!! :)

[@thekhearts8946]

I love your video! I was wondering if I could use something other than alcohol ink to color my clay? Also the clay I'm using is homemade air dry. It can be baked. I'm not using this for jewelry just crafts with my kids. But I'm worried about bleeding and I would like them to look realistic as possible. Thanks in advance!!

[@SandyHuntress]

Wow, that's interesting, Felecia. Thanks for sharing!

[@thekhearts8946]

Thank you Felecia!

[@thebutterflywizardess8042]

Thank you for this tutorial. What brand of clay did you use for the sea glass?

[@SandyHuntress]

You are welcome! I think I used Premo translucent, but now I'd recommend Pardo Art Clay translucent. It's much more clear and less yellow than the Premo.

[@cherylsiebert3616]

Any suggestions on what color of ink to use to get a brown (beer bottle) color?

[@SandyHuntress]

Gosh, I've gotten brown many times by accident by letting my colors mix too much, lol! You can get brown by combining red and green or other complimentary colors. Also, alcohol inks have brown shades, Ranger's Ginger or Terra Cotta might be good candidates for beer bottle brown.

[@Maazzzo]

brilliant!

[@SandyHuntress]

+Maddy James :-)

[@LJR.YouTube]

A mí no me sale visualmente cristalino. Se ve sólo un poco más claro que el color de la pintura en su pote.

[@COLORPAPERPRINCESS]

Sandy Huntress your channel is very good and i like your videos too :) i subscribed

[@Queenofdamned13]

Hi....can somebody tell me if i can use a sharpie marker or an ink pad instead of alcohol ink?.....Thanx! :D

[@Neddoest]

O! Great idea 🙃 going to try both ASAP

[@chrissis111]

Where did you get the doll needle? Thanks for the tutorials.

[@SandyHuntress]

You may be able to find them at your local fabric store. If not you can get them here: amzn.to/2kL5gdL

[@BlackCat_2]

Those burned beads looked really cool also. I may have to burn some intentionally. :) I have done it once accidentally but it was a larger dish I was going for so I could not really use it half burnt. - Heidi

[@sandraekhoff8937]

Please, I need your help. Can I glue cured polymer clay to pebble art and paint stretched cotton canvases? What kind of glue can I use for this???

[@SandyHuntress]

You should be able to glue cured polymer clay to just about anything. It depends on your application, but some glues I've had good luck with are E6000, super glue and 2-party epoxy. You might want to scuff up or scratch any smooth surfaces that are meeting so they'll have something to grab onto. Also, you might want to do some testing to find what works best before you start working on your final pieces. Hope this helps, happy creating!

[@didyouknowb4]

Any substitution of alcohol inks?

[@SandyHuntress]

You can use the ink from sharpie markers, as it’s pretty much the same thing.

[@nancyh9125]

Where can you purchase individual bottles of alcohol ink. the stores don't have good selections of colors and they're packaged with colors I don't need.

[@SandyHuntress]

Oh, I know just what you mean, Nancy, I've encountered the same thing. If you have a local scrapbooking store, they may have the individual alcohol inks. Otherwise, Amazon is my go-to. amzn.to/2s6ziLq

[@nancyh9125]

Thanks So much!

[@shannonheindl9583]

You should show us how to make chalk pastels

[@shaynemanosca2746]

Does food coloring work?

[@FluffOfFuzz]

Food coloring will mess up the clay. Only if you have sculpey 3 though. Other then sculpey 3 you can definitely do it in small amounts!

[@dromagnakelt]

Let me say that one thing that definitely works is printer ink refills--bought a set (thinking of refilling my printer cartidges NOT!) and found it works brilliantly with clay. Of course, only Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow, but much cheaper than alcohol ink. (You can mix the colorss too)

[@pattigracewillman4932]

oh thank-you for this tutorial. do you know how to make other faux polymer clay things as well can we ask you questions? thank-you sincerely poolymer clay enthusiast patti

[@SandyHuntress]

+Patricia Langston I love faux techniques and have done a few videos. Just search KZbin with my name and "faux." There are lots & lots of other faux tuts available, try searching "polymer clay faux." It'll keep you busy for a long time to come. ;-)

[@samirasavadkoohi706]

Hi, I wanted to make sure before using Adirondack must bake that polymer clay? Please let me know. Thank you!

[@muglymae7408]

can you use Copics or regular Crayola markers instead of the ink? What about acrylic, gouache, oil, or watercolor paint?

[@SandyHuntress]

Copics may work, since they are an alcohol marker. As for the other things, sounds like you've got some experimenting to do! ;-) Acrylics might be too opaque, but I have used oil paints in other polymer clay techniques, so if you kept the amounts very small they might work nicely. Gouache, as far as I know, is also fairly opaque. Besides the opacity, other issues might come up due to material compatibility. But I always think it's worth experimenting, as you might come up with the next amazing new technique!

[@muglymae7408]

hmm, i will try it. thanks!

[@bertiebotts5698]

what can you use aside from alcohol ink?

[@JISullivan]

Another clay color, the color you'd like your beads to be :) like a green or green/blue etc.

[@lsfein]

bertie botts It is actually possible make your own alcohol inks. Using regular rubbing alcohol, and permanent magic markers, or even dyes like RIT fabric dyes--a little goes a very long way. I think there may be tutorial videos on youtube about doing this(?) but I am not sure.

[@kristibbradshaw]

I kinda like the burned ones.

[@SandyHuntress]

A lot of others have mentioned that they do as well

[@auraramirez9047]

Muy imp

[@A_ndrea]

Are you from the Boston area? Picking up an accent and I want to know if I’m right 🙂

[@SandyHuntress]

NOOOOOOOOoooooooo! I moved here over 40 years ago and have tried SO hard not to pick up a New England accent. === sigh === Yes, you're right, I live about 20 miles south of Boston. :-D

[@Andre_A]

@@SandyHuntress OMG I was totally going to ask if you were south of Boston because you sound so much like my friend from West Bridgwater! Oh my goodness you sound like an actual native - BUT not everyone has the ear for the subtle new england accent differences so I'd be willing to bet not a lot of other people make this assumption about you (I'm from Boston but have tried hard to eliminate it when necessary - as not to have to repeat myself and/or sound crass lol). I should really become a phonologist! :) oh and more importantly THANK YOU SO MUCH for this tutorial because I just finished it and you helped me so so much just by letting us know that the alcohol ink should dry matte before mixing! Best tip ever!

[@SandyHuntress]

Well, I don’t know if there’s a “south of Boston” accent, but you nailed it. I moved to Abington as a teenager, and have lived in Hanson, Brockton and Bridgewater since. I’m pretty sure I don’t say, “pahk the cah.” 😂 Glad you found the tutorial and the tips helpful! Happy creating

[@Andre_A]

@@SandyHuntress the differences are so slight re: New England accents they are barely noticeable to most people. When I backpacked Europe I hung out with a lot of Canadians and came home sounding like I was from North Dakota. Some of us can’t help but speak like the people around us and some people can’t figure out a way to speak like the people around them. It’s super interesting to me for some reason. What area are you from originally? Also I just made more sea glass-type polymer clay creations and I used white crayon shavings and it turned out gorgeous. Do you happen to know if I can use regular chalk in my clay?

[@SandyHuntress]

@@Andre_A Hubby & I were talking about the fact that WE can tell the difference between local accents: Boston, Maine, New York, New Jersey, etc. But if you watch a movie with a "Boston" accent, it's usually an amalgamation of them all. As for where I'm from originally? More difficult to answer than you might think. My father was an "entrepreneur" and had itchy feet, the grass was always greener in the other STATE. My whole life we moved every 3-4 months up until I was in 8th grade. At which point my mom put her foot down and said he wasn't going to do that to me for junior high and high school. (I really should thank her for that.) That was how we landed in Abington for high school. :-) And, thus my (apparently failed) quest to NOT get a New England accent. :-D As for your question about chalks, absolutely! Have you checked out the Blue Bottle Tree? Ginger just put out an article on using chalk pastels with polymer clay. There's even a challenge for this month. :-) So, have at it!

[@ganeshasinjinee3918]

it is very ethnic and elegant

[@ganeshasinjinee3918]

Can this be made from air dry clay

[@SakuraPomeranian]

+Sinjinee Adak +Sandy Huntress Cold porcelain clays would definitely work, they are air dry. They can be made at home or bought, and some brands for purchase also shrink while drying, so you could make small very detailed creations.

[@SakuraPomeranian]

Just as translucent as polymer clay can get, if not more! Depends on the brand or mixing methods again, though.

[@Merikara2]

The burned beads look like lava. You don't want to make them deliberately if the fumes are toxic, but still, interesting results.

[@downtime86stars17]

And make sure you are looking at 275 Fahrenheit, not Celsius.

[@SandyHuntress]

😜

[@katygardner2741]

I really liked those burnt beads 😂😬

[@SandyHuntress]

They seem to be everyone’s favorite! 🙂

[@rhondamagee7459]

oooopsy! :)

[@k.s.9821]

***** The best is to have an oven thermometer and test the real temperature. My toaster oven reaches until 158ºC if I set the dial in 125ºC, there is a huge gap.

[@Pottymoon]

Prunes!!!!😜

[@SandyHuntress]

LOL! Yes, pretty translucent prunes. :-D

[@barbaragrace1992]

I also burned my "grapes" and they came out pitch black glossy. I thought it was gorgeous, however, I nearly choked to death by the fumes because I had the temperture too high. Every window and door was opened and it took awhile to get rid of the smoke. My throat burned for days. Be really careful when you work with this clay.

[@SandyHuntress]

I had mine baking inside two aluminum roasting pans, one upside down on top of the other. I brought it outside to open it and thankfully there was no smell in the house from the burned clay. It's a mistake I haven't made again!

[@barbaragrace1992]

Yes I sdon't think if you've done it once you will do it again for sure. hahaha

[@SandyHuntress]

No, I don't think so. I now check the oven temp carefully every time. :-)

[@1Sweetness]

I like them burned to they look like hemotite

[@Hippieskippie]

great video but one small suggestion.. lotion on your hands I can't stand the noise rolling the clay in your hands. I say this in the nicest way possible

[@Talletc]

Aww poor snowflake

[@colleenpedder5715]

One time I set the temp right but not the timer U went 25 hours not mins and then forgot all about the work I had done... Not good. They stayed there for like an hour or so

[@SandyHuntress]

As long as the temperature didn’t go high, they should not have burned. How did they turn out?

[@colleenpedder5715]

@@SandyHuntress they burned not as black as the ones you showed but still no good

[@SandyHuntress]

Did you see what I made with the burned ones? kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqqVooh_aauol7s These turned out to be some of my favorite earrings. :-)

[@colleenpedder5715]

@@SandyHuntress no I didn't I go look

[@SandyHuntress]

Feel free to check out the video, it's a great technique for rescuing pieces you aren't happy with.

[@FluffOfFuzz]

Oh no. I have burned polymer clay before. I am still alive though 😊 lol.

[@FluffOfFuzz]

I know :) I was just joking about the whole still being alive thing. 😜

[@mariemarie7829]

your burnt beads look like tektite.

[@SandyHuntress]

I had to go look up tektite as I'd never heard of it. You are absolutely right!

[@jeannehinrichs5734]

they look like raisins

[@SandyHuntress]

Haha! I hope you mean the burnt ones, lol.

[@jeannehinrichs5734]

yeah I forgot to say that lol

[@tinawinslow3010]

Looks like coal

[@SandyHuntress]

Yes, the burnt ones certainly do!