DIY Network

Polymer Clay Partyware Perk up your partyware—with polymer clay. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-118

Give your table a whole new look.

B. Original host Michele Beschen shares her inspirations for dressing up tired tableware and stemware with fun polymer clay designs. It’s fun and easy, and the basic techniques apply to plenty of other polymer clay projects.

Scroll down for Michele Beschen’s primer on working with polymer clay, then see how she used clay designs to change the look of utensils and stemware. Complete the look with napkin rings in the same design.

Note: Michele Beschen strongly recommends that you hand-wash any of these polymer clay pieces instead of using a dishwasher.

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Create Your Design

Note: Work your clay on a hard, smooth surface such as marble or glass.

Figure A

• Cut your clay into small pieces and knead until soft.

• Roll clay out flat with an acrylic roller or a non-stick rolling pin. Perhaps the best tool for rolling clay is a pasta machine that you only use for clay work—it’s great for creating even, exact layers of clay.

• Layer different colors together and play with different designs (figure A). If you simply layer different colors, roll them into a cylinder and slice off sections, you’ll get a cool spiral shape (figure B). For concentric circles, roll out a long cylinder of clay and wrap it in contrasting colors (figure C).

Figure B

Figure C

• To group your designs, you can wrap cylinders of clay in another thin layer before you slice them apart (figure D). Or, arrange small slices of your design and roll them together.

• Make a larger design on clay by adding design slices to a layer of clay and rolling to the desired thickness (figure E). This gives you a slab that’s easy to handle and apply.

Figure D

Figure E

Cover Utensils

Figure F

• Roll out enough of your clay design to cover the entire handle.

• Wrap the clay around the handle so it meets in the middle without a lot of overlap. Smooth the clay as you go so there are no air bubbles, and cut off any excess at the seam and at the bottom (figure F).

• Bake on parchment paper according to package directions.

• Seal finished piece with varnish.

	Figure G
	Figure H

Cover a Wine Glass Stem

• Roll out a slab of the clay design a little larger than the bottom of the glass. Place the glass on the clay and trim around the edge with a craft knife.

• Remove the clay from the bottom of the glass, cut a slit from the center to the edge and place on the top side of the wineglass base (figure G).

• Wrap another slab of clay around the stem of the glass (figure H), trim away excess clay and blend the edges. Fill in any gaps with pieces of cut designs. You also can add cut designs coming up the side of the glass.

• Bake on parchment paper according to package instructions.

• Seal finished piece with varnish.

Create Napkin Rings

Figure I

• Cut pieces of 1¼" PVC pipe into 1" lengths.

• Apply a rolled slab of designed clay around the entire surface of the PVC piece and trim off edges with a sharp knife (figure I).

• Paint exposed edges or finish with another rolled piece of clay.

• Bake on parchment paper according to package instructions. Seal with varnish.

These techniques don’t just work on partyware: You can apply sheets of polymer clay designs to any object that will stand up to the required baking. And, if you make chunkier slices when creating your designs, you can pierce them before baking to make stylish polymer clay beads. It’s a great medium for anyone who wants to B. Original!