How to Make Texture Rollers with Scrap Polymer Clay

Polymer clay scraps.

Every polymer clay artist has some stashed away somewhere. Sometimes you’re able to mix those scraps together to create new, usable colors. And other times you can chop up your scraps and use them in a variety of ways (I’ll be covering some of those ways in future posts.) And occasionally all you get it is a bunch of colors that mix up into various shades of mud.

Due to the variety of colors that often go into making a cane, I find I end up with a lot of the latter type of scraps. When my collection of “poo clay,” as I call it, gets out of control I go in search of ways to make use of it. One of my favorite ways is to make my own polymer clay tools. I’ve even had one of my first DIY scrap polymer clay tools serve as the prototype for rainbow jigs that my friend, Ritu, from Goyna Studio now makes in both acrylic and silicone!

Tools & Materials

• Scrap polymer clay
• Non-porous work surface (I work on either glazed tile or glass)
• Pasta machine dedicated to polymer clay use (I use an Atlas 180 and will refer to the settings I use on my machine. If you don’t have a pasta machine an acrylic roller and some playing cards will do in a pinch, it’ll just take a little more work.)
• Liquid clay
• 6” length of 3/4” wooden dowel 
• Scrap printer paper
• Tape
• Polymer clay extruder
• Craft knife
• Ruler
• Glazed tile for baking

Directions

Wrap the wooden dowel in a piece of scrap printer paper and tape securely. Don’t tape the paper to the dowel itself so you can easily slide it off along with the cured roller later

Gather up your scrap polymer clay and condition it well through the pasta machine

Finish by sheeting it on the thickest setting (no.0 on my Atlas)

Trim the sheet of clay to 4” wide and straighten one end. Wrap the sheet of clay around the dowel.

Trim the ends so they butt together neatly. Smooth the seam with a finger tip and gently roll the covered dowel on your work surface

Roll another piece of the scrap clay into a tube the size to fit your extruder. Fit an extruder die with approximately 1mm holes on the extruder and make some clay noodles

Roll two balls of scrap clay and place them on a baking tile. Rest the ends of the dowel on the balls of clay and press down slightly. This keeps the roller off your work surface so the texture doesn’t get flattened on the bottom side

Sponge or smear liquid clay on the surface of the roller. Wrap the extruded clay noodles around the roller or add lengthwise squiggles. Move the roller on the clay balls as needed to cover all sides

Once all the noodles are in place, gently roll the roller on your work surface to make sure all the clay is adhered. Place the roller back on the balls of clay

Place the tile with the roller on a baking sheet and tent with foil. Bake at the recommended temperature for you brand of clay for 45 minutes to an hour. If your scraps are a mix of brands that bake at different temperatures it will be okay to bake at the recommended highest temperature. We’re not worried about white clay browning a bit for this project

Once cool, slide the roller off the dowel and remove the paper

If you have more scrap polymer clay, make another roller. Make several. Use the dowel as a holder for the interchangeable rollers when you’re texturing your clay

Notes

• If you don’t have a piece of wooden dowel a sturdy cardboard tube will work. I’ve used the tube from a roll of parchment paper successfully. Keep in mind the diameter of the roller will be wider
• I like to use a sponge for applying liquid clay. I’ve upcycled a small jar for this. I squeeze out the liquid clay onto the underside of the lid and pick it up with a square I cut from a sponge. I can then sponge the clay where I need it with relatively little mess. When I’m done, I place the piece of sponge back on the lid and screw on the jar, keeping everything dust free

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial. If you give it a try, please let me know! And as always, if you have any comments or questions, I’d be happy to hear from you.