Polymer Clay Flower Pendant Tutorial | Abstract Daisy

In this polymer clay flower pendant tutorial I walk you through how to create your own abstract daisy pendant using a polymer clay veneer of your choice. Plus, there’s bonus instructions for a brooch and tips on creating a pair of matching earrings!

With spring on the way this month I’ve been thinking about gardens coming back to life with green foliage and colorful flowers. And those thoughts led to creating a polymer clay flower pendant tutorial for this fun abstract daisy.

I’m using a scrap polymer clay mokume gane veneer I made using this tutorial for my daisy. (If you’ve seen my Groovy Geometric extruder cane tutorial you’ll probably recognize where the scraps came from.) However, you could use whatever veneer you’d like—I think striped petals would be fun!

The main thing to remember with your veneer is that it should be made into a thicker slab. My veneer was too thin so I added another layer beneath it and ran it through my Atlas pasta machine on the thickest setting before proceeding.

I’ve used the three smallest sizes from this set of cutters for this polymer clay flower pendant tutorial. My daisy is about 2.25” at the longest point. 

Any graduated teardrop set you have should work though. Test them out on some scrap clay first to see how many petals you’ll need to make a full flower. The number may vary depending on how wide or narrow your teardrops are.

No teardrop cutters in your stash? Paper templates and a craft knife will do just fine! Just skip using the plastic wrap to round the edges of the petals.

Once you’ve decided whether you’re making a pendant or a brooch—or maybe both!—gather your tools and let’s get started with the polymer clay flower pendant tutorial.

Tools & Materials

• 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
• Polymer clay veneer
• Extra polymer clay for backing
• Teardrop shaped cutters in 3 sizes
• Liquid clay
• Texture sponge
• Plastic wrap
• Polymer clay blade
• Craft knife
• Silicon sculpting tool
• Ball tool
• Pin back—for brooch
• Acrylic rod
• Glazed tile for baking on
• Wet/dry sandpaper in 600, 800, and 1200 grits (optional)

Polymer Clay Flower Pendant Tutorial

Directions for both the pendant and the brooch are the same to begin

To begin with, you will need to have ready a polymer clay veneer of your choice. In this tutorial I am using a veneer I made using my Scrap Polymer Clay Mokume Gane tutorial.

Your veneer will need to be as thick as the thickest setting on an Atlas pasta machine (no.0). If needed, place the veneer on another sheet of clay to bring to the right thickness.

Place the veneer on a glazed tile and burnish it in place to remove any trapped air and to make sure it’s well adhered to the tile.

Put a piece of plastic wrap over the clay and smooth out any wrinkles. This will give you rounded edges when you cut out your petal pieces. You’ll need seven petals in total. Three small, three medium, and one large.

Leave the petals on the tile, tent with foil, and bake at the recommended temperature for your brand of clay for 45 minutes.

Once the petal pieces have cooled sand the edges smooth. If desired, wet sand the faces with 600, 800, and 1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper. This step isn’t necessary but I used a metallic clay in my veneer and I always like to sand and buff to a shine anything with metallic clay.

Condition a piece of clay in the same color you’ll be using for the final backing on the pendant. Sheet it on the thinnest setting (no.9). Burnish it onto a tile to remove any trapped air.

Apply a thin coat of liquid clay to the back of the petals and place them on the sheet of clay in the order you’d like. Leave the pieces for five minutes to begin to bond with the raw clay.

Trim away the excess clay with a craft knife and smooth the raw clay with a silicone sculpting tool.

Condition a small piece of clay for the daisy center and cut out a circle. Texture the circle with a texture sponge and make a depression in the center with a ball tool.

Attach the circle to the center of the daisy with a small drop of liquid clay.

Bake in place on the tile, tented with foil, at the recommended temperature for your brand of clay for 30 minutes. When the flower has cooled sand the edges if necessary.

Pendant Directions

Sheet a piece of backing clay on the no.5 setting and set it on a sheet of paper. Apply a thin layer of liquid clay to the back of the daisy and press it to the sheet of raw clay. Allow to set for five minutes and then trim away the excess clay. The sheet of paper will allow you to rotate the flower as you do so.

Texture the back of the polymer clay flower with a texture sponge. Smooth the edges with a silicone sculpting tool.

Sheet another piece of the backing clay on a no.4 setting and texture with the sponge. Cut out a strip of the clay for the bail. The cutter I used is about 1/4” x 3/4”.

Determine where you want the bail and place the strip of clay, texture side down, towards the top of the placement. Use a dotting tool to make three small dots to connect the clay together.

Place a wooden skewer just under the strip of clay and bring the clay around the skewer. Seal the clay together with more dots from the dotting tool.

Bake, face down on a sheet of paper and tented with foil at the recommended temperate for your brand of clay for 45 minutes.

Sand the edges if needed and buff if desired. String the pendant of your choice of chain or stringing material.

Brooch Directions

Sheet a piece of backing clay on the no.5 setting and texture with a texture sponge. Cut out two small circles the same distance apart as the ends of your pin back.

Glue the pin back to the back of the brooch with super glue and let the glue set.

Once the glue had set cover the back of the brooch with a thin layer of liquid clay. Slide the prepared sheet of backing clay over the pin back. You may need to make a small cut in the clay to get it in place. I did. 

Use the texture sponge to close up any cuts you had to make and to make sure there’s no air trapped.

Using a craft knife, trim away the excess clay and smooth the edges with a silicone sculpting tool.

Bake, face down on a sheet of paper and tented with foil at the recommended temperate for your brand of clay for 45 minutes.

Sand the edges if needed and buff if desired.

Need some earrings too?

I hope you’ve enjoyed this polymer clay flower pendant tutorial and will enjoy making several abstract daisies. Or will you be making a brooch? Perhaps the earrings?

As always, if you have any questions or comments, I’m happy to hear from you.