How to Make a Polymer Clay Tulip Trinket Tray

In this post, I’ll be sharing a cute polymer clay tulip trinket tray project made using a cane veneer from a previous tutorial.

Trinket dishes are a favorite project of mine to make and are a great way to show off a polymer clay cane veneer. Usually, I make trinket dishes using a bowl to mold the clay into a dish shape. In this tutorial, the tulip trinket tray is made with a flat bottom and straight sides, thus making it more “tray-like.” These trays are the perfect catch-all for your rings, jewelry, keys, and other small bits. Plus, they make a cute statement all on their own.

RELATED POST: POLYMER CLAY TRINKET DISH TUTORIAL | SUNBURST

If you caught my last post you’ll likely recognize the cane used for the tulip trinket tray. If not, head over to the Stylized Tulip Polymer Clay Cane for a tutorial on the cane. And if tulips aren’t your thing then why not make the tray with a different cane?

Once you’ve got your cane made it’s time to dive into the tulip trinket tray construction, so let’s get into it!

Tools & Materials | Tulip Trinket Tray

• 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
• Stylized Tulip Polymer Clay Cane
• Polymer clay for top edge, inside walls, and tray bottom—I used the same clay as the background in my tulip cane
• Scrap polymer clay
• Craft knife
• Polymer clay blade—use your sharpest blade for clean slices or a cane slicer like this one
• Acrylic rod
• Parchment paper
• Burnishing tool—I like to use either a stainless steel soap or a espresso tamper but your acrylic rod will also work
• Copy paper & tape
• Straight sided jar
• Liquid clay
• Drywall sanding screen
• Wet/dry sandpaper in several grits—I used 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 (optional)
• Glazed tile for baking & aluminum foil for tenting

Directions for Polymer Clay Tulip Trinket Tray

Before beginning to make the trinket tray head over to the Stylized Tulip Polymer Clay Cane tutorial and make the cane. You will want to let the cane rest overnight so it has time to firm up before slicing. In this tutorial I am demonstrating with the second version of the cane. I did, however, make a tulip trinket tray with both versions.

Save the final reduction of the cane until you’ve measured the outside circumference of the tray wall.

Trinket Tray Sides

Prepare the jar you’ll be using for a mold by wrapping it tightly with a strip of copy paper and taping it in place. Alternatively, you could use a round metal cutter as a mold instead of a jar. You’ll still need to wrap it with a strip of paper so the clay can easily be released.

Condition some scrap polymer clay, making it into a longer, narrow strip. Finish by sheeting on the thickest setting of the pasta machine (no.0 on my Atlas). Measure the circumference of your jar and cut the strip of clay about an inch longer than half the circumference. I wanted my tray side walls to be about 1” in height so I trimmed the width of the strip to be 7/8”. The base of the tray will add the extra 1/8”. *See notes

Condition the solid color clay you’ve chosen for the inside walls and sheet on the thickest setting. Lay the scrap clay strip on top of the good clay and burnish together. Pass through the pasta machine once on the thickest setting. Trim the strip of clay to straighten the top and bottom edges. Trim the length to the circumference of the jar plus about 1/2”.

Wrap the strip of clay around the paper covered jar with the good clay on the inside. Butt the ends together neatly and smooth over the seam with a finger tip.

Add a second strip to the same jar if you are making more than one tray at a time, as I am.

Place the jar on a baking tray and tent with foil. Bake for 30 minutes at the temperature recommended for your brand of clay. 

When the clay had cooled remove it from the jar. Sand one edge perfectly flat on a piece of drywall sanding screen or course grit sandpaper. This will be the bottom edge that joins to the base piece.

Fixing a Bad Join

The ends of the clay strip didn’t join neatly on the inside of my piece. To fix this mix a little liquid clay into a small pinch of matching clay. It should be soft and a little sticky. Press this into the gap in the join. Trim away the excess with a polymer clay blade.

Trinket Tray Base

Before slicing your cane measure the circumference of the tray wall. Luckily, mine was 13” which was an easy number to divide. I simply reduced my canes to give me thirteen 1” slices. Remember, if you are using version one of the stylized tulip cane the slices are used diagonally. Measure your cane from corner to opposite corner rather than side to side.

Once your cane is reduced to the right size cut even slices to make a veneer for the base of the tray. Burnish the seams together using parchment paper and a burnishing tool.

Condition some more scrap clay for the tray base. The thickness of your cane veneer with determine how thick the scrap clay should be sheeted. The veneer and scrap base together should be about 1/8”. I used setting no.3 for my scrap sheet.

Lay the scrap sheet on a glazed tile being careful not to trap any air. Roll over it with a rod to make it smooth and stick well to the tile. Making sure it is smoothly adhered to the tile with no trapped air will save you trouble later when it comes time to sand.

Taking care not to trap any air again, lay the cane veneer over the scrap clay base. Burnish the two layers together using parchment paper and a burnishing tool.

Smear a thin layer of liquid clay on the sanded edge of the tray wall. Center it on the tray base and press it gently into the raw clay making sure it makes contact all the way around. Set aside to rest for five minutes or so to let the liquid clay begin to bond the two pieces together.

Use a sharp blade—a rigid one works best—to trim away the excess clay. Keep the blade straight up and down as you cut away the clay in straight cuts. Keep going around the circle until you can no longer cut away anymore clay. Flip the blade over and smooth out any rough bits of clay by running it around the base.

Tent the tray with foil and bake for 30 minutes at the recommended temperature for your brand of clay.

Adding Veneer to the Sides

When the tray has cooled, smooth out any bubbles and unevenness with sanding screen or course grit sand paper. If there’s any unsightly gaps between the base and the wall backfill them with scrap clay and trim smooth.

Make a veneer of cane slices to fit the outside wall and burnish the seams. 

Sponge or smear a thin layer of liquid clay over the outside wall of the tray. 

Carefully place your veneer over the liquid clay taking care not to trap any air. Burnish the seam where the veneer edges join. Set aside for five minutes and then trim away excess clay from the top and bottom using a craft knife or polymer clay blade.

Bake again, tented with foil, for 30 minutes at the recommended temperature for your brand of clay.

Preparing for the Last Bake

When the trinket tray has cooled sand both the top edge and bottom using a sanding screen. This is where taking care to smoothly attach the base clay to the tile pays off. If there was no air trapped and burnished well to the tile it will only take a few passes to sand the bottom.

Condition the clay for the bottom and sheet it on a no.5 setting. Sponge or smear a thin layer of liquid clay on the bottom of the trinket tray. Position the sheet of clay over the bottom and smooth it from the center to the sides to work out any trapped air. If you see any air pockets work the bubble to the edge to release it. 

Let the raw clay bond to the baked clay for five minutes and then trim away the excess with a craft knife. Smooth away any unevenness with a finger tip or silicone tool.

Sheet a long, thin strip of clay on a no.5 or no. 6 setting. It will need to be long enough to fit around the top edge of the tray. Sponge a thin layer of liquid clay around the top edge of the tray and lightly press the strip of clay in place. Butt the ends together and smooth over the seam with a finger tip. Trim the excess clay with a craft knife and smooth away any unevenness.

Bake the tray one last time, tented with foil, for 30 minutes at the recommended temperature for your brand of clay.

Finishing the Tulip Trinket Tray

Sanding the trinket tray is an optional step but it’s one I always take the time to do. A well sanded piece of polymer clay is as lovely to touch as it is to look at.

For my trinket trays I started with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and worked up to 1200 grit. All the heavy work is done with the 400 grit, the finer grits simply smooth out any scratches from the previous grit. I finished by lightly buffing the trays with a cotton kitchen towel so a soft, matte finish.

Notes

If you have plenty of good clay for the top edge, inside walls, and tray bottom there’s no need to use scrap clay for the tray walls. I knew I wouldn’t have enough to finish my trays so I used the layer of scrap clay to extend the good clay.

If you love this polymer clay tulip trinket tray and give it a try please tag @bysandracallander on Instagram!

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