How to Make a Stylized Tulip Polymer Clay Cane

Learn how to make a stylized tulip polymer clay cane with two different finished versions in this tutorial.

I was inspired to make this cane while I was scrolling through photos of some of my older canes. I’d made something similar to the first version of this cane a couple of years ago and decided to give it another try with a stylized tulip flower. This time I also played with the flower arrangement for a second version.

While I like the second version best as a single slice, once the slices have been tiled together I find I prefer the first version. The single repeated tulip has a sort of vintage pattern feel to it that I love.

With only two elements this stylized tulip polymer clay cane is suitable for those with minimal cane experience. Careful packing of the background clay and taking care with the reduction are key to a successful outcome. Although the cane may be simple, once the slices are tiled together they create a beautiful and effective design.

A word of warning—if you are going to tackle this stylized tulip polymer clay cane tutorial using scrap clay, as I have, it is important to have plenty of background clay mixed up. Attempting to color match something you’ve made from a blend of scraps is next to impossible and an unsuccessful match would detract from the beautiful simplicity of the repeated pattern. I’ve run out of background clay before and the results were disappointing after all the work I’d put in to build the cane.

This time I checked that I had enough background clay by stacking sheets of clay to the size and height of the triangle as what the cane would be before reducing. This way I knew I would have plenty for packing around the tulip and leaf. I also had enough left to make two trinket dishes using the cane. Keep an eye out for the that tutorial coming up next!

Once you’ve got your clay mixed jump in and learn how to make a stylized tulip polymer clay cane.

Tools & Materials | Stylized Tulip Polymer Clay Cane

• 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—except for the addition of some white clay all the clay I’ve used here came from my scrap bins
• Polymer clay blade—use your sharpest blade for clean slices
• Acrylic rod

Directions for Stylized Tulip Polymer Clay Cane

The Tulip Flower

Make a skinner blend with colors of your choosing. My blend started out with two layers on the thickest pasta machine setting (no.0) a little larger than 5” x 3”. This gave me plenty to work with and make both versions of the cane. Adjust your clay quantity according to how much cane you want.

RELATED POST: HOW TO MAKE A POLYMER CLAY SKINNER BLEND

When you’re happy with your blend finish by sheeting it on a no.3 setting. Fold the blend into quarters (or thirds if you’re using a smaller amount of clay.) Pinch one of the narrow ends together so it feeds easily into the pasta machine and pass through on the thickest setting.

Continue to pass the clay through the pasta machine on progressively thinner settings until you have a long, thin ribbon of clay. I took mine down to setting no.7.

Starting at the lighter end, roll the ribbon of clay into a tight cylinder taking care to trap as little clay as possible.

Cut the cylinder into quarters. Press in the corner on each quarter to flatten the sides. 

Line the quarters up together and press them into a rectangular shape. Lengthen the rectangular log to about 4”.

Cut the log in half and pair the two halves together. Stretch back out to a 4” length. Trim off the wonky ends and lengthen again to 4”.

Cut a 1 1/2” length off the log. Stretch it out to match the length of the longer piece.

Shape both pieces into half ovals. Give the thinner petal piece a curve at the top.

The Tulip Leaf

Make a skinner blend with shades of green. My blend was about 2 3/4” x 3 1/4” and two layers on the thickest setting.

As with the petal blend, sheet the blend on a no.3 setting and fold into quarters. Run through the machine, narrow end first, on the thickest setting. Continue to reduce the thickness until you have a long, thin ribbon of clay.

Starting at the lighter end of the ribbon fold the clay back and forth in a slightly offset accordion fold.

When you near the end of the ribbon bring the last bit of the ribbon all the way over the curve to form a darker outline.

Refine the curve of the half leaf.

Sheet a piece of darker green clay on a thin setting (no.8) for the leaf vein. Cover the flat side of the leaf leaving a small gap at the darker tip.

Packing the Background Clay

Draw a right angle triangle on a sheet of paper the help determine the placement of the petal and leaf components. This template will also help keep the shape when packing the background clay.

Note: If, like me, you’re using scrap clay without a color recipe make sure you have enough background clay before you begin packing the cane. I made sure I had plenty by stacking the sheets of clay into a triangle the same dimensions as what the cane will be before reducing. This way I had plenty for packing and some left over for a project using the stylized tulip polymer clay cane. 

When packing the background make sure to keep everything as tight as possible. Use round and triangle shapes the fill gaps. For smaller triangles I roll a log of clay and pinch it into a triangle as needed. 

For larger triangle gaps I use a trick I picked up from one of Donna Kato’s YouTube videos. Roll a sheet of your background clay into a cylinder and quarter it. You can then shape these larger triangle pieces to fit the gaps snuggly. The more tightly packed the clay is the less distortion you’ll have when reducing the cane.

Once the cane is packed it’s time to begin reducing. To help keep the right angle of the cane I will periodically use an acrylic plate to keep the shape. Hold the plate straight up and down against your work top and press the cane into the right angle you’ve created. Reduce the triangle cane until you have 3”-4” of good cane—trim off those wonky ends!

When you’ve got enough length cut the cane in half. Sheet a piece of green clay on the thickest setting (no.0) and cut it to fit beneath the flower for a stem. If you are using less clay than I have for a smaller cane use a thinner setting for the stem.

Place the two triangle halves together, with the stem piece sandwiched between, to make a square.

Stylized Tulip Polymer Clay Cane | Version 1

Simply reduce the square cane down to the size you need and you’re good to go!

Version 2

Reduce and stretch the cane out until you have at least 6” in length. Trim off the wonky ends and reduce further if needed to get 6”.

Cut the cane in half and join the halves together, lining up the leaf halves to for a full leaf. Cut in half again and form a square, taking care to again line up the leaf halves. Reduce to your desired size.

When I made my canes I cut off about 2/3 off the first version of the cane to make the second version. This way I ended up with about the same amount of finished cane for both versions because there was more waste produced with the further reduction done in version 2.

I hope you love this Stylized Tulip Polymer Clay Cane as much as I do. If you try it out please tag @bysandracallander on Instagram!

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