In the 30s in Germany, they invented a chic material for creating extraordinary products - polymer clay. At first, dolls were made with it, but in the 60s it rapidly gained popularity, after which clay began to be used to create various sculptures and compositions.

Now original jewelry, souvenirs, flowers are created from this material. Excellent from polymer clay wedding bouquets, so clay has become an indispensable material for wedding celebrations.

You, too, can learn how to make chic crafts from this wonderful material. In order to create your first masterpiece, it will be enough for you to familiarize yourself with the material below.

Polymer Clay Sculpting Tools

• Surface for work. You can take a flat and perfectly flat board made of glass or plastic, tiles or ceramics.
• Knife. Suitable for both stationery and construction. Have spare blades on hand.
• Acrylic rolling pin - very handy when rolling clay.
• A syringe and various nozzles with which you can make a variety of stripes, floral elements.
• Forms for cutting figures (cutters).
• Stacks.
• Polymer clay.
• Lacquer for polymers.
• brushes different sizes.
• Toothpicks.
• Napkins.
• Fittings.

Before starting work, the clay must be well kneaded.

1. First, wash your hands well, as clay perfectly absorbs various contaminants. Keep your work area clean too. Gather your hair or put a scarf on your head.
2. Coat the clay with talcum powder to prevent debris from sticking to it.
3. Correctly calculate the amount of clay, because colored clay has a short shelf life.
4. When the clay dries out, do not lose heart, but simply add ordinary hand cream to the material, but not much.
5. Be careful with clay products - they are quite fragile.
6. Keep packaging with material only when closed. For the clay to serve you through long time, put there wet wipe.

polymer clay at home

If you do not have the opportunity to purchase ready-made clay in the store, then below is a recipe for home-made clay.

You will need: baby oil, flour (1 teaspoon), plain white glue (1 teaspoon), cornstarch (1 teaspoon).

Combine starch, glue, add flour. Stir until the mixture looks like clay. Next, drip five or six drops of oil so that the clay does not stick to your hands. To make colored clay, take some of this material in your hand, drip some acrylic paint and knead it in your hand.

Polymer clay flowers

callas

For those who are just starting out with polymer clay, calla lilies are the easiest to make. This is a very simple craft and can be done in minutes. And if you decorate the resulting flower with beads and thread a special hook into them, you will get chic earrings.

Take a couple of clay flowers, a toothpick, a utility knife, rubber gloves and beads.

Make sausages from clay pieces, then roll them one around the other. Roll the resulting product into a ball. Do these manipulations until you get a marble color. After that, using a knife, cut the ball into two equal parts.

Make a rounded flat plate and stretch its edge a little, which is pinned with your fingers. Carefully fold the opposite edge (like a paper bag).

Straighten the edges, correct. You should get a drop-down bud. Make small holes with a toothpick and insert an earring and beads into the flower.

Lily

Lily is more difficult to make than calla lilies, but the result is worth it!

Take the clay of the color you like, a bottle or a rolling pin, an awl or a large needle, a knife, paints (preferably watercolor), brushes, paper clips.

Put gloves on your hands, take a piece of clay, roll it thinly, outline the petals. Draw the borders of the petals with a needle. You should have three large and three small petals. Small petals will be in the center of the flower.

Cut out the resulting petals with a knife or scissors. Draw veins on the petals - it looks very beautiful.

Let the resulting components dry, and you yourself will be engaged in the manufacture of the center of the flower, namely the pistil and stamens. Roll out the clay and cut into thin strips. Make the strip for the pestle wider, apply brown color to its tip. With a needle, twist the edges of the petals, which are smaller. Straighten a paper clip and fasten the flower to it, starting with the pistil and stamens. Next, symmetrically attach the petals.

the Rose

Roses are considered the most sought after flowers, even if they are made from polymer clay. To make this beauty, take polymer clay, put gloves on your hands.

Make a sausage out of a piece of clay, cut it into pieces, from which make balls of various diameters. Nine balls will be enough if the rose is small.

From the balls blind oval petals. To do this, we put a ball on the left palm, on which we press with the thumb of the right hand. We form a petal. We make the edges of the petal thinner, and the base denser. We do this with all the balls. After that, we collect the rose. Make the middle of the flower - twist one petal into a roll. Next, attach the petals to the center from smallest to largest. Make sure that each petal covers the middle of the previous one.

Rose done. It is perfect for decorating various accessories. Would look great as a fridge magnet.

Orchid

After you have practiced making a rose and callas, you can start making an exquisite flower - an orchid. To work, take clay, a flat board, gloves, a rolling pin, wire, a special cutting mold, a knife, brushes, paints, molds, a stick with a rounded tip.

Use a stick to color a piece of clay, and make a small ledge in the middle. Cut out a cross with a cookie cutter - this will be the middle of the flower. If there is no form, then draw the core yourself. We take the resulting part in our hands and bend its upper tip inward. With the help of a stick, we bend the rest of the blanks in the same way.

We take the wire, bend it in the form of a right angle. On the tip of the wire we put on the middle of the flower, smeared with glue. Blind the middle part of the flower sponge from a small piece of clay. To do this, make a grain out of it and cut it a little with a knife. Put it on a wire in the middle of the sponge. Decorate the flower lip.

After that we make petals. We roll out a colored clay piece, which is with a ledge. We put the workpiece on the mold, cut off the excess. We attach the wire to the base. In the same way, we make five more petals. Draw dots on all petals. Take all the petals, lip, connect. It turned out to be a beautiful orchid!

Crafts made with polymer clay are gaining popularity every day, a type of ceramic floristry is developing. They sell well and are highly valued.

It should be noted that modeling from this type of material is in demand not only among needlewomen. Children are more and more interested in this kind of art. This activity is very exciting, with the help of it your child will actively develop and relax. Children with great pleasure will help you make crafts and decorations.

Learn how to create masterpieces from polymer clay, and a new world of art will open up for you, with which you can create chic jewelry and even have additional income from your work!

117 photos of color examples

In our time, it has become fashionable to use non-traditional solutions at weddings to make the celebration unforgettable, original, different from others. This is reflected not only in the organization of themed weddings, the use of non-traditional images, multi-colored dresses for the bride, but also in the manufacture of bouquets from very unexpected materials. Another such curiosity is a clay wedding bouquet. Indistinguishable from a real bouquet, it has many advantages that make it a worthy alternative to natural flowers.

Bridal bouquet made of polymer clay as an alternative to natural flowers

Coming up with an alternative to fresh flowers in wedding arrangements has already become a certain kind of tradition. All this is done for aesthetic and practical reasons, because hand-made flowers are in no way inferior to real living flowers, but they have a number of characteristics that can be useful to the bride. Fresh flowers are always a feeling of celebration, life, romance, tenderness. But they fade irrevocably, and it is difficult to do something about it, and therefore even ardent adherents of traditional bouquets begin to consider alternative options. Clay has a lot to offer.

Benefits of a polymer clay bouquet

The advantages of a clay wedding composition are indisputable:

• Durability. Fresh flowers often wither already at the ceremony, and this is a sad and terrible sight at such an optimistic holiday. Clay compositions will last unchanged not only during the wedding celebration, but for many years after (if you do not drop the composition).
• The beauty. Artisan needlewomen have learned to make clay flowers so skillfully that they will not only be indistinguishable from real ones, but even more beautiful. The buds made by them are even, lush, always in the best shape, with the same desired size, the right tone, which cannot be said about fresh flowers, which may have natural flaws.
• Ease. A wedding bouquet created using polymer clay is light. By weight, it does not exceed 50 - 250 g, although at first glance it will seem different. This will help the bride not to get tired too quickly, because wearing a heavy thing for a long time is not an easy task.
• Variability. At any time of the year and under any conditions, the bride will be able to marry with the flowers in the wedding composition with which she wants. And snowdrops in mid-August are no longer a fairy tale, but a real reality, available to any girl who chooses a wedding clay bouquet.
• Related accessories. With the help of clay, you can make not only a wedding composition, but also a beautiful boutonniere for the groom, decorate glasses, napkins, the bride's hair - all this will be in the same style, will not wither and will not lose its original appearance.

• Saving time. Wedding clay composition handmade the master will be able to make it long before the wedding, carefully put it in a safe place and calmly not think about it until the celebration. Fresh flower arrangement must be collected 20 minutes before the wedding (or picked up if it is made by florists). This creates even more excitement on such an important day, especially if there are any hitches.
• Photogenic. Wedding clay arrangements have a photogenic look throughout the wedding, so you can take great photos at any time of the holiday, rather than rushing to a photo shoot at the beginning of the celebration.
• Symbolism. A bouquet from a wedding, kept in the family for many years, can always remain a symbol of the love of a husband and wife, a reminder of a bright holiday. After many years, it can be shown to the children and grandchildren of the spouses, thereby forming in their minds the image of a happy family.

Clay understudy bouquet

But the impossibility of creating duplicate bouquets with the help of clay is one of the disadvantages of such bouquets. Flower compositions created with clay are fragile and hard products. Therefore, throwing them is highly discouraged: at best, it will simply break on the floor, at worst, it will injure one of the friends and guests trying to catch the understudy bouquet. It is better to make clay flower bouquets or bracelets for boyfriends - they will not wither, will not wrinkle, they can be put aside without consequences to help the bride.

It is justified to make a clay understudy when the bouquet will not be thrown, but passed from hand to hand, for example, if there is only one unmarried friend or guest. Sometimes an ordinary small bouquet of fresh flowers is thrown into the crowd, and then a double clay bouquet is handed over, which the friend could keep as a keepsake.

How to handle clay flowers

Flowers created using plastic (polymer clay) are reliable products. They are resistant to heat, plastic - stronger than some coasters and vases in which they can stand. However, there are certain factors that such flowers are afraid of. If you remember these things and do not expose the wedding bouquet to such influences, it will delight you with its beauty for a long time and remind you of a happy wedding.

What is the clay bouquet afraid of?

• The fall. Clay products are afraid of falls and bumps. But a lot depends on the quality of the material. Clay, which acts as a material for creating these wedding masterpieces, can be of two types - strong, but fragile, and less strong, but flexible. If your wedding bouquet is made of the first type, then when it falls, it will break completely or partially. If from the second, it can only bend, which is fixable: just carefully align the bent part.
• Damage. If the wedding bouquet was not badly damaged during the fall, for example, a couple of twigs or petals broke off, you can fix everything, so do not rush to throw out the broken parts. Take superglue and carefully glue the part to the break - if you connect it exactly, no one will notice the damage. In the manufacture of such compositions, the master himself uses glue to connect many parts.

• Moisture. Clay is very afraid of moisture, so it is absolutely impossible to wipe it with a damp cloth, wet it, put it in a room with high humidity, play with water near such a product, leave it next to children who can “water” the flowers. Under the influence of moisture, a product created using plastic can be deformed or even soften. If drops do get on clay flowers, blot them with a dry cloth, but do not wipe, and then leave the bouquet to dry on its own. It is also impossible to use a hair dryer, heater or battery for drying.

• The sun. Clay is not afraid of heat, but the paint with which each flower is painted is afraid - it can fade, losing its original color. Therefore, try not to leave such flowers in direct sunlight.
• Low temperature. Plastic products are not afraid of high temperatures, but they are very afraid of low temperatures. If the product is placed in a cold place, the clay will become brittle and will be damaged by the slightest application of force. If this still happened, return the bouquet again to a warm place, and it will return to its previous state.

How to store

You need to store a clay bouquet from a wedding in a dry, warm room, not under direct sunlight, away from those who can flood it (including a possible neighbor's flood and an accidentally turned upside down tea mug), in places where dust does not settle easily, for example, on glass . To brush off any dust that has settled on the flowers, wipe them with a dry cloth or a synthetic brush, which is sold in every stationery store. You can admire the product, take it with your hands (but not wet), do not drop it - and your wedding bouquet will please you for a long time!

Materials for work:

DecoClay ClayCraft polymer clay, white, red, green
. Acrylic sheet mold
. wire cutters
. Floral tape
. Base for boutonniere
. Tailor's pins with transparent heads
. floral wire
. Ribbons
. PVA glue

ClayCraft by DecoClay dries completely within 24 hours. It is recommended to put an additional wet wipe in the opened package. For beginners who are still working slowly, it is recommended to cover the workpieces with a damp cloth.

Making a peony flower:

1. With stretching movements, mix the colors - basic white and a little red.

2. Divide the clay into 20 small pieces (1 cm) and 12 larger pieces (1.5 cm).

3. From each piece, large and small, blind a drop, smear the thick end on the palm of your hand, then form a concave petal on the stem with a stroking movement.

4. Glue all the petals in two, small with small, large with large, when gluing, slightly move one petal to the side.

5. Glue small blanks together in the form of a fan, with the concave side inward.

6. Spiral the fan.

7. Glue large petals around the middle with the concave side out.

Making leaves for a bouquet:

1. Mix white and green clay to get a light green shade. Add a little more green clay to it, do not mix to the end, leave streaks.
2. Form a drop, press against a leaf mold, carefully peel off, shape into a leaf.

Making a peony bud:

1. Mix the pink plastic left over from the petals with the red one, without stirring all the way through. Roll it into a ball about 2 cm in size.

2. From the unmixed green plastic left over from the leaves, make 3-4 cakes, glue them over the bud, shape the sepals.

3. Glue all blanks with PVA onto floral wire, let dry for 24 hours.

Boutonniere and bouquet assembly:

1. Wrap all wire parts of the boutonniere (2 sheets, 1 flower, 3 buds) with floral tape. Using tape, connect all the blanks together, attaching the parts one at a time. Leave the length of the stems 7-8 cm, cut off the excess with wire cutters.

To make the floral tape fit better, it needs to be slightly stretched before wrapping. You can just tear it off with your hands.

2. Tape the base of the boutonniere with tape. Wrap the stems with tape, pin the end of it with a pin. Decorate the boutonniere with a ribbon bow.

3. For a bouquet, floristic wire can not be wrapped with teip tape, since the stems will be practically invisible. Collect a bouquet of several flowers, which are wrapped with teip tape. At the very end, add the leaves.

4. Cut the leg to the desired length with wire cutters, wrap it with tape, pinning each turn with a decorative pin

5. Decorate the bouquet with a ribbon bow.

A bride's bouquet made of polymer clay is chosen by a woman who wants to keep the memory of this beautiful day for a long time. Talented craftswomen copy natural flowers so accurately that appearance it is difficult to guess about imitation.A polymer clay wedding bouquet can be made from plants that have never been found in nature.

In some cases, when making an accessory, they turn on fantasy, and the guests begin to ask the bride, from which tropical countries did they bring this wonderful thing to her?

Making a bouquet is not so difficult. This requires patience, perseverance, imagination and the necessary material.

Choosing an unconventional accessory, its pros and cons

When choosing an accessory, you should pay attention to its weight, the number of colors, and the presence of sharp details. No sharp stems and imitation of thorns, even if the bouquet is made up of "roses". The bride should be comfortable. The color is chosen according to your own taste under the dress.

Bouquets made of polymer clay have advantages over accessories made from natural flowers:

• They don't fade;
• During the holiday, you should not worry that the flowers will fade and the photo in the hands of the bride will be something that does not correspond to the festive mood;
• Such decorations sometimes look more attractive than classic ones. The colors are brighter, the flowers from which they are made are more original. The choice of the assortment of the flower shop is not limited to the compilers of bouquets.

The disadvantage of polymer clay for flower bouquets is that it is a rather fragile material. If the accessory is dropped, it will no longer be possible to pick it up.

But what about the traditional catching of the bride's bouquet? Prudent brides take care of this ceremony in advance, acquiring a simpler bouquet, but from living plants. But in the photo, a miracle bouquet flaunts in the hands of the bride.

Making flowers from polymer clay

Some believe that an artificial accessory at a wedding is a bad omen. Long-lasting flowers are a symbol of eternal memory. They don't belong at a wedding. Who thinks so - buys natural flowers.

It is not necessary to make a bouquet of scarlet or white roses from polymer clay and hold them in your hands during a festive event. These flowers will look more appropriate on the hood of the car.

fashion for decoration vehicle has not changed for many years. By the way, the doors of the cabs of the bride of England were decorated with clay plants as early as the 12th century.

Master class on making roses

It is necessary to prepare in advance the following materials:

• polymer clay;
• stationery knife;
• stack;
• rubber gloves, tight-fitting hands;
• toothpick or thin knitting needle;
• a flat wooden plank, similar to a hot stand.

Without a flat stand, it will be impossible to sculpt. Not everyone can feel the material with gloves on.

If you are not afraid to get your hands dirty, then you can sculpt without wearing protective equipment:

• To begin with, a ball of such a size is separated from the material so that it is later enough for a petal. The amount of clay depends on the future size of the flower;
• The ball is rolled up, warmed in the hand, then kneaded so that a thin flat and even - if possible - oval is obtained;
• The plate is twisted into a loose tube diagonally, giving it the shape of a pink oblong petal. This will be the core of the future rose;
• A similarity of the core of a rose bud is put on a toothpick.

The remaining petals are made in exactly the same way as the first one, only the sizes change - each next petal is slightly larger than the previous one. All petals are adjusted to each other, tightly laying one on top of the other. The circle must be even.

Corners are formed on the outer petals, so a more accurate imitation of a rose is achieved. Now you need to fashion a sepal and a few pink leaves.

It is required to act in the already known order:

• Sculpt a small ball;
• Create an oval out of it by rolling it into a thin plate;
• With the end of a toothpick, apply embossed veins to the leaf;
• Bend the edges so that the cup turns out "as if alive".

Then the fashioned leaf is placed on the bud, covering the lower part of the already finished inflorescence.

The process will have to be repeated 4-5 times, that's how many sepals a real rose has.

Then thinly rolled polymer material, wrap a toothpick around them - it turns out a stem. Leaves are attached to it, formed already according to the described algorithm.

If white clay was used for flowers, then they need to be painted with acrylic paint. In this process, gloves can no longer be dispensed with. Paint products after the material dries.

Choose the colors you want. It is not necessary to stick to the traditional "pink" colors. However, now flower growers have learned to grow roses of all colors and shades: ultramarine, green, even black. On average, it takes about an hour for 1 flower.

Delicate peonies

Made from DecoClay's ClayCraft polymer clay. Bouquets in the master class are made up of small flowers.

It is necessary to prepare, in addition to the main material:

• acrylic mold;
• PVA glue;
• wire cutters;
• tapes;
• floral tape;
• floral wire;
• tailor pins. It is desirable that they have transparent heads.

As many balls are formed as there will be petals on the flower later. A flat drop is formed from each ball.It is rolled out in the palm of your hand, creating a characteristic depression in the thick part with your fingers.The resulting petals are superimposed one on top of the other, slightly shifting obliquely.

The petals are glued together with concave sides - as spoons are folded. The resulting fan is folded in a spiral. Then several large petals are formed and they complete the inflorescence.

Sepals and leaves are molded according to a well-known pattern. This is easier to do if you have an acrylic mold with a leaf pattern applied on it. No need to draw every vein. It is enough to attach the rolled blank to the acrylic form.

The shape creates the sepals of the buds and the leaves of the plant.

A floristic wire is used as a stem - it is wrapped with a floristic teip tape and the leaves are attached to the resulting base - higher to the flower.

In order for the color of the imitation to match the real plant, polymer clay of different colors must be mixed. Pale green comes from white and green, pink from red and white.

For the final similarity with a living plant, you need to add a bud to the peony. It is done very simply:

• white and red clay is mixed so that stains remain on the surface;
• an even ball rolls down;
• 2-3 sepals are glued to it.

If the bouquet is wrapped, like a real one, in decorative paper, teip tape may not be needed.

According to experienced craftswomen, it is impossible to make two clay flowers that would be absolutely similar to each other. Individual plastic flowers and whole handmade bouquets will always be original and unique. Therefore, such crafts created by the hands of craftswomen are real works of art. applied arts and highly valued by the people. Clay flowers can effectively decorate a wall clock, vase, panel , furniture and other interior items. A bouquet with clay roses or gladioli can be chosen as a win-win accent of an interior composition. A flower arrangement made of clay as a gift wrapping decoration looks no less impressive than decor in the form of flowers from foam or kanzashi from ribbons.

Fired clay is often used to make various women's accessories. - bracelets, beads, decor for hairpins or headbands for hair , brooches, handbags. And self-hardening clay is perfect as a convenient material for sculpting flowers with petals of a given shape.

Today, needlework masters are increasingly using to create DIY crafts. polymer clay, which is more plastic and easy to work with than natural. Made from polymer clay exquisite jewelry and beautiful jewelry boxes , decorated with flowers. And bridal bouquets in the shape of a ball made of clay flowers look simply amazing in the hands of the bride. Currently, the services of masters in ceramic floristry are becoming very popular. for decorating wedding events . Flower arrangements and wedding bouquets made of polymer clay are durable and perfectly preserved in their original form for many years.

Absolutely everyone can learn how to create flowers from polymer clay with their own hands! You can quickly and easily make the simplest clay flower the first time after watching the master class with photo modeling steps. Below you will find step-by-step master classes and video tutorials for beginners.

But first, let's find out what tools you need to sculpt and fold polymer clay flower crafts:

working surface .
It is convenient to work with clay on a high-quality plastic board for modeling, on tiles, on plexiglass;

stationery or construction knife with replaceable blades.
With a knife, you can cut out individual elements from plastic, divide it into parts;

acrylic rolling pin.
It is very convenient to roll out polymer clay with such a transparent rolling pin;

extruder in the form of a syringe with nozzles.
It is very convenient to squeeze curly sausages of different thicknesses and shapes. It is very convenient to form compositions and individual elements of a flower from such sausages;

cutters.
These are molds of various sizes. With their help, you can quickly cut out various flat figures from clay rolled out with a rolling pin;

texture sheets and stamps.
For forming patterns and textures on the surface of artificial petals and leaves made of polymer clay. If, in addition to this, we give a realistic shape to the details of the craft, then the flower assembled from them will look like a real one;

stacks.
With their help, it is convenient to perform some drawings on clay blanks. Also, stacks are indispensable when sculpting small parts of crafts.


How to make polymer clay at home:

It is not necessary to buy this popular material for making flowers in a store. Let's find out how you can easily and easily make your own polymer clay at home.

Ingredients:

baby oil;
1 hour flour;
1 hour universal white glue;
1 hour corn starch.

Recipe:

In a glass jar, combine corn starch, white glue and flour. Stir with a spoon until the consistency acquires the properties of clay;

Then you need to add 5-6 drops of baby oil so that the artificial clay is not very sticky;

It remains to give the homemade clay the desired color. To do this, add to a piece of clay acrylic paint and shake in the palm of your hand so that the paint is evenly distributed;

Make pieces of clay of different colors to make a flower or any other craft.

2. PHOTO INSTRUCTION. HOW TO QUICKLY MAKE A BEAUTIFUL POLYMER CLAY ROSE AT HOME

3. MASTER CLASSES FOR BEGINNERS. HOW TO MAKE FLOWERS FROM CLAY IN DIFFERENT WAYS

Master class number 1:

ORCHID, LILY, KALA, ROSE FROM POLYMER CLAY. FOUR WAYS TO MAKE DELICIOUSLY BEAUTIFUL ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS WITH YOUR HANDS. STEP LESSONS WITH PHOTO FOR BEGINNERS.

Master class number 2:

PLASTIC MODELING CRAFTS IN THE FORM OF A FIELD FLOWER. LEARNING TO MAKE THE THINEST PETALS FROM CLAY AND TO Sculpt BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS FOR DECORATION OF INTERIOR OBJECTS.

Master class number 3:

HOW TO MAKE A FLOWER FROM POLYMER CLAY WITH YOUR HANDS. STEP-BY-STEP LESSON WITH A PHOTO ON SAKURA FLOWER PLASTIC MODELING FOR HAIR CLIPS DECORATION.

Master class number 4:

CERAMIC FLORISTICS FOR BEGINNERS. HOW TO MAKE SMALL NARROW PETALS FROM PLASTIC AND FOLD A DAHELAIN FROM THEM (PHOTO STAGES STEP-BY-STEP).

Master class number 5:

FLOWERS FROM POLYMERIC CLAY FOR PICTURE DECORATION. DESCRIPTION OF ALL STAGES OF MODELING A HIBISCUS FLOWER WITH A PHOTO OF EACH STEP.

Master class number 6:

ANOTHER OPTION OF MANUFACTURING A HIBISCUS FLOWER FROM POLYMERIC CLAY. PHOTO OF EACH STAGE OF MODELING PETALS AND SEPILS WITH YOUR HANDS.

Master class number 7:

HOW TO MAKE A SMALL WHITE FLOWER FROM CLAY. WITH SUCH ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS YOU CAN DECORATE A WEDDING BOUQUET OR A WEDDING ACCESSORY (HAIRRING OR HAIRPIN).

Master class number 8: