One of the most popular styles of beads today is the fimo bead. Fimo beads are made using polymer clay that is molded and baked. With the right tools and techniques, you can create a wide variety of shapes and designs for your beads that can be used for making jewelry such as bead bracelets.
Soften the polymer clay until it is warm, rubbery and moldable. This is also a good time to mix any colors together if you attempting to make a custom color or marbled effect. Make sure to work out any air bubbles. An easy way to do this is to roll your clay flat using an acrylic rolling pin.
Using your hands or some plexiglass, shape your beads. You can make them into balls, squares, bits of multiple colors rolled together and sliced, or any other shape you can think of. You are only held back by your imagination.
Assuming you plan on stringing your beads, you are going to have to put holes in them. You can do this before or after baking. The easier method is to make the hole prior to baking. To do this, gently twist a skewer back and forth into your beads. Put multiple beads on one skewer for baking and make sure they do not touch each other. Alternately, you can drill holes in your beads after baking. Drilling is more difficult, but will not deform the shape of your beads.
Next, make sure that the beads don’t touch one another, place the beads on skewers on a bead baking rack. If you are drilling holes afterwards, place the beads gently between two pieces of cardboard. Bake the beads according to the instructions for the type of polymer clay that you bought. This usually takes about 30 minutes in the oven. Once your beads have cooled, slowly take the beads off of the skewers and sand any rough spots that may have developed from making the holes. Spray them with a coat of varnish, if you want.
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