What you need
Polymer clay “any brand” red, white & green (or colors of your choice)
Liquid polymer clay
Clay knife, or plastic knife
Toothpick or bamboo skewer
Eye pins or wire (optional)
Work surface – ceramic tile, file folder or wax paper
Oven for baking – it is recommended to use a clay – only oven (toaster oven).
Instructions
Condition a small amount of each color of clay until soft and pliable by rolling and squeezing in your hands. You will need more red & white than green. Test to see if it cracks when you bend it – that means it needs more conditioning!
Roll out an even log of red & white – make sure they are similar in thickness and cut to about the same length.
Lay the logs of clay side by side, grab each end with your fingers and twist together.
Continue twisting until you get a “candy stripe” pattern.
Now roll this new log until there are no ridges and the clay is smooth. The more you twist as you go, the more stripes you will get!
Continue rolling to desired thickness and trim off a piece to work with. Bend this piece into a cane shape.
Now roll your green clay into a long, thin log or “ribbon”. Cut to a workable length and form a bow by making loops – you may need a few tries. Trim the ends if needed.
Place a tiny drop of liquid clay to attach the bow to your candy cane. You can also wrap a piece of green around the candy cane if you like.
Poke a hole or insert eye pin/wire for hanging. NOTE: if using wire – after baking, remove & place a drop or Crazy Glue and reinsert. Clay will not adhere to the metal!
Bake according to the manufacturer’s directions & let cool.
Glaze if desired. I use varathane – found in most hardware stores. For small projects, use the clay manufacturer’s glaze. The bottles are smaller & more affordable!
CREATE something lovely with your beads or hang them on the tree!!!!
***TIP***
***SAVE those pieces you trimmed off and roll them together to make swirly accent beads!
***Red clay can leave some pigment on your hands. To help keep the white clay from turning pink, handle most of the white clay first. You can also use baby wipes to clean your hands and tools (alcohol is a solvent for the clay) or wear latex gloves & switch in between colors.
while the candy cane is good and easy project so far all the clay I have seen has straight clay try mixing the color some like two different color of red. all you do is take some of each and work with your hand kneading the two colors that makes a better clay product. even a small amount of silver in the white will brighten the project.