Glow-in-the-Dark Polymer Clay Magnets

In case you missed my guest blog post on Fireflies & Jellybeans here it is...

If you haven't worked with Polymer clay before it's SO much fun, you can find it in a slew of colors at your local craft store & the best part is that it stays workable until you bake it, after that it's permanent! Easy, right? The possibilities are endless too but today I'm going to show you how to make these cute glow-in-the-dark Halloween magnets.

Here's what you'll need:

Polymer Clay- 1 glow in the dark orange, 1 glow in the dark plain, 1 black

Magnets (available at craft store)

Tools (you can use anything really, you'll just need something you can roll with & something to cut with- just not your food utensils unless you're going to dedicate them just to crafting)

Hot Glue Gun

Got your gear? Great! Let's start with some spooky pumpkins:

Roll half of your orange clay brick into a ball, you'll have to knead it to soften it first. Smoosh (very technical term, I know) the ball with your palm until it's 1/2" thick.

For the fat pumpkin shape it's mostly round but with an indent on the top (you'll place a stem here later)

To make the taller pumpkin you'll start off the same way but use your pinkies to give him more of an oblong shape, once again give him a spot for his stem.

For the faces roll out a long piece of the plain glow in the dark clay, then using your rolling tool flatten it to about 1/4", from this you'll use your sharp edge tool to cut out the eyes, nose & mouth. Don't worry, you'll have a chance to reshape them a bit after you cutting them out.

My favorite tool for smoothing out small pieces like this is a tiny flathead screwdriver from one of those eyeglass repair kits if you happen to have one...

Using medium pressure attach your facial pieces to the pumpkins, you can make a good seal if you slightly press around the edges of the smaller pieces to weld, or blend them to the base piece. This is important so they don't separate when baking. For the stems just roll a small piece and attach it the same way.

This next part is optional but I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I do it. (:

I like to lightly trace the outline of my magnet on the back of each piece and then ever so carefully scoop out a little magnet hole so when my piece is on the fridge it will lay flat. It's absolutely fine to just glue the magnet to the solid back of your pieces but if you're a ninny like me go ahead & do this step to all pieces before baking.

Next up? Skull & Crossbones!

For this one we'll use the rest of your plain glow in the dark clay. To make the skull start off with a ball like before but this time after you press it you're going to shape it by squeezing the bottom half to form the jaw.

For the bones roll out 4 pieces about 1" long. Holding the bottom half between two fingers use your other hand to smoosh down the top part. It should look something like this:

Shape the end part a bit like a heart, indenting the middle. See how it looks like a bone? Repeat with all four pieces. To attach the bones to the skull you'll smoosh down the end like this:

Then attach all 4 of the bones to the back of the skull. Gently smooth these so they eventually become one smooth surface

For the eyes just roll two small balls and then press. I like to make one a little bigger than the other, I think it gives it a cartoonish vibe. The mouth is made by three small rolled pieces that are then pressed on. Use your "tiny screwdriver" like tool to smooth the edges a bit so each piece is firmly attached.

That's it! Now just bake according to manufacturer's directions (use a glass dish that's just for crafting, not food) & once cool hot glue your magnets on.

I just love the skull & crossbones, there's a good chance he's going to stay on the fridge year 'round.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!