This Polymer Clay Wall Art Tutorial is Slap-Yourself Simple

OK I don’t think I have ever done a tutorial on a piece of polymer clay wall art? Not yet anyway, right? OK, now I will be!

This baby has been sitting on my hard drive for the longest time…(The written instructions, that is…the art is hanging up on the wall :))

As you are soon to find out, polymer, oven bake clay is every bit as versatile for wall hanging as it is for standalone objects. I think you’re going to love this one right here.

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I’m going to be sculpting a fleur-de-lis…Do you know I’m actually on my third of this fleur-de-lis shape?

This is the first one…I entered it in a contest. and gifted the second…now I needed one for myself 🙂

Did I mention I sold it too, later that day? (Ok, now I did.)I always loved this design; so I decided to replicate it. I painted it with a finish of gold (most likely Art Deco Metallics) and applied a crackle finish (this is a specialty varnish product made by the same company, and the results were great…kind of a slightly “antiqued” appearance.

Materials List

If you’d like to do this too, you’ll need some soft polymer clay and a set of basic sculpting tools. Similar to mine below. Things that will be the most helpful will include an acrylic roller, and at least 3-4 different ended shaping tools. At least a couple of them need to be sharp, as polymer clay has a dense texture that you’ll notice right away as you attempt to cut through it.

I am using Sculpey Ultra Light…it’s going to make this thing so much less weighty . Something to strive for if you don’t want to have to deal with a droopy nail that got that way from a heavy piece of artwork.which can happen if you don’t know about wall studs.

Oh by the way, you don’t have to use this fleur de lis. You’re welcome to come up with whatever basic object instead, stars, heart, crescent moon, kitty cat, etc., etc.

💡Stumped For Ideas? I would do a search on the web for whatever shape you have in mind + the word “download”…There are lots of free downloads out there for all kinds of shapes and designs! You may be able to find a great model to follow which will ultimately make it easier.

These are all the tools I use below!

Sculpey UltraLight 8 ozShop NowSculpting tool s – double endedShop NowSculpting tool assortmentShop Now

I started by kneading that clay…in which this version doesn’t need that much.

Then I broke it up into different pieces representing the parts. Three large pieces for the “petals” of the fleur de lis, and three smaller pieces for the band thingys that go around it.

One thing I have learned; multiple pieces will stick together just fine with polymer clay without any special techniques. But I do help it out a little to stick better…in this case I used cross-hatches going across two pieces which helps them fuse together better.

Attach smaller pieces in pretty much the same way. I also used one of my tools to create a beveled edge. You can do the same with one of your tools especially if it has a flat spade shape.

Do you ever find yourself wishing you could add more “dimension” to your polymer clay art? Because it is so smooth it doesn’t get natural little imperfections in it which I think make art look even better.

Well I did this too with my clay pieces by wrapping some crushed up aluminum foil around it and presto, my fleur de lis will have a really cool, crinkled look.

Now to make this thing hang…get a gem clip and insert it into the back of the clay piece … it should be at a 45 degree angle so it will later on hang correctly.

We’re going to back the whole thing with the gem clip embedded into it. While it is in the oven it will harden with the clip firmly in place. Don’t worry, at 275 degrees, that clip is not going to melt 🙂

Let Your Wall Art Do Some Oven Time

Bake it for about 20 minutes in a conventional oven heated to 275 degrees. Don’t use a toaster oven (it’s too big for one of those – unless you happen to own this particular oven made just for clay) and please please don’t use the microwave 🙂

I usually leave my project in the oven for awhile after I turn it off (it’s OK to do so…I never had any scorch marks)

Related: Baking Your Polymer Clay Projects, Do’s and Don’ts

(It’s very hot; too hot to paint at first!)

But when your wall art piece is finally cooled, you will then have the privilege of painting or staining your really cool wall art piece made from polymer clay. Next  I buffed around it with a fine grit sandpaper before hand which can help the paint stick better.

Then I painted mine a pretty rose gold and also added a satin finish later on.

Related: Best Paint For Polymer Clay

Painting

And now the painting part. I am using FolkArt Metallics in Rose Gold. Keep in mind that if you’ve texturized your object a little the paint will naturally run into these areas and the effects will look more unique. There will be areas that look darker if you’ve hollowed them out as more paint will just collect there on its own.

Sealing Your Creative Clay Wall Decoration

Varnishing is optional, but it can help your wall art decoration have an extra layer of protection. A water-based glaze would work well or you could use some spray sealant (let it dry thoroughly)

I used a coat of Mod Podge, but kind of regretted it as it was left with a little bit of a sticky residue later. I managed to offset that by putting it in the oven for a few minutes. I think that was an isolated case, though, as most things I glaze don’t turn out that way…I wonder if it was a particularly humid day?

Personally, I think I liked my first fleur-de-lis better.  I’m glad I took a picture of it…maybe I will try one more time -I think the pure gold paint was a better choice than the rose. And the “crackle” finish really brought it out too 🙂

All right! I hope you enjoy this little tutorial and godspeed to you in trying it out…Let me know in the comments if you enjoyed it and what kind of shape or design you wanted to use.