A brand new set of DIY necklaces just in time for holiday gift-giving! These stylish charms were designed by our macrame goddess (and PR extraordinaire!) Emily, and just like all of our DIY jewelry projects, you will be surprised by how easy it is to make these painted clay necklaces! It was so exciting to start working with a new material, and I’m sure we will be exploring more with clay in the future.

We found our self-hardening modeling clay on Amazon and it was super affordable (link in Shop this Project!). Other than the clay, you will also need acrylic craft paint, a fine tip permanent marker, plus the standard combo of jewelry findings. Find our full list materials with the printable instructions. Once you have your materials gathered you are ready to start crafting. The first step in making the clay necklaces is to roll out the clay with a rolling pin. Our top tip is to find two surfaces that you can use as “book ends” when you are using the rolling pin. We used dowels, but rulers or magazines would also be a good option, particularly if the magazines are the same thickness that you want your clay to be. Place magazines on the left and right sides of your ball of clay, then roll out the clay until it’s flat.

With this technique, you are actually rolling the rolling pin over the magazines as well as the clay. This will allow the clay to roll out evenly to create a flat surface on all sides of the clay. After rolling out your clay, use a craft knife to cut out your geometric shapes (which you can find in our template), then use a skewer to poke holes where the necklace chain will go. Now you’ll have to let the clay dry for at least 24 hours. Next, print our PDF template for the clay necklaces. Here is where the fun part begins! The template includes the shapes of our necklaces, plus a guide to our color block designs. As usual, the painted part of the clay necklaces are only a jumping off point. You can easily create your own designs using the same technique!

As you can see in the printable instructions, we painted the clay white on both sides first, and then began adding the color designs. Use tape to create clean paint lines as you go. We recommend washi tape or blue painter’s tape – you don’t want to use a tape that is too sticky. Sticky tape may leave residue or pull off some of your paint. After letting the paint dry, we added some black line accents to our clay necklaces using a fine tip sharpie. So easy! If you want to give a necklace as a gift, our felt jewelry pouches are a great gift wrapping option. Browse all of our jewelry tutorials, or check out our membership options to start downloading! Don’t forget to show off your necklaces on Instagram using #DIYDreamingWithLia, we love seeing your crafty success. Cheers! ~ Lia and the Team 

Modeling Clay