Kiddos grow up so quickly! Over the weekend I lined my two littles up and marked their height on our wall. The Hubs and I were shocked by how much they both have grown in the past few months. Sometimes I wish that I could keep them little forever or at least press pause and enjoy this age for a bit longer. 

I love doing handprint and footprint art projects with the kids because it helps preserve the memories of how little they are and marks the passage of their growth. 

Bean in particular is blowing me away lately with how grown up she is. The thoughts and concepts that come out of her head are incredible to me. It also makes me so proud to see her creativity blossom– she is in the middle of writing a chapter book about a time travelling kitten, her artwork grows by leaps and bounds every day and she loves experimenting with new mediums to express her creativity.

Lately the two of us have been playing with Sculpey clay quite a bit. Last year the two of us made these silk screened pendants together. 

Then at Christmas we made this adorable 4D penguin wall art.

Since completing those two project our love of Sculpey has only grown. Most weekend afternoons, when Turtle goes down for his nap, you’ll find the two of us at the dining room table crafting beads and charms out of beautiful colors of clay. 

Bean loves jewelry and I love that the two of us can sit down for as little as 15 minutes of active crafting time and create fun beads and pendants that Bean can use to make her own customized jewelry. 

Here are our 5 favorite products for making Sculpey jewelry with:

• Sculpey Bead Baking Rack– if you are planning on making a lot of beads this little rack is a must. The rack elevates your beads while baking so that the beads stay uniform and helps keep a nice straight hole in the bead making for easy stringing when making your jewelry.
• Sculpey Bead Starter Kit– another must have item if you are planning on creating jewelry with your Sculpey clay. My favorite pieces in this kit are the clay cutter, the needle tool (for poking holes in your beads or pendants), the clay baking cushion, the rolling pin and the circle cutter.
• Sculpey Bead Maker– The bead maker will give your beads a much more uniform and professional result. Definitely a step up from eyeballing how much clay to use and hand rolling your beads. 
• Sculpey Silkscreen Kit– I love how this kit lets you create such beautiful results in just minutes. Birds, dragonflies, zebra print and flowers are just a few of the designs included in the silkscreens in this kit. 
• Sculpey Souffle Multipack– This is the perfect clay for all of your jewelry making needs. Easy to mold and holds textures and designs beautifully. 

When Bean and I were creating Sculpey jewelry recently we talked about the idea of combining handprint artwork with polymer clay jewelry. Together we came up with the idea of making beads or charms that you could put on a bracelet or necklace that had fingerprints on them. After a few attempts we came up with the perfect method. 

Polymer Clay Fingerprint Jewelry Tutorial- Family Charm Bracelet

Materials:

• Sculpey Souffle Multipack or your favorite Sculpey Clay
• 1 inch (or shorter) eye pins (eye pins like these ones work great)
• Silver Metallic Paint (I used the silver paint that came with my Sculpey Silkscreen Kit but this metallic paint would work as well.)
• Small paint brush
• Paper towel
• Split Jump Rings (When I went to the craft store I intended to pick up regular jump rings. I was slightly terrified about the idea of putting them on… I’m not the best with my jewelry tools. I came across these split jump rings that are almost like the ring on a keychain but smaller! Problem solved! No jewelry tools needed. Alternatively you can use regular jump rings and your jewelry tools.)
• Necklace or bracelet (we like the kind made of rings for a charm bracelet)
• Clay Baking Pad (optional)
• Clay Rolling Pin (optional)

Instructions:

Step 1: Pick the colors of Sculpey clay you would like for your charm bracelet. I let each of the kids pick the color they wanted for their fingerprint. Slice off a piece of clay approximately 1/4″ in thickness. 

Step 2: Condition the clay by warming it in your hands, squeezing it, kneading it slightly and rolling it into a ball shaped piece. You’ll know your clay is conditioned when it is warm and easy to mould.  

 Step 3: I have two different methods for this one. Method 1: Take your child’s finger and press it down evenly on the clay, flattening the clay and leaving a fingerprint impression in the clay at the same time. Make sure that your clay doesn’t get too thin, you want it to be thick enough that you can insert the eye pin. Method 2: Use your clay rolling pin to flatten the clay first then press your child’s fingerprint into the clay to get the fingerprint impression. 

If you don’t like the results, roll the clay into a ball, recondition and try again.

Heart Charm: For the heart charm I recommend Method 2 from above. Flatten your clay first and then imprint your child’s finger one time pointed to the left and a second time, overlapping at the bottom pointing to the right to make a heart shape. 

Step 4: Carefully not to disrupt the fingerprint, insert the eye pin into the clay. 

Step 5: Bake your pendants according to instructions on the package. I baked my pendants at 275F for 30 minutes. 

Step 6: Allow your pendants to cool and then put a tiny drop of metallic paint in the middle of the fingerprint. Careful to keep the paint in just the fingerprint area spread the paint using your paintbrush. Allow to sit for a few seconds and then wipe away using a paper towel. Using the paint that is left on the brush again paint your fingerprint with a very thin layer of paint, following the ridges of the fingerprint. Allow to dry. 

Step 7: Collect your jump rings and bracelet (or necklace) put the jump rings on the charms and then attach the charms to the bracelet. 

This sweet little bracelet would make a lovely handmade, heart-made gift for moms, grandmas and aunts for Mother’s Day, birthdays or Christmas. 

Tell me… Have you ever played with Sculpey clay before? What is your favorite Sculpey craft? Do you have any women in your life who would enjoy a keepsake fingerprint charm bracelet?

Disclosure: Thank you to Polyform Sculpey for working with me on this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Affiliate links are included in this post, thank you for helping us support this site.