Turquoise is one of my favorite stones; I love the gorgeous green and blue colors, and how unique each piece is! And I come by it honestly from both sides of my family: both my mom and my paternal grandmother love turquoise too! So when Polyform sent me a bunch of their Premo clay to try out, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it: Make faux turquoise jewelry!
I was a little worried at first, because while I’ve definitely had experience making my own jewelry, I’ve never used clay before! Turns out, it’s super easy to use and I am THRILLED with how my first polymer clay jewelry piece turned out!
How To Make Faux Turquoise Jewelry
Here’s what I used to make this faux turquoise necklace:
- Premo clay in Turquoise
- black craft paint
- fine sand (you can find this in the decor section at your local craft store)
- Sculpey cabochon mold
- a sanding sponge
- clear paint (Mod Podge, spray sealant, any clear paint will do!)
- basic jewelry making supplies (chain, jump rings, necklace closure, jewelry pliers, etc.)
Put a small amount of sand (like half a teaspoon) in a tupperware and add a little bit of black paint. Mix the sand around until it is mostly covered in paint (I just used my hands and wore rubber gloves to keep them clean). Then take a small amount of Premo clay, enough to fill whichever mold you are planning to use, and gently fold in the painted sand.
You don’t want to completely mix the sand into the clay or you’ll just end up with dark, sandy clay. Just pull/stretch the clay out between your fingers, put some painted sand in the middle, fold the clay over on the sand, smush it all back together, and repeat! Keep pulling, folding, smushing, and stretching until the sand is mixed throughout the clay, but not completely incorporated.
If you like a lot of black marbling in your turquoise, add more sand, and mix longer. If you want very little marbling, just add a bit of sand, fold a few times, and you’re done!
Press your mixed clay into the mold and use a knife to remove the excess clay and flatten off the top. (You can store extra clay by wrapping it in cling wrap!) Remember to poke a hole through the clay with a toothpick before baking it, so you can thread a jump ring through later. I totally forgot to do that before baking, but don’t worry, you can fix it later!
Then put the whole mold, clay and all, into a preheated oven and bake it. Easy peasy! I baked this at 275 for 30 minutes (according to the instructions on the Premo clay package), but make sure to read the instructions that came with your clay so you don’t overdo it!
Once the clay is done baking, remove it from the oven and set it aside to let the mold cool down. After the mold has cooled, pop the jewelry out of the mold; it should come right out!
Your faux turquoise jewelry may look a little black at this point, but don’t worry! Grab your sanding sponge and gently sand the surface of the jewelry until more bright turquoise starts to show through.
Here’s what mine looked like right out of the oven: lots of dark black marbling everywhere, and very little turquoise shining through.
Here’s what it looked like after a few minutes of sanding:
See how more of the turquoise starts to show through as you sand away the black paint? Keep sanding until enough turquoise shows through and you’re happy with the look of the piece. Then take a very slightly damp cloth and wipe away the dust.
To give your faux turquoise necklace a bit of shine and help the turquoise color come through, give it a coat of clear paint. Any clear sealant will do (Mod Podge, clear acrylic paint, or clear spray sealant)!
At this point, if you forgot to make a hole before baking, grab something skinny and sharp (I used a bead file) and gently twist and push until you’ve made a hole in your bead.
All that’s left to do is thread a jump ring through the hole, and thread the bead onto a necklace! If you don’t have a plain chain necklace already, you can make one pretty easily by grabbing a length of chain and attaching a necklace closure to one end and a large jump ring to the other, using jewelry pliers.
Thread your faux turquoise bead onto your necklace, and you’re done!
Now you have your very own handmade, faux turquoise necklace!
NOTE: You can also get the same marbled faux turquoise look by just folding together turquoise clay and black clay. You’ll end up with a perfectly smooth piece of faux turquoise. Real turquoise has some texture to it, so I used sand and black paint to help duplicate that texture. But either way gets you the same look, just different “feels”!
The Premo clay was easy to use and I can’t wait to try it out on other projects! If you want to learn more about Polyform Premo clay, check them out on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!
Want to see some other great project ideas using Premo clay? Check these out!
Disclosure: I received compensation from Polyform and Blueprint Social in exchange for my participation in this clay jewelry campaign, and my honest discussion of their products. But the Premo clay is super cool, and WAY easier to use than I thought it would be, and all opinions in this post are 100% my own. I would never write a post about something I didn’t think was useful or interesting for you guys, and Practically Functional will only publish sponsored posts for companies or products I love and believe in! 🙂
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Beth says
I wouldn’t suggest using nail polish on polymer clay. It doesn’t react well and will be a mess after a short time.
Jessi Wohlwend says
Interesting Beth!
Beth says
If you Google “polymer clay nail polish” you will find lots of like opinions. The first hit has an explanation a few tips down. Think ”gooey”! http://thebluebottletree.com/10-simple-polymer-clay-tips/
Jessi Wohlwend says
Thanks for the info!
Karen @ a house full of sunshine says
I love that, Jessi! Just gorgeous!
Vanessa says
Wow, it’s amazing how that turquoise look really comes out after a little sanding!
Laura Beth says
What a great idea…I never would have thought of creating turquoise this way. Pinning!