Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Mini Cup Flower Retro Jewelry sets

 Thought I'd share the instructions for these retro style mini cup flower jewelry sets.
I made them with the same technique I used to make the grape hyacinth brooch.


Materials needed to complete this project:


STAEDTLER fimo effect clay in a variety of yellows, white, and oranges.
I mixed the colours you see here from left over clay from other projects.
Jewelry adhesive or super glue
Brooch back that matches the length of your finished flower cluster and earring posts.
Cornstarch or baby powder to act as a release agent

Tools needed to complete this project:

Round toothpick
shish kebab skewer
Medium grit nail file

Paint brush with a round smooth handle end about 1/4 cm thick


I made different gradients of yellow/white and orange/white STAEDTLER fimo clay mixes.
I had four different shades of the colours I chose to make a flower cluster.


I made two,1 cm wide flat bases of the darkest clay mix. I dipped the handle end of my paintbrush in some cornstarch and then pushed a 1/2 cm ball of the lightest colour clay onto the paintbrush handle. I made a teeny little cup and pushed it onto the center of my base and removed the brush handle. If the handle doesn't come out easily, just add more cornstarch next try.


I kept adding these teeny cups of the lightest colour until each base had four cups.



Then I moved to the next darker colour and changed to a rounded off skewer. I rounded the end of a kitchen skewer with a medium grit nail file and dipped it in the cornstarch before pushing an even smaller ball of clay onto the end. I filled in the spaces between the really light cups with these new smaller darker cups.



Next I moved to a toothpick and an even darker colour. I filled in spaces between cups and even added cups inside of some of the paint brush handle cups.



I think they look a bit like the plastic flowers from the forties and fifties.
I added earring posts to the smaller flowers and made a larger flower the same way and added a brooch pin to the back.



Here's a set done in orange.
They feel like spring to me.
I'll have to make some peter pan collar blouses to wear them on.