DIY Polymer Clay Pens

Last Christmas (“I gave you my hearrt!”) I had an obsession with polymer clay. I made some ring dishes, Christmas ornaments, thought about jewelry (probably the only craft I haven’t done). So I have tons of it in my craft room.

I also love pens. I think I pick some up each time I go to the office supply store. Pencils too. I saw somewhere that you could put polymer clay onto pens, bake them, and bam. You have these super cute pens!

Supplies:
*Polymer clay
*Ballpoint pens (where you can remove the ink)
*Sharp knife
*Wax paper
*Cookie sheet
*Aluminum foil

Directions:
First you need to choose the colors you want to use for your pens. I had Dylan choose the first one so of course, it was purple. I had some clay that was already mixed together from previous projects so I used some of that or added a solid color to it also. They turned out so cool that way.

Remove the ink barrels from the pens.

I used Sculpey III clay. When you take it out of the package, it is already scored in 4 different quarters. Cut one quarter in half and start rolling it in between your hands.

You’re going to feel like it’s not getting soft, but with the heat of your hands, it will. Roll it into a “snake” (as we call it here). Make it about the length of the pen.

Now take your second color and do the same. Lay them next to each other and grab the ends.

Now twist the ends as much or as little as you want. The less you work your clay, the less intricate your designs will be (I’ll note at the end how I did each one).

After you are done twisting, roll it on the wax paper so it smooths out.

Fold it in half and twist again. Now roll it until it’s smooth. Again, the more times you twist and roll, the more intricate your design will be, so do it as much or as little as you’d like. Once you have it where you want it, roll it out to the length of about 2 pens.

Take your super sharp knife and slice off the end; about 1/16 – 1/8 inch. Now make slices that same size of the rest of the “snake.” You should get about 2 pens worth.

Once you’re done slicing, push them onto the pen until they stick. Place them randomly along the pen. (Don’t worry about white space. We will work on getting that closed next.)

Once they’re all placed, roll the pen on the wax paper. You’ll notice that the white space gets filled in with the clay pieces.

Keep rolling until there is no white space. Lay them on the foil lined baking sheet (not touching each other) and bake them for 20 minutes at 275 (or whatever the directions say on the package). Remove from the oven and let them cool before handling.

And of course, since I’m “playing” with my clay, Dylan needs to do the same. He loves this stuff.

I am OBSESSED with how these colors came out!

These orange and red ones – the top one I twisted and smoothed out one extra time than the bottom to show you the differences.

This is from leftovers of 2 of the other ones.

The top one I didn’t twist and roll. I just sliced up a solid purple and a solid teal and placed them on the pen. The bottom one I twisted and rolled once.

This is leftover from a ring dish I did so it was already twisted and rolled and flattened, and then I twisted and rolled it once. I love how this one turned out!