DIY Valentine’s Cookie Bracelet – FREE Tutorial

Full instructions below the photos…

Tools and Materials

• polymer clay in white, ecru and translucent
• liquid polymer clay in translucent (I like Translucent Liquid Sculpey)
• heart mold, cutter or template
• sandpaper
• chalk pastels in light and medium brown, and red and pinks for icing
• paint brush
• razor blade
• toothpicks and craft stick
• small bowl
• jewelry findings (chain, jump rings, bracelet clasp)
• needle nose pliers
• awl or needle tool

1. Prepare your cookie clay by mixing white clay with a pinch of ecru to create a very pale tan, like sugar cookie dough. Combine one part cookie clay with one part translucent clay and mix thoroughly.
2. Use heart-shaped molds or cutters, or draw a heart on a piece of card stock and cut it out to use as a template. If using a mold, it helps to dust the mold with cornstarch to prevent sticking. Create the desired number of clay hearts.
3. Press the back of each cookie against a piece of sandpaper to add texture.
4. Using a razor blade, grate a small amount of light and medium brown chalk pastel (keeping the colors separate) onto a piece of parchment paper or into a little dish. Use a dry paintbrush to add the chalk pigment to the back of the cookie to give it a baked appearance.
5. Set one of the cookies on a piece of thick cardboard and use an awl or needle tool to create a hole. Repeat with the rest of your cookies.
6. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven on a parchment lined baking sheet for ten minutes at the temperature specified by the clay manufacturer.
7. Meanwhile, prepare the icing by chopping white polymer clay into little bits and placing them in a small bowl. Add roughly an equal amount of liquid translucent clay (you can eyeball this ratio), and use a wooden craft stick to mash and smear the clays together until the mixture looks like buttercream.
8. Take a small blob of your frosting and place it on a piece of parchment paper. You can tint the frosting by grating chalk pastel in the desired color into the mixture, stirring with a toothpick to combine.
9. To achieve a nice finish on the icing, you will need to thin the frosting with additional liquid clay until you have a created a runnier glaze that can be easily spread.
10. Use a toothpick to spread a dollop of glaze on each cookie, taking care not to fill the hole you made in step 5.
11. Bake the cookies for a final seven minutes in a preheated oven and let cool.
12. Use pliers to open a jump ring, and loop it through the hole in your cookie, then attach it to the chain and close the ring. Repeat with the rest of your cookies.
13. Use jump rings to attach your clasp to the ends of your chain, and voilà–enjoy your new cookie bracelet!