As polymer clay earrings continue to be a long-lasting trend due to their limitless potential with texture, shapes and sculptural elements, we’re seeing more and more artists picking up the medium and creating stunning jewelry from items found at the local craft store. We’ve rounded up our favorite earring trends, from 3D to hyper realistic textures these are our top designs to inspire your next creation:
Slab Earrings
Slab earrings are a super cool technique where the clay is rolled out using a rolling pin and elements are placed on top in a pattern or design. These elements are 3D and create a beautiful, sculptural earring as the clay is cut out from the final slab into whatever shapes suit your fancy. Slab designs range from simple patterns to incredibly complex works of art.
Try creating your own slab earrings and learn how to layer clay and create 3D designs with our Mushroom Slab Earrings Workshop!
Funky Shapes
Next up are funky shapes! Sometimes polymer clay can feel a little bit like baking cookies because you’re cutting out shapes with clay cutters (or cookie cutters if that’s what you have on hand!). We love to see how more unusual shapes are popping up on Instagram in the form of statement earrings.
Endless Color Combinations
One of our favorite parts about polymer clay is the ability to color mix using your assorted colors of clay to create gorgeous custom tones to match any outfit or occasion! For fall we love the idea of creating earth toned statement earrings.
Stud Earrings
Heavy earrings not your thing or are you rocking a fresh piercing so you need something light and wearable? Stud earrings are a great way to add some fun jewelry without the extra weight of longer earrings. Polymer clay is super lightweight and you can create some adorable wearable earrings using stud posts.
Hyper Realistic Textures
@cokiartResults at the end! #jade #polymerclayearrings #polymerclay♬ original sound – mustache harry’s gf
You may have seen these stunning “jade” style earrings all over TikTok, we love the creativity and use of transparent polymer clay mediums to create these hyper realistic earrings that imitate the real thing! Other textures we’ve been seeing creators incorporate into their designs are marble and plant textures created by pressing a leaf into the clay itself to create a beautiful organic texture.
Have you always wanted to learn how to work with polymer clay but don’t know where to start? There are so many different techniques and options it can be intimidating to pick up polymer clay which is why we’ve created several workshops to help you get started and walk away with a beautiful pair of earrings. Try our virtual beginner polymer clay workshop for a step by step class that will walk you through everything from designing your earrings, to using jewelry pliers and jump rings to finally baking the clay.
Did you know that polymer clay has a fascinating history? Polymer clay may seem like a trendy new craft but it actually has its roots in the 1930’s wartime shortages. One of the first inventors of polymer clay stumbled across the material out of necessity. A resourceful German doll maker named Käthe Kruse invented a plastic clay that she passed along to her daughter ‘Fifi’ Rehbinder. Fifi used this early modeling material to make her doll heads when there was a shortage of other materials and called her material “Fifi Mosaik.” To learn more about the origins of this incredible medium, read our article on the History of Polymer Clay!
