Polymer Clay Wax Crayon Inclusion Beads Mini Tutorial

Polymer Clay Crayon Beads - Polymer Clay TutorVideo #628: My original article about polymer clay crayon beads has been quite popular on Pinterest… here’s a video update.

Topics Covered In This Video:

  • Showing you how to make polymer clay crayon beads.
  • Been making these crayon beads for a long, long time.
  • Recently someone found an old post of this tutorial on our blog, and added it to their Pinterest Board… it is now getting lots of re-pins.
  • So Doug suggested that I make a new video for you all… and I said sure!
  • All you need is some polymer clay… I’m using Premo White Translucent… and some wax crayons.
  • I have a big bag of broken crayons some from my kids and some from my Mom who is an Elementary School Teacher.
  • Here are a few crayon beads made with some no name brand crayons. The color is kind of faint because of the low amount of pigments in the lower quality crayons.
  • For more punch of color, use a good brand such as Crayola Crayons which have a higher pigment level than the cheaper brands of crayons.
  • I show a bead fresh out of the oven, with melted crayon drips on the underside.
  • You can wipe the drips using a paper towel while the bead is still warm.
  • My bead had cooled down too much to show the wiping, so I will warm with a heat gun later to clean up the drips.
  • I used fairly large chunks of crayon in my sample bead, and you can see the pitting where the wax melted out of the clay.
  • It is similar to those “retro” candles in the 70’s where wax was poured over ice cubes leaving holes in the wax when it hardened, after the ice had melted away.
  • Take translucent clay and warm it up to condition and soften the clay.
  • Grate or chop 1 or more colors of wax crayon into a pile.
  • Add chopped crayon to translucent polymer clay, kneading until well mixed.
  • You can add a little or a lot of crayon, depending on the look you want.
  • The larger the chunks of wax are, the more of that holey melted ice look you will get.
  • The smaller the crayon bits are, the more it will tint the clay.
  • You can add one color or twenty… it’s up to you.
  • Multiple colors will give kind of a confetti look.
  • Some crayons will melt really well… some won’t.
  • You can have some on the outside if you like.
  • Don’t run the clay/wax combo through your pasta machine. The crayon chunks are too hard on the pasta machine rollers, and could get stuck behind your scrapers. Just mix the clay by hand or use a NeverKnead Machine to work it in.
  • Then shape your polymer clay into whatever bead shape at you want.
  • When baking your beads, make sure to line your bead rack or pan with paper or cardboard to catch the melted crayon wax drips.
  • Try to avoid getting fingerprints on your beads.
  • You can see by the sample I show in the video… of the baked and thhe unbaked beads where I used the same crayon colors and translucent polymer clay… that the color changes quite a bit after baking.
  • Some crayons are quite opaque and will change the translucency of the bead.
  • This technique give an almost stone like look.
  • Crayon beads are a great way to use up old crayons (or new ones if you want)… you can even use the shavings from a crayon sharpener.

Do you have any suggestions for videos on tips, techniques or products you would like to learn more about? Let me know in the comments section below!

My goal is to help you to learn quicker and easier ways to bring up the professionalism in your polymer clay art.

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Looking forward to hearing from you!

Cindy Lietz SignaturePolymer Clay Tutor
  1. Dixie Ann, 09 February, 2015

    Thanks so much for this neat video Cindy. I have never heard of crayon beads and I have to agree they are kind of cool. I haven’t had crayons in my house for decades so will have to break down and buy a small package and try these.

  2. elaine faulks, 10 February, 2015

    Thanks Cindy for reminding us about crayon beads. When my girls were small we did heaps of crayon – art together and I’m sure (like you) I have a baggie of broken ones somewhere?

    Your mini Studio Zone tour was inspiring. I went to the pound shop (dollar tree) where a new line of storage boxes had just been put on the shelves. Great colors, I chose bright purple and must go back to buy some more for my purple zone, before they sell out. As a mixed media artist you can never have enough storage and I promised myself this year to get more organised but my horoscope for this week says –
    ( It’s time to turn your back on boring tasks and throw yourself into something you love. Take a good look at the bigger picture and start making plans for the future)……..So as I work from home, mostly from my living room I have “upcycled” my large junk/antique furniture to hold most of my craft supplies. I have three small sheds in my garden which I painted pale blue to look like beach huts, now have to decide which one to turn into a studio for my messy/noisy crafts. This will have to wait till the warmer weather as it’s very chilly here in Essex and more snow is forecast. But my friends are more interested in what I am creating and accept that I work in “organised chaos”. So think I will follow my “stars” and give myself a break and do what I love for the next couple of cold months……. Polymer clay “what else”……cheers xx…….

  3. Cindy Lietz, 26 February, 2015

    How wonderful Elaine! I would love to see you beach hut garden sheds! They sound adorable! Glad to hear the video inspired you to get a little more organized. It feels good when things are in order… so you can get to messing it up again! :)

  4. Peg Carter, 13 February, 2015

    Cindy, I am confused. I got my crayons (way too many) and made 18 small beads and a larger teardrop for the focal piece. I’ve left them alone for a couple of days so they shouldn ‘t be too warm. Here’s my confusion-do I pierce the beads before I bake them or do I wait and drill them after baking? I finaly got around to drilling a baked piece a week or so ago and it is incredibly easy, but I’m not sure if that is the best way when it is so small. They are about the size of a garbanzo bean. I really did enjoy making these beads and I think I am going to make a tribal mask as a focal bead as well. I have lots of translucent clay and crayons and time. Good combo for this procedure.

  5. Cindy Lietz, 26 February, 2015

    Oh Peg, I’m sorry I missed your question! With beads I like to pierce them with a fairly fine bead wire before baking then drill the hole bigger if I need to, after it is baked. It is fairly easy to get the hole straight that way and they hang beautifully in a bead rack to bake and don’t get distorted by sitting on a flat surface.

  6. Maureen Houston, 15 February, 2015

    Cindy … love the crayon inclusions, and they are fun to do! My question is concerning your bead baker. What is the advantage of the little colorful clay add-ons? Thanks.

  7. Peg Carter, 15 February, 2015

    I can answer that one. That is actually sugru and it allows the bead pins to nestle in the grooves so they don’t fall off. She has done a demo on it. Just plug in sugru and it will come up.

  8. Maureen Houston, 16 February, 2015

    Thank you … very cool stuff!

  9. Peg Carter, 24 February, 2015

    And last night I Sugrued my bead rack. And this morning I baked m y crayon beads. Now I have to go look at them.

  10. Cindy Lietz, 26 February, 2015

    How cool Peg! The Sugru on the rack makes all the difference in the world… no more bead pins falling off the rack!

  11. Hope S, 04 March, 2015

    Hi Cindy! Love this technique. I also saw another artist’s finished piece using crayons to color the outside of her pendant piece. Can you show how to do that? Thanks

  12. Cindy Lietz, 24 March, 2015

    Hi Hope, did the artist use wax crayons or pencil crayons, because I know you can use pencils but not sure about the wax? I think they probably would be hard to color on raw clay and don’t know if they would stick to baked clay very well.

  13. Patt W, 21 April, 2015

    Finally got my crayons ( on sale, of course). This weekend will be crayon bead day. Love the rustic, pitted look.TY for a fun way to use up old ( in my case NEW) crayons……………fun galore

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