If you’re on TikTok, Pinterest or Instagram, then you have most likely seen these chunky colourful rings being adorned on almost everyone’s hands. Whilst most are made up of acrylics/resin, I attempted to recreate them with the popular method of making it out of Fimo Clay.
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I bought the 12 pack of Fimo Clay from Staedtler (in ‘Fashion’ colours of course, although I don’t quite understand why the company believed that these certain colours were more fashionable than the colours they omitted from the set), as well as the Gloss Varnish** that you use to glaze the clay after it comes out the oven. You can purchase both from Amazon!
Trying to mould it into the shape was initially quite difficult. By looking at the clay in its packaging I instantly assumed it will be very malleable, like Play Dough. But as you can see here from my first attempt at rolling the clay out, I was wrong.
I found that it needs to be ‘warmed up’ in your hands before you can start to create shapes with it. It took me a while to do this as I admit I didn’t have much patience at first. The first couple of rings I made were quite odd and unusual. Whilst we are embracing quirky fashion and accessories, the rings I made were wacky for all the wrong reasons.
Anyway, determined to expand my jewellery collection, I put on two movies and let my hands get busy. As I watched ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ (for the millionth time), it became easier and very relaxing. I remembered how much I loved crafting, and the fact that *I would be able to wear my final creations* at the end had contributed to the enjoyment of it all. As a law student trying to survive the end of her first year in a pandemic, I really enjoyed this activity and I find that it is a lovely way to ease stress levels!
^tragic.
Here are my rings before I popped them into the oven to bake. I created a total of 28, all in different colours and shapes. I laid it all on foil, on top of a baking tray. This is vital to ensure you do not damage the baking tray. To be honest, this was my first time baking clay and I was quite worried that I would burn it. I kept opening the oven to glare at my rings, heavily surveilling it for any burnt edges or black dust stained around it.
In order for the clay to be cured properly, it is important to leave it in the oven for at least 35 minutes. This will ensure that it has hardened properly and that the shapes have set properly.
Here are the rings after 40 minutes in the oven on heat 100/110c. If you look closely you’ll see the wonky first ring I tried to make… (okay, it’s the first pink ring at the top).
This ring here is my favourite ring. I combined purple and blue clay together, massaging it into each other to create such lovely swirls – like a marble effect. Some of the clay in the package was glittery (Fimo Glitter Effect), and the more I pressed it all over my hands, the more I had glitter rubbing off into my palms. So essentially, every ring became contaminated with glitter. After it came out the oven, it made the ring look sparkly and pretty (wow great description there)! I liked how matte it looked and decided to leave it this way. If I went over it with gloss it would have been more shinier and sparkly, with the colours showing up more vibrantly.
Side note: clay can surprisingly be a little messy, especially as you are using your hands for everything. I was unfortunately wearing a fresh coat of white nail polish. It did not stay white for very long.
As I mentioned above, I was watching movies whilst making these rings, so some of my choices in design and shapes were made a little absentmindedly. One looks like a golden croissant whilst another looks like a weirdly shaped segment of a brain, but be that as it may – because I made them, I love them 🙂 .
Disclaimer** : I hardly used the gloss varnish for the end results. I really enjoyed how matte they came out! But considering that it is a form of jewellery, it would be nice if they were shiny. In the future I may decide to glaze all the ones I created in this post, or save the glaze for future projects!
Thank you for reading!Xx I hope you are inspired to get crafty x
-XDESFAN
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