DIY Polymer Clay Ring Bowls

These DIY Polymer Clay Ring Bowls are fun to make and a great little diy gift to share too.

I’ve grown rather smitten with the polymer clay. Last week it was the easy Christmas Ornaments, this week it is little bowls, or ring bowls, or ring dishes … whatever you’d like to call them is fine with me. Just like the ornaments, they are so simple to make and require just about the same list of supplies and technique. Cute polymer clay bowls would make a great gift for anyone to use as a place to hold rings, loose change, or any small things that need a special place. These little bowls can be personalized by adding initials with an alphabet stamp (see the ornament post for details on that), and/or painted with accents. I used white polymer clay for these, but polymer clay is available in a huge array of colors which can be used in combination with one another to create fun swirls and patterns. For these small ring bowls I kept it simple with white clay accented with a gold edge.

I formed some of the bowls by hand, simply pressing and turning up the edges, while others were made by pressing the cut out clay circle into a small glass bowl to create the shape. Even though I like how they all turned out, the organic or rustic irregular shaped bowls are my favorite. Basic circles were used for the bowls shown, but I did have fun making some with scalloped edged cookie cutters too, as well as some square cookie cutters to make a few square shaped bowls. Be creative! Make whatever size and shape you want, and if you don’t like it, ball up the clay and start over. Polymer clay is very forgiving like that.

Supplies needed to make polymer clay ring bowls:

• baking pan
• baking parchment or aluminum foil
• polymer clay (like Sculpey III)
• a smooth/flat surface to work on
• rolling pin (or something that could double as a rolling pin like a glass or vase)
• cookie cutter(s)
• optional: mini alphabet stamps*
• optional: small glass bowls for shaping desired finished size/shape
• paintbrush
• gold leaf paint or other acrylic paint colors

(I purchased this set, which includes the circle cookie cutter and alphabet stamps, along with some other fun tools: Walnut Hollow Clay Embossing Set)

How to make a polymer clay bowl:

• Preheat oven to polymer clay instructions. (If using Sculpey III that would be 275-degrees F.) Line baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
• Begin by softening up the clay by kneading it in your hands until it’s pliable and easy to work with.
• Next, using the rolling pin, flatten out the clay to abut 1/8-inch (or desired thickness) on a smooth flat surface.
• Cut circles (or squares) out of flattened clay with cookie cutter.
• optional: If letters are desired, using mini alphabet stamps, press letters of choice into center of circle (or square).
• Form the desired bowl shape by hand or gently place the cut out clay shape into the center of another glass bowl, and gently press to form ring bowl shape. Carefully lift clay bowl out of glass bowl.
• Place prepared clay bowls onto lined baking pan. Bake according to polymer clay instructions. (If using Sculpey III, bake for15 minutes for 1/4-inch or less.) Remove from oven and allow to cool.
• Once cool, paint as desired. Allow paint to dry.

That’s it! See how easy that is? Now you’re all ready to be the next great ring bowl maker. I do hope you enjoy this project as much as I have.