Fireworks Polymer Clay Cane Tutorial

Fire Works! I love watching fireworks, whether it's the pull out all the stops show put on for Independence Day at our local fairgrounds, or the simple fountains we set off in the backyard during a Fourth of July BBQ. This is a cane inspired by those colorful explosions!

This tutorial assumes a basic knowledge of working with polymer clay. The Polymer Clay FAQ at Polymer Clay Central is a good place to start if you are a novice at polymer clay.


You need:
*work surface. I like to use a 12X12 marble tile I picked up at the hardware store.
*Sharp cutting blade. You can order specialty blades, but I prefer using a wallpaper scraping blade. this might be in part because there is a paint store across the street from me, and I can walk over and grab a new box whenever I need fresh, sharp blades!
*Black clay (Or a deep, dark purple could also look very cool)
*Glow-in-the-dark clay. I used the classic "white" glow-in-the-dark, but you can also get different colors of glow-in-the-dark. Or you could just go with a bright or fluorescent orange, blue, purple, yellow, etc.
*Your HANDS! The most important tool.



Condition the clay. Roll the black clay into a log. It will make it much easier if your log is sort of short and squat. (Remember you can reduce it to whatever size you want when you are done!)



Set the log on one end and slice it in half from top to bottom.



Cut a rectangle of glow-in-the-dark clay. I rolled it out to about the third thickest setting on my pasta machine before cutting the rectangle. Make the width slightly less than the diameter of the black log so the black clay will meet around the edges. Place it between the two halves, and press the cane back together.



Cut the cane in half from the top down the other way so you bisect the line of glow-in-the-dark clay



Insert a rectangle of glow-in-the-dark clay and press the cane back together



Cut in half...



Insert a rectangle of glow-in-the-dark clay and press the cane back together.



Cut it in half...



You know the drill by now, right? Cut a small rectangle of polymer clay, insert between the two halves, squeeze cane back together.



Slice down through the cane between two of the glow-in-the-dark lines, press it gently open so it looks a bit like Pac-Man.



Insert a small rectangle of glow-in-the-dark clay in the slot you just created, placing the long edge against the inside corner, then close the black clay back around it.



Repeat the previous step all the way around the cane, until it looks like this:



Tah Dah! Now your cane is ready to be reduced, sliced, and made into wonderful creations!