Candy Shop

Satisfy your sweet tooth and make lolly charms from polymer clay

If you love all things colourful and kitsch then these polymer clay goodies are sure to be a winner. They are made using such simple techniques that even newbies to the craft will get great results with a little practise. Once you’ve created an abundance of charms you can attach them to all sorts, creating a whole range of iced gems!

Lollipop Charms

1. To make rainbow lollipops, choose as many different colours of clay as you desire. Knead and roll out each shade into a sausage, all the same size and length. Twist the pieces together and roll into a sausage to combine the colours, creating a marbled effect. Wind this up on itself, like a wheel, and continue until you reach the size you want your lollipop to be. Trim any excess. Use the same principle to make multi-coloured ice lollies but roll it into a U-shape rather than a wheel.
2. To create the yellow lollipops, use yellow and white colours of clay and knead separately. Roll out each colour flat and trim the edges neatly with a craft knife. Place the white clay on top of the yellow and roll it up carefully, one inside the other to form a cane. Cut off slices at the size you wish your lollipop to be.
3. To make the stick, roll white clay into a thin sausage shape, cut off at the length you desire and attach to the bottom of the lollipop.
4. To make the striped heart lolly, roll a piece of white clay into a sausage. Cut thin strips of pink and white and place length ways around the sausage to make a cane. Cut a slice off the end. Form a small pink heart and place in the centre, attaching a white stick. For a heart lolly, form a heart-shaped motif from red clay and attach a white stick. Use a similar principle to make a choc ice style ice cream. Add eye pins and bake according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once cool, varnish.

Ice Lollies

1. To make the stripy ice lollies, use pink, white and green colours of clay, kneading and rolling each colour separately into a sausage shape. Cut the pink one at the size you want your lolly to be. Wrap the white and green clay around the pink at a diagonal angle, until you reach the bottom, cutting off any excess. You will now have a twisted lollipop with a pink filling.
2. To make ice lollies with sprinkles, use red, white and dark brown colours of clay,kneading and rolling each colour out with a rolling pin. Cut off small square shapes of each shade, the same size and length. Fuse all three together, with the red square at the bottom, the white in the middle and the brown on top. Using various colours, cut off tiny bits of clay to make the sprinkles and add to the top.
3. To make the stick, roll white clay into a thin sausage shape, cut off at the length you desire and attach the stick to the bottom of the lollipop. Add an eye pin to the top of each and bake in the oven, then allow to cool, and varnish.

Ice Cream Charm

1. To make the cone, use a light brown colour of clay and flatten it into a thin layer with a rolling pin. Use a needle to make a criss-cross pattern. Flip this over and carefully roll it up at an angle so that it forms a cone shape. Cut off any excess with a craft knife. To make a pink and white ice cream, mix two colours of clay together to create a marbled effect. Form a sausage shape and whip the clay around on top of the cone.
2. If you wish, you could add little extras like a flake or sprinkles by using small amounts of clay. Ease an eye pin into the top of the ice cream and bake in the oven according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Allow to cool, before applying varnish and leaving to dry.

Ribbon Bracelet

1. Make 12 charms following the previous instructions using colours of your choice. Use jump rings to attach each charm, evenly spaced, to 15cm of medium oval link chain. Attach a large jump ring at either end of the bracelet. Cut two 30cm lengths of blue organza ribbon and two 30cm lengths of pink. Thread the ribbons through each end of the bracelet, as shown, securing it with a little wire wrapped at the top, by the jump ring. Trim the excess with wire cutters.

Charm Bracelet

1. Make six charms following the previous instructions, using colours of your choice Use small jump rings to attach these evenly to a 17cm length of large link chain. Attach a toggle clasp at the end to form a bracelet.

Earrings

1. To make these lollipops, use white and pink colours of clay and knead separately. Roll the white clay out with a rolling pin to 5mm thick, cut out two small rectangular shapes of the same size and smooth the edges. This will be the filling of the ice lolly.
2. Roll out a thin layer of pink clay, place the white rectangular shapes inside and wrap the pink clay around it, smoothing out all the edges. If you would like to have a bite taken out of the ice lolly, use a craft knife to cut off one of the top corners, showing the insides.
3. Make a lolly stick as before, this time from light brown clay. Attach an eye pin, bake and varnish. Loop onto an earwire. Make a second pair by creating two ice cream charms, as outlined in the previous instructions and attach to earring wires to finish.

Charm Necklace

1. Use the previous techniques to create three lollipop charms of your choice. Attach your finished charms to a jump ring using roundnosed pliers and secure this onto a toggle ring. Cut 60cm of fine chain and use a jump ring to thread the chain through the toggle. Check the length and adjust as required before finishing with a lobster clasp and jump ring at the ends.

Lollipop Necklace

1. Make a larger version of the lollipop as outlined in step one of Lollipop Charms, using just pink and blue clay. Once baked and varnished, attach the charm to a jump ring and thread onto 60cm of chain. Check the length and adjust as required before fixing a clasp and jump ring to the ends.