These cute clay pencil earrings for back to school crafts are plain fun. Also, look at my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter for more fun ideas and tips.
So, don’t miss out on all the fun back to school craft ideas just because your child won’t be headed off to traditional school.
Have some hands on craft time with your kids and make a pair or several school themed earrings to wear to kick off your new year.
We school year-round but take a lot of breaks so these were great to welcome in our new unit!
Clay is great for creativity.
So, invest a little in these supplies and give your kids another creative outlet.
Also, making crafts is therapeutic and works those fine motor skill and appeals to the senses.
Additionally this is a great way to encourage your budding entrepreneurs.
A great little business idea is creating earrings for friends, family, co-op mates, and even to setup on facebook.
Clay – A Versatile Craft Material
Your child can sell handmade creations for a bit of money and learn about supply vs. demand, how to set prices for profit, the cost of supplies, and so much more.
Get creative and don’t just stop at making pencil earrings.
Use your clay to create paper, crayons, globes, beakers and more.
But they don’t have to just be for back to school craft ideas.
Add this idea to any of your unit studies.
For example, look at some of these ideas.
- If you’re looking for an idea for a hands-on project for the Exploring Space and Astronomy Free Unit Study for Multiple Ages, then create a replica of a plant.
- When studying China, create a map to wear on your child’s ears. How fun.
- Are you studying about botany next? Then make some cute mushrooms or succulents.
Look at this Polymer Clay Starter kit, Oven Bake Clay, DIY Molding Clay kit.
Let’s dive into making these adorable clay back to school earrings.
This list is easy but too some of it you may not have around the house.
Easy DIY Fun Earrings Supplies
- Earring Kit
- Variety Clay Pack
- Clay Roller Machine or a hand roller
- Small craft stick
- Skewer
Once you get all your supplies gathered remember you can make several pairs.
First, preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
How to Make Back to School Pencil Earrings
Then, pinch off a piece of yellow clay and roll it through your clay roller a few times on the second to last thickness setting.
We really just eyeballed the amount.
There wasn’t enough the first time,vso we just pinched off a bit more and added it before we went through again.
You can also use a simple roller. But we love our clay machine and use it every time we create with clay to get uniform thickness.
I set most of my earrings at the thicker of the two settings on our clay roller.
Use a small wooden craft stick as a template to get straight sides and an even width for your two pencils,
Cut on either side with a thin sharp knife and repeat for the next one.
Remember though that they don’t have to be perfect, they are kid and handmade after all.
Cut the top and bottom at the same time to get your desired length.
Repeat with a small amount of pink after rolling it flat. Use the craft stick vertically and horizontally to cut two squares for the erasers.
Again, use some tan to make the wood of your pencil and repeat with the sides. Cut the length off at the same time so they are uniform.
Then, cut a point on your pencil tips.
Get a bit of texture by using the sharp end of the skewer to draw up the top of the tan and create the shaved section of the pencil.
Add a tiny piece of black clay to the bottom as a pencil led, shape a point with your fingers.
Connect your 3 pieces, pressing them gently together.
Wet your finger and smooth the joints together.
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- Back To Homeschool Student Notebook Covers
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- Apple Themed Back to School Crafts & Fun Calming Apple Jar Craft
- 8 Back To School Crafts For Middle Schoolers | How To Make Fun Literature Themed Shoes
We ran each of our entire put together pieces through the roller one more time to help the colors cling to each other.
Draw a few lines in the yellow to create some pencil detail.
Take the flat end of your skewer and pierce a whole through the eraser close to the top.
But leave enough room that it doesn’t break because its too thin.
Carefully pick up the clay pieces and transfer to a baking sheet.
A think scraper or even a knife make it easy to slide up and transfer.
We use our little toaster oven for crafts like this rather than heat up the big oven.
Bake at 200℉ for 20 minutes. Check and make sure that they are hard and no more moisture remains in the clay.
Bake for 5 more minutes if needed to bake completely through. Allow to cool fully before removing.
Use a needle nose plier to open a jump ring and thread it through the hole you made on the eraser.
Place a French hook earring loop through the jump ring as well and close completely the jump ring with needle nose pliers.
Be sure that the hook faces away from the front of the pencil earrings
If you prefer you can skip creating a hole in the earrings and use e6000 glue to affix a standard post earring to the back instead.
If you’re like us you want dangly earrings so we went with fish hooks.
What do you think, are you ready for back to school and look cool?
