DIY Clay BFF Necklaces

Did you and a bestie have those BFF necklaces when you were a kid? You know, the ones that were a heart broken in two? Or I think I’ve seen some that were pennies that had been cut in half. You had one, and your best friend had one. I suppose the thought process was that you always had a “piece” of your BFF with you. I haven’t seen those necklaces in years. I’m starting to think (gasp!) that they were a 90’s fad. Last week, my daughter was out of school for a snow day, and we were crafting. Those BFF necklaces from years ago crossed my mind, and I decided to make a pair for my daughter and myself. She’s still at that age where her parents are her best friends, so I’m relishing in this stage to the fullest. That’s how these DIY Clay BFF Necklaces were born.

I had two blocks of Sculpey Clay in my craft stash (conveniently in Frozen themed colors, according to my daughter). I’m not a clay expert by any means, but I have resolved to learn new crafting mediums this year. I don’t have any official clay crafting tools, but hopefully that will encourage anyone to try this project even if you feel ill-equipped.

Supplies:

• 1 or 2 blocks of Sculpey Oven-Bake clay. You’ll need one if you want the two necklace pieces to be the same color. You’ll need two blocks if you want the necklace pieces to be different colors.
• Heart shaped cookie cutter. Buy a cheap one from the dollar store. Do NOT use it for food after it has been used with the clay.
• Straw or toothpick to make the hole
• Rubber letter stamps
• Jump Ring (mine are 8mm)
• Chain
• Plastic knife

Roll the clay out to approximately 1/8″. Use the cookie cutter to cut out two heart shapes.

Use the plastic knife, cut a zig zag pattern to separate the hearts. I did one heart first and then used it as a template to cut the other heart so that they would be the same and interchangeable. The only thing that I didn’t like about using the plastic knife is that it let serration marks on the edges that I had to sand away. Use the straw to make a small hole at the top of the heart sections.

Use the rubber stamps to make “BFF” in the clay. I made the mistake of pushing down too hard. Press lightly to only get the indentation of the letter.

Following the directions on the Sculpey clay package, bake the shapes.

After the clay is finished baking and has cooled, add the jump ring and chain.

I also used sand paper to lightly sand a few rough edges.