Patriotic Pinwheel Earrings

The 4th of July is right around the corner and these red, white, and blue pinwheel earrings will be the final touches your patriotic outfit needs!

  Patriotic Pinwheel Earrings

What you’ll need:

• 1/4 pack of blue clay
• 1/4 pack of white pearl clay
• 1/4 pack of red clay
• Split jump rings (enough for each item made)
• Fish hook ear wires (enough for each earring made)
• Clear rhinestones (one per item made)
• Tissue blade
• Adhesive (of your choice)
• Needle tool (or drill for piercing holes)
• Square cutter (approx 3/4")

 Directions: 





1. Cut each 1/4 pack of clay in half (you should have 2 pieces of each color when done).

2. Take one piece of clay and condition it through the clay machine—ending with a conditioned piece of clay rolled out on the 2nd or 3rd setting.

3. Repeat this process until you have a conditioned piece of red, pearl, and blue clay rolled out on the 2nd or 3rd setting.

4. Take the red piece of conditioned clay and evenly cut out 7 stripes (I used a measuring tool to help get my stripes even). Set aside.

5. Take the pearl piece of conditioned clay and evenly cut 6 stripes (I used a measuring tool to help get my stripes even). Set aside.

6. Place your blue conditioned clay on your work surface and alternate red and pearl stripes (starting with red) on top of the blue clay until you have placed all 13 stripes evenly. NOTE: adjust the stripes as you go making sure they are straight and packed close together.

7. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the blue, red, and pearl clay project.

8. Gently, but firmly, press your square cutter through the plastic wrap and clay.

9. Remove the excess clay.

10. With the stripe side up, slice a diagonal cut in each corner of the square. Note: Do not cut all the way to the center of the square—only about 2/3 of the way.

11. Take one pointed corner and gently bend it inward toward the center of the pinwheel. Repeat this a total of 4 times (alternating which corner you fold—do not fold corners that are next to one another).

12. If you choose to add a hole to your raw clay, use the needle tool to gently add a small hole in one point of the pinwheel for a jump ring to be added later. Note: you can choose to add the hole later with a drill.

13. When done folding your corners, place in the oven to bake at 275°F for 20-30 minutes.

14. Let cool.

15. If you didn't punch a hole in the raw clay pinwheel, now is the time to make one with a small drill bit.

16. Using adhesive of your choice, affix the rhinestone into the center of your pinwheel where the clay points meet.


17. Once your adhesive has dried and the rhinestone is adhered, attach the jump ring and fish hook ear wires to each pinwheel.





Note: It's your choice if you'd like to finish your pinwheels with glaze or not.

The color combinations and variations of pinwheels are endless. Check out these alternative designs:

The inspiration for this tutorial can be found at thecakeblog.