The Polymer Clay Cookbook - a review

Title – The Polymer Clay Cookbook

Author – Jessica and Susan Partain
Publisher – Watson-Gupthill Publications
ISBN – 978-0-8230-2484-1

Polymer clay charms are very popular fashion accessories, and with the help of this book, surprisingly easy to make.

The Polymer Clay Cookbook is just over 7 inches square (19cms) and 160 pages in length. Despite this small size it packs a lot of information in, spread over 7 chapters.

The Important Basics

The first chapter cover show to choose, prepare, use and finish the polymer clay. There is a detailed look at the types of polymer clay available and the tools you will need (including home-made alternatives to commercial products). There is even a simple recipe for a hand scrub – keeping your hands clean is essential when working with polymer clay. The chapter concludes with a very useful and in-depth discussion on mixing colours of clay.TTPolyerClatPic3

The second chapter covers the techniques needed to turn the little clay items into charms and pieces of jewelry. Clear instructions are given on how to make headpin loops, necklaces, earrings and more.

The remaining five chapters cover the instructions for the various items of food themselves. Each project has step-by-step colour photos and a detailed breakdown of how much of each colour you will need to get the right shades of clay. They are easy to follow and written in a friendly and clear style. Many projects also contain details of how to adapt the “recipe” to make different flavours or versions of the food item.

The Foody Projects

Fresh Fruit contains red apple earrings, a cute banana bracelet, juicy watermelon necklace and very realistic little lemon slices (plus details of how to convert them to orange, grapefruit, lime slices etc).TTPolyerClatPic2

Morning Favorites features mug of java earrings (which are just crying out to be customized), iced cinnamon roll earrings, a yummy golden waffle pendant and a fantastic plate of bacon and eggs!

Savory Entrees includes a pair of burger earrings, taco earrings, a sushi platter pendant and a cute little pizza charm.

Sweet Tooth Delights is particularly fun, with a cupcake phone charm, pretzel earrings, a swirly lollipop pendant and an adorable ice cream cone bracelet.

Holiday Goodies is American based (as this is an American book), with Halloween candy corn earrings TTPolyerClatPic4and a pumpkin pie bracelet. There is also a Valentine’s Day love heart bracelet and dinky gingerbread men earrings for Christmas.

The little food items can of course be used for different projects, the examples given in the book are just to show you how to make the various types of jewelry. So if you want your taco on a pendant and watermelon earrings you can easily mix and match to get just that.

And If You Get Hungry..

If making all this pretend food makes you hungry the authors have also included a real food recipe in each chapter too.

 

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Summary of Polymer Clay Cookbook

This is a great book for anyone starting out in polymer clay, with plenty of information, and very clear instructions. A beginner should be able to great results.

Because of the small size of the projects and the need to use sharp tools I would say this book is aimed at the adult crafter, but older children could certainly enjoy many of the creations with some supervision.TTPolyerClatPic1

More advanced polymer clay artists will no doubt get inspiration and ideas to utilize in their projects. I am fairly experienced with polymer clay but found lots of new handy tips in this book, and learned new techniques.

With minimal tools, a few blocks of polymer clay and some jewelry findings one could create a very attractive range of pieces that would make fantastic gifts or sell well at craft fairs or for fund raising.

Links to Polymer Clay Cookbook on Amazon

These links lead to Polymer Clay Cookbook on Amazon.com (left) and Amazon.co.uk (right(. If you purchase from these links then I would get a small commission from Amazon for sending custom their way. At no extra cost to yourself.  Thank you.

If you would like to make more realistic food, perhaps for dolls’s houses or diorama, check out my illustrated review of Miniature Food Masterclass by Angie Scarr, here on the Tin Teddy Blog.

Miniature Food Masterclass by Angie Scarr - a review

If you prefer to create animals, check out my review of Creating Life-Like Animals in Polymer Clay by Katherine Dewey.

Creating Life-Like Animals in Polymer Clay by Katherine Dewey

Craft Book Review – Polymer Clay Cookbook by Jessica & Susan Partain
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