How to make polymer clay pie earrings using mini bottle caps as pans!

March 18, 2011

If they weren’t so disgustingly cute, they’d be good enough to eat!

Hello, bloglandia! We just added a whole bunch of bottle caps to our mixed-media jewelry product line. The best of the bunch, in my opinion, is the cute little mini cap.

Wee bottle caps make regular size (1″) ones look huge in comparison!

As soon as I saw them I became obsessed with making tiny pies. It was basically an illness that I had to treat before I could move on with my life. So today I went ahead and baked my little cherry pie earrings. Disclaimer: I am by no means a polymer clay expert. My skill level is clumsy at best. But really, I think anyone can have fun making these! Here’s how:

These pliers make it so easy to punch holes!

Punch holes in the caps. I used our EuroPunch pliers, which handle the job easily. However, since bottle caps are steel they will wear out the punch tips eventually (just replace the tips, not the pliers!).
Add jump rings.
Condition your clay and load up the tins with pie filling. I used magenta Kato polyclay. I also added a little red liquid polyclay. I like how the liquid added a realistic pie filling gooeyness, but if you are more of a perfectionist, omit the liquid clay. A note about Kato – it is fairly stiff and crumbly straight from the package. Since I was just making one pair, I kneaded it by hand, but it would have been way easier to condition a bigger lump of clay using a pasta machine.
Roll out your pie crust – mine is yellow mixed with a little “beige flesh” color. Cut the crust into thin strips.
Criss-cross the strips over the pies. Press down gently and trim off the ends.
Criss cross to make a traditional lattice top.
Ready for the oven!

Following the instructions for your type of clay, bake the pies in a toaster oven to cure.
Use 2 more jump rings to attach the pies to ear wires (I used steel blue niobium).

Pie is the new cupcake, I’ve been told. What do you think? Can a pie really be as cute as a cupcake?

Well, I thought baking these earrings would cure me of my pie obsession, but then a friend suggested making blackbird pie (from the nursery rhyme) and now I really want to make that too! And what about Pi Day earring? What kind of clay creations can you imagine making with these bottle caps? ~ Cindy

PS: here are some handy links to some other how-to’s in the Rings & Things blog!