In this tutorial, you will learn how to easily make fridge magnets using polymer clay. I will teach you how to break down a complicated form into basic shapes and how to add details to make the fridge magnet look more impressive. Let´s get started.
Supplies
You will need:
- Polymer clay in different colors.
- A basic set of sculpting tools.
- And some parchment paper as a sculpting surface.
- A circular cookie-cutter
Step 1: Break Down Complicated Shapes Into Basic Forms
For this guide, we will make a cute little burger with eyes and a small hat.
If you just look at the burger as he is right now, you will probably ask yourself, “How in the world am I supposed to make that?”.
Well, you have to break the forms down into basic shapes and then go from there. The burger buns are a simple ball that was slightly squashed and then cut in half, the patty is a simple round disk that was cut with a cookie-cutter, and so is the salad and the tomato. This type of breaking down of complicated shapes into basic shapes is often done by artists when drawing or painting something.
You can do this breakdown into basic shapes for any form, no matter how complicated it is, but it will be more difficult the more organic and the more complicated the shape is.
Step 2: Make the Burger Buns
You can mix the polymer clay to create new colors. I mixed brown with orange to get a nice color for the burger buns.
I then made a big ball and cut it in half for both parts of the burger bun.
One side of the bun has two circular indents where the eyes will be later on.
Step 3: Make the Letuce, the Cheese, and the Patty
For the patty, I simply rolled out some brown clay and then used a cookie cutter to cut the patty out.
And then I smoothed the edges with my fingers.
I then repeated the process to make the lettuce.
But instead of smoothing the edges, I used my finger to add a pattern to the edges to make it look like lettuce.
And then I folded the edges in on themselves to create a wave pattern.
Finally, I rolled out some yellow polymer clay and cut it into a square to make the cheese.
Lastly, I also made a tomato slice by rolling out some red clay and cutting it out with a smaller cookie cutter.
Step 4. Assemble the Burger
Then, I simply placed all of the parts on top of the bottom bun to make the burger.
I moved the corners of the cheese a little downward to make it look like it melted.
Step 5. Finish the Top Burger Bun
Finally, I added some details to the top burger bun.
I started by giving him black eyes.
Then I cut a black clay ball in half and wrapped a black clay worm around the lower half of the half-ball to make a little top hat.
I finally placed the top burger bun on the rest of the burger and added some white polymer clay rolls on top of the buns as a nice little additional detail.
And that’s it. The finished burger.
You can see a lot of fingerprints on the clay. These can be removed by using some isopropyl alcohol and a fine brush. The isopropyl alcohol will slightly dissolve the top layer of the polymer clay, removing most fingerprints.
I then baked the clay in the oven according to the instructions and glued a magnet to the bottom to make him a magnet. You can also make a hole at the bottom for the magnet, but you should not bake the Magnet with the clay! Instead, glue the magnet to the sculpture after baking.
And this is the final result.
