How to Make a Clay Rose

In this guide, you will learn how to easily make a clay rose using either air dry clay or polymer clay. This is a step by step tutorial that will show you two ways to make an impressive-looking clay rose.

How to Make a Rose with Air Dry Clay

Let´s start with air dry clay. This is going to be a bit more difficult than using polymer clay because air dry clay is generally a bit more difficult to work with and to dry.

What You Will Need

You will need:

• Some basic sculpting tools
• Some air dry clay (I recommend clay from DAS)
• A roller to flatten the clay (a rolling pin will do as well)
• A circular cookie cutter

Step 1: Condition the Clay

First, you need to condition the clay. Basically, you want to make the clay formable and get it to a state where it no longer forms cracks when you bend it.

This is easily done by kneading the clay in your hands and adding some water to the clay until it can be formed easily and does not form cracks when you fold it over.

The clay is conditioned nicely once the large gaps don´t form anymore when you fold the clay over.

Step 2: Roll the Clay Out

Next, you need to roll the clay out until it is about 3 mm thick. Try to roll the clay out as evenly as possible.

If the clay cracks during this, simply add some water to the cracked area and smooth it with your finger.

Step 3: Cut the Clay

Then, we will cut out some circles with the cookie cutter. You will need at least three circles, but four are best.

One of my circles had a small piece missing, but that wasn´t a problem in the end.

Step 4: Roll it all up

Now, layer the circles over each other as seen on the image above.

Then use a clay sculpting tool to draw a line in the middle of the circles.

Carefully roll the entire clay up. Start at the top and roll it very tightly in the beginning.

And then cut the roll in the middle.

You will end up with two roses that only need some detailing to look perfect.

Step 5: Detailing

Finally, you just need to add some details and fan out some of the petals to make the rose look perfect.

Bend the outer petals outward and pinch them a little to make them thinner at the ends. This will give the rose a more realistic appearance.

You can also pinch the middle of the rose to make it a little thinner. Once you are done with the detailing, it is time to let the clay dry.

And with this, your air dry clay rose is done.

How to Make a Rose with Polymer Clay

Polymer clay is my personal favorite type of clay. It is versatile and much easier to use than air dry clay.

You can use the step-by-step guide for making an air dry clay rose (above this section) to make the same rose with polymer clay. The following guide will show you another method than the one above.

Materials Needed

You will need:

• Some colored Polymer clay
• A rolling pin
• Some basic sculpting tools

Step 1: Roll Out the Clay

Just like in the previous example, we first have to roll out the clay after conditioning it.

Step 2: Cut the Clay

Cut the clay into this petal-shaped pattern. The petals don´t all have to be the same size or exact same shape.

Try to make them look similar, but don´t worry about them being perfect.

Step 3: Roll it All Up

Just like before, you now have to roll up the pattern. Try to roll it up tightly in the beginning.

It should look something like this when you are done.

Step 4: Adding Details

Finally, we just have to add some details to make the rose look more realistic.

Start by bending the individual petals outwards. The outer petals need to be bent further outwards than the inner petals.

Finally, you can also add some extra petals to the rose.

And this is the finished polymer clay rose.

Now, you just need to bake the clay, and you are done.