Supplies
7/16th" wooden dowel
Knife or other whittling tool
Polymer clay in the color of your choice
Polymer clay tools
Craft knife
Glass pan
Sand paper
Sturdy glass bowl or cup
Stain or paint
Furniture wax or varnish
Stones, gravel, or sand to weigh down the wand handle during baking
Small stone, glass or crystal gem about the same diameter as the dowel
Instructions
Cut the wooden dowel to a length ranging from 9-14" (22.86 cm-35.56 cm).
Starting
about 4" (10.16 cm) up the cut portion of the wooden dowel, whittle the
dowel tapering toward the other end. If you wand a rough look to the
wood, this is the time to gouge it.
Sand the wand to smooth the sharp edges.
Gouge
or nick the 4" (10.16 cm) handle a bit. This gives it a tooth and
prevents the clay from sliding around over the dowel once it has been
baked.
Roll out the polymer clay to about a ¼" (0.64 cm) thick rectangle that is more than big enough to cover the handle area.
To determine the handle size you will use, lay the wand across the clay and put your hand over it.
The
length of the handle should be a bit longer than the four fingers of
your wand hand are wide. Consider making the length of the handle about
two extra finger widths long.
Cut the four edges of your clay to make them straight.
Smooth one of the long edges against the wand. Press it against the wood and feather it away for a really good connection.
Roll
the wand to cover the handle but do not press it against it hard. Mark
the point where the clay begins to overlap. Cut the clay along your
mark. Unroll the loosely wrapped clay.
Roll
the clay around the handle end of your wand again, this time pressing
the clay into the handle well. Smooth and press. When you get to the
seam, smooth it out.
Smooth
the clay over the end of the handle. If you can feel air bubbles
between the handle and the wand, poke some pin holes and press it to
work the air out of the handle. Then smooth out the pin holes to remove
them.
Use a craft knife to make an even cut all the way around the non-end handle edge.
Carefully taper this end of the handle so that there is little or no seam between the wood and the handle.
Wrap all but the visible side of the gem in clay and add it to the end.
Add an embellishment layer of clay to cover the seam.
Add layers of clay and whatever textures or design elements you want now. This is completely up to you.
I added another layer of clay on the non-gem end of the handle for
symmetry. Then I added texture using my own knotwork wedding ring and
the end of a chopstick.
Some people liked to hold this in
their hand and "squish" it a bit, making their own hand imprint in the
wand to create a perfect fit.
Once you are satisfied with your handle, it gets baked.
IMPORTANT
Author's Note: It is important to note that, yes, I have said to put
wood into the oven. The flashpoint of wood is well above the baking
temperature of polymer clay so it can be carefully baked. If concerned,
select the type of clay that bakes at the lowest temperature you can
find. Just do not leave the oven unattended and do not leave it any
longer than necessary. Bake it at your own risk.
Place the
wand, wood side down into a glass bowl or cup that is deemed
oven-worthy. Pour in some sand, gravel, or pebbles to keep the handle
wand from flopping out. Place this on an oven safe glass pan. Polymer
clay is meant to bake on glass and using metal might cause more heat to
be transferred than you will want so use glass, just like the package
says.
Bake as directed on the packaging of your clay.
Once
it has cooled, stain or paint the wood on your wand. When the stain is
dry, seal it and make it shiny using furniture paste wax or varnish,
following package instructions.
You now have a unique wizard wand. Just like magic!
Final Product
Credit
© SM Radtke's tutorial was taken with permission from instructables.com.
