My obsession with donuts continues. What is new however, is my obsession with little things – I mean look.at.how.cute. I recently attempted a DIY woven key chain, but it was quite the ugly creation, and unfortunately I couldn’t post a tutorial. I’m going to try that again, but in the meantime these sweet, sweet donut and macaron key chains more than make up for that fail. I initially started making only donuts but I was toying around with the leftover clay, and macarons were born. Speaking of polymer clay, you’re going to LOVE it. If you don’t already know what it is, polymer clay or Fimo/Sculpey is a playdough-y substance that you can mold (mould if you’re British), and then bake in a regular oven to set it. The possibilities are endless, as you will soon find out in upcoming posts.
I obviously had to take a trip to Dunkin’ Donuts to purchase some inspiration for this products. My excuse is that I couldn’t possibly imagine creating these mini donuts without a template, now could I? And then I ate them all. If you’re looking to have some eye candy on your keys, read on!
what you need:
- 3-4 colors Fimo or Sculpey polymer clay (I chose pastel colors for mine)
- Wooden skewer – or something to poke a hole
- X-acto knife
- Jewelry pliers
- Eye pins
- Jump rings
- Key ring
the how-to (DONUTS):
step one: Roll small pieces of clay into tiny-sized balls. As a general measure, mine were about the size of my thumbnail.
step two: In-between your forefinger and thumb, slightly flatten the ball till it resembles a donut. Mine were quarter-sized after this.
step three:Use the wooden skewer to poke a hole in the center to complete the donut
step four: To make the sprinkles, roll pieces of clay into very thin spaghetti-like strings. then cut the thin strings into shorter pieces to use as sprinkles on the donuts. Place these sprinkles randomly on some of the donuts
step five: To make the glazed donuts, make more balls about 1/4 of the size of the first ones. Flatten these to a very thin layer/sheet and create uneven edges.
step six: Lay the “glaze” on some of the donuts and then poke a hole trough the center to match the donut.
step seven: Cut the eye pins to appropriate lengths and stick them in the donuts. Bake according to package instructions.
step eight:When the donuts are set and cooled, attach the jump rings and key rings and you’re done!
the how-to (MACARONS):
step one: Roll 3 small pieces of clay into tiny-sized balls (2 in any color of your choice, and 1 in white). As a general measure, mine were about the size of my thumbnail.
step two: In-between your forefinger and thumb, slightly flatten the balls till they resemble a round disk. Mine were quarter-sized after this.
step three: Press down the sides of the 2 same-color disks to get what I like to call a “dome disk shape”. Google images of macarons if this is hard for you to visualize. Very important: make sure all three disks are about the same size/diameter.
steps four to six: Assemble these three components to make your macaroon “sandwich”, then follow steps 6 to 8 once again.
These are SO easy and fun that you can make them with kids – and they’ll love it. I was pumping these out like a factory! I only photographed a few, but I definitely made enough to give out to friends as gifts. And they really make for some awesome gifts. I hope this post has introduced you to and made you fall in love with polymer clay. You can do almost anything with it, and I look forward to bringing y’all more polymer clay themed DIYs!
Are you trying these out anytime soon? I’d love to see how they turned out, so please share your pictures with me!
