Painted Decorative Clay Wall Hooks

Sometimes, all it takes is a small detail to elevate the look of a DIY. After completing these 3 mini wall weavings, I couldn’t help but add a little zhuzh to them with some painted decorative clay wall hooks (inspired by a post over at Fall for DIY). They’re super cute and easy to make using oven-bake polymer clay. These little beauties are versatile, too. Use them to hang photos or jewelry or any lightweight items you wish to display.

Let’s get started 🙂

MATERIALS

polymer clay (oven-bake variety)
rolling pin
round cookie cutters (2 sizes)
flexible clay cutter (or other sharp tool)
non-skid mat (or wax paper)
gorilla glue
removable wall fasteners
cookie sheet
(optional) clay softener (or baby oil)
gold acrylic paint & paint brush (not pictured)

STEPS

Step 1: Roll Out & Cut Clay

Cut off a piece of clay using the flexible clay cutter (or other sharp tool).

‘Condition’ the clay by rolling it in your hands.

This process warms the clay and makes it more pliable. If the clay you are working with is a bit dry (i.e., if there are still cracks when you bend it after conditioning) add a drop or two of clay softener or baby oil.

Roll the clay into a ball.

Place on your mat (or wax paper) and roll out with a rolling pin to 1/4 or 1/8 of an inch. With a small rolling pin, I found it easier to create evenly flat clay in smaller portions, so I rolled out three portions.

Using your cookie cutters, press into the clay to create your circles. For each hook, cut one large and two small circles. For this project, I needed to hang 3 mini weavings which meant that I needed to cut 3 large circles and 6 small ones in total.

Remove the excess clay.

Step 2: Bake Clay

Place the clay mat (or wax paper) with your clay circles on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven according to the instructions on the clay packaging. As a general rule of thumb, oven-bake clay is baked for a half hour for every quarter inch of clay. For more on this process see Baking Polymer Clay Perfectly Every Time.

Once fully baked, remove the clay from the oven. Let cool before proceeding.

Step 3: Paint Clay

Apply whatever fun colour or design you wish using acrylic paint (or anything else such as nail polish, sharpie, or even stickers).

Step 4: Glue Clay

For this design, you will be gluing the two smaller circles to the large one – that is, one on each side of the large circle. When it comes to gluing clay, Gorilla Glue is a great choice, but feel free to experiment with different varieties.

Make sure to follow the instructions on the bottle of your Gorilla Glue for optimum adhesion. (Gorilla Glue is strong! But it takes about 24 hours to fully adhere.)

Step 5: Apply Wall Fasteners & Hang!

Once you apply the wall fasteners to the back of each hook, you are now ready to hang your treasures!

These painted decorative clay wall hooks are so versatile. Create them to hang your weavings, jewelry or other personal objects. It’s all in the details!