Who doesn’t love a bit of bling? A little Swarovski crystal can really set off pendants. And let’s face it, a polymer clay dragon is practically begging to have his magic embellished. So sooner or later new clayers ask the question, can you bake crystals in clay? Yes, usually, you can. But there are several types of crystals and each one needs to be used a little differently. A related question to baking (more on baking polymer clay here in my Baking Tutorial) crystals in polymer clay is baking other sorts of embellishments in clay, such as stones and glass beads, so I’ll address these in this article as well.
Can You Bake Crystals in Clay?
- Polymer clay bakes with low heat in a home oven at 275°F (135°C), this is unlikely to damage most crystals, stones, gems, and rocks.
- Some delicate crystals may discolor, so it’s best to test a small crystal sample before baking a prized specimen.
- Amber, opals, pearls, and some soft stones should never be baked.
- Swarowski crystals and other similar “rhinestones” are glass and therefore are perfectly hardy in the oven.
- Beware that some “bling” or crystals are actually plastic and these will melt in the oven.
Can You Bake Crystals in Clay?
The term “crystals” can apply to the “bling” that is also called rhinestones. Or it can apply to natural quartz crystals. I’ll treat each separately and since quartz crystal is a natural stone, I’ll talk about it in that section. The name you’ll hear most commonly used in connection with crystals is “Swarovski”. That’s a brand name of faceted glass gems and beads that is known for its high quality and evidenced by the particularly brilliant light that reflects from them. You can see more examples of Swarovski crystals here. There are other brands of crystals, of course, and you can find them in any craft store. All glass crystals can be baked in polymer clay, though not all shapes and types will give good visual results. Do make sure your crystals are actually glass, though. Plastic crystals will melt. More about that further down.
Most often, clayers are concerned with chatons, which are foil-backed crystals that have a mirror finish applied to the back side. This means that light going into the crystal is reflected back in a very sparkly way. The types of crystals most commonly used are point-backed, flat-backed, and a larger version of the point-backed crystals called a rivoli. The pointed part of point-backed crystals is usually pushed down into the clay. This works well to give depth and reflection to your piece, and it also helps the crystal stay attached to the clay. Flat-backed crystals are flat on the back side and sit on the surface of the clay. All glass crystals can be baked in polymer clay without causing any harm to either the crystals or the polymer clay.
How to Use Crystals in Polymer Clay
How to use Point-Backed Crystals with Polymer Clay
Working with smaller point-backed crystals is amazingly simple. Just push them into the clay, right where you want them in your design, and bake. Most of the time the crystals will stay in place, so if you’re doing a sculpture or something that won’t get much wear and tear, you’re done. But if the piece will be handled, you’ll need to secure the crystals. After baking, once the piece is fully cool, use a fine needle tool or your craft knife and carefully pop the crystal out. It will usually come out easily. Then use a tiny dab of instant glue on the back and put the crystal right back. Loctite Gel (Affiliate Link – learn more here) and Lisa Pavelka’s Poly Bonder both work nicely. Doing it this way means the fit between the clay and the crystal is perfect and very little glue is required (more on what glue works best with polymer clay here). A lot of people use a dab of liquid clay or Bake and Bond before pushing the crystal into the clay. I found that these were just as easy to remove as the crystals without it. So I just glue after baking.
Another strategy is to push the crystals into the clay, but remove them before baking. After baking, glue them in place.
To use rivolis, if the piece is thick enough, you can use the very same technique as with smaller point-backed crystals embedded into the clay design. But if your piece is thin, or if you need to create a full cup to hold the rivoli, try this. Make a small ball of clay the same approximate size as your rivoli. Make it smooth, flatten it slightly into a thick pancake. Then press the rivoli into the clay pancake. If the edges of the clay splay outward, gently use your fingers to snug the clay around the rivoli. You can then use this clay-rivoli unit in your polymer clay design. Because of the larger surface area, rivolis embedded this way don’t seem to pop out and need gluing.
How to use Flat-Backed Crystals with Polymer Clay
Flat backed crystals can’t really be embedded into the clay very effectively, so you’ll need to attach them with a glue to the clay after baking. Many people use E6000, but others report that it’s messy and often doesn’t cure well. As already mentioned, Loctite Gel (Affiliate Link – learn more here) works well. So does Crafter’s Pick ‘The Ultimate’.
But a really great way is to use Hotfix crystals. These are flat-backed crystals with a heat-activated glue on the backs, and they’re designed to be ironed onto clothing. But this adhesive works very well with polymer clay. Just press onto the clay with a tiny dab of Bake and Bond, then bake. The glue will activate and the crystals will be permanently bonded.
Have you tried baking with crystals and had them melt or turn brown? Then they’re not glass crystals. Plastic crystals will melt in the oven. They’re also not very sparkly when compared to glass crystals.
Using Un-Mirrored Crystals
If your faceted crystals do not have a mirrored backing, when you embed them into polymer clay the light cannot reflect and it will disappear making the bead look dark and dull. To help this type of crystal reflect light here’s a trick. Go ahead and push the crystal into the clay, as usual, then remove it. Now, add a bit of silver leaf or very reflective silver paint to the hole. Now replace the crystal using liquid clay and bake. You could also glue the crystal into the hole after baking.
Baking Plastic Beads with Polymer Clay
Even though polymer clay cures at a fairly low temperature in the oven, it’s hot enough to melt, distort, and discolor plastic crystals and also plastic beads. Before baking, make sure that the beads in question are glass and not plastic. It’s not always easy to tell, by the way. Some plastic beads are quite convincing in their imitation of glass. One way you can tell is to tap them gently against your teeth. Glass beads will have a high-pitched “tink” sound, and plastic beads will be more of a thunk. Another way is to use a craft knife around the bead’s hole or on the back side. If you can scrape the bead, it’s plastic. Glass might scratch, but it won’t scrape off.
Rarely, some plastic beads can withstand the heat of the oven. Not sure if yours can? Just try baking them in the oven, by themselves. However, watch them carefully and remove them the minute you see them start to melt. You don’t want a stinky mess! If they can withstand a full bake cycle, then feel safe to use them in your polymer clay creations.
If you absolutely are set on using plastic beads with your polymer clay, you can push them into the clay, remove them for baking, then glue them back into place after baking.
Stones, Glass Beads, and Gemstones in Polymer Clay
Even though these materials are wrought from the fires of blast furnaces and the geologic forces of the planet, new clayers often worry about their durability when baked with a polymer clay project. I think that perhaps there’s more a fear of cracking and shattering than one of the stones or beads melting. Don’t worry, while anything can happen, it’s very rare for beads and stones to crack in the oven’s heat.
Have you heard stories of stones exploding when they get hot? I have. And I’ve had it happen in a campfire. Moisture trapped in river stones can cause a rock to explode when it’s rapidly heated. But gemstones don’t typically have moisture trapped inside, and the gentle heating that we use for curing polymer clay is far more likely to dry out a stone than cause it to explode. Although this is for the high heat of metal clay, this chart over at Cool Tools gives the heat tolerance levels for some common gemstones. This should reassure you that most gemstones you’ll use will be just fine in the low heat of polymer clay.
By the way, do you know why glass breaks when it gets hot? When a glass object is created, the outside cools faster than the inside, leading to stresses being captured in the molecular structure of the glass. This is why properly manufactured glass is slowly cooled (annealed) after making to prevent this. But manufacturing defects do occur from time to time and that’s why you hear about Pyrex baking dishes shattering in the oven. If the glass isn’t fully annealed, those stresses will cause the glass to shatter if the glass is damaged, by a scratch or nick, or if the temperature changes rapidly and sharply. Properly annealed glass beads will not crack when baked in the oven.
Heating in the oven can, however, cause some dyed stones to change color. This also happens with some faux pearls and dyed seashells.
To use stones, beads, natural crystals, and gemstones with polymer clay, just add them into your design, nestling the stone into the clay. To make sure the stone or bead stays firmly attached to the clay, do secure the stone or bead in place by using small pieces of clay over part of the stone. A popular style for this involves using tendrils, vines, and small leaves as part of the design that wraps around the stone or bead.
Adding crystals, glass beads, and stones to your polymer clay designs can greatly expand the possibilities of what you can create. You can find lots of interesting stones to use by taking apart vintage and junk jewelry from estate sales. This necklace, created in a workshop with Ann and Karen Mitchell this past spring, was made with only polymer clay, glass beads, some mica powder, and wire and chain. Those large glass beads really make this piece special.
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44 thoughts on “Can You Bake Crystals in Clay?”
Great article and information!
Thanks for another great article. I’ve been considering going further with polymer clay than just making beads, and this has helped me to think-out what direction I might want to go in. Good to have the technical info before starting.
the guide you linked to is for PMC, not polymer. It would be helpful to know which gemstones can be heated to 275 without cracking or exploding. I just put a quartz in the oven and had it crack after only 15 minutes. I was afraid to open the door after that, fearing it would shatter and explode in my face.
PMC cures at temperatures MUCH higher than we use for polymer clay. If a stone is considered safe for PMC, then it should be okay to be baked with polymer clay. That being said, any crystalline material can crack if there are flaws.
Hi! I think the original commenter means that there are probably gemstones which are okay at 300F which are not safe for the much higher temperatures of metal clay. So there are some gemstones that are not tolerant of high heat which would be okay with low/medium heat (polymer clay heat). I’m trying to find a list of this online…
Natural stones can have trapped tiny amounts of gas or liquid in them, which can fracture the stone when heated. For this reason, PMC clayers sometimes prefer to use man-made [“lab grown”] stones which don’t have those natural features. Usually, quartz is stable….but it’s hard to be certain without additional testing before you heat it up.
I have some old family jewelry that I’d like to take apart and make things with clay or PMC.
Do the leaded crystals pose any health issues when baked or fired? If not what is a good temp for them? Thanks so much!
I’m not aware of any hazards in that way. Polymer clay bakes at pretty low temperatures, far too low to vaporize the lead in the glass. Just use the normal temperatures you’d use to bake any polymer clay project.
I’m new to working with polymer clay and I want to embed small round metal balls into the clay to approximate braille dots that can be felt above the clay’s surface. When I try to put the balls into the clay, they seem to sink through with light pressure, but I’m afraid they will come lose or move during baking. Any thoughts?
If your clay’s that soft, it sounds like you’re using Sculpey III, which might be too brittle for such a design. I’d use Premo. Yes, press the balls into the clay. After baking, try to pry them out. If they pop out, just glue them back in. Just like with crystals.
Hi there, I have a question and this was the closest blog post I could find that matches. I am wanting to make some mixed media pieces using PC attached to a canvas board (like you would get at Michael’s) but havent found any information anywhere about whether or not it would be safe to bake it in the oven. I know I could use some type of super glue after baking but I’ve also heard that isn’t always secure and if I am using the bake-n-bond, it needs to be baked. thank you for your help, love your articles.
Polymer clay is vinyl, so think of it in terms of what glue you’d use to attach vinyl tiles to canvas board. Superglue is too light-bodied and will crack when the canvas or polymer flexes. I’d use either a strong PVA glue like Weldbond or a urethane glue like Gorilla glue original, Liquid Fusion, or JB Weld Super Weld. Have you read my article on glue?
hi there, yeah I did and it was informative. What I am trying to find out though is if I can safely place the canvas board in the oven to cure with the PC. I’m not talking about the staple backed canvases but rather these types; https://www.michaels.com/artists-loft-necessities-canvas-panel-value-pack/M10226520.html?dwvar_M10226520_count=5#start=19
I can’t comment on safety since I don’t know what they’re made of. But most people have reported that they typically will warp with the heat of the oven. Most people attach the cured clay to the panel with glue.
Hi all I make clay pendants with crystal and stones etc. And I have worked with all different kinds healing crystals/minerals/gemstones. I really haven’t had any problems with any of the stones or crystals changing colors or exploding . The only one that I ever had a problem with was Amber Copal it started to melt but it still looked cool I. The pendant.
I have had more problems with my clay breaking and smaller detailed pieces falling off my pendants and some of the stone or crystals falling off as well . I’m still trying to find a glue that will work best for my works of art.
So my journey still goes on for the glue and clay not the stones, they have held up just fine for me .
If your clay is breaking, it means you’re using a weak clay (Sculpey III is brittle) or you’re underbaking. The latter is likely the case. Especially if you’re not accounting for the fact the crystal or stone takes a long time to heat up in the oven, causing the clay to be underbaked, especially near the stone. Also, never rely on glue. It will nearly always fail. Make sure that you put a lip of clay over the edges of your stone so they are embedded into, and not just stuck onto the clay. For more info, check out my articles on Baking and on Glues.
Thank you so much for this article. I have some spectacular pieces of malachite, some of them very large, and have been struggling to find a good way to attach them as pendants as I’d rather not drill them. I’ve tried wire wrapping but wasn’t happy with it. After reading your article, I’m going to try creating a “harness” out of polymer clay.
Although the heat tolerance chart for gemstones you linked to says “No fire” with malachite, the curing temp for polymer clay is way lower than the 1000+ temps used for firing. I’ll try it first with some small, inexpensive pieces of malachite and see what happens before using the large pieces.
Hello,
I want to ask you if you have ever tryed to made pendents of borax crystal and polymer clay. I need to know if i can put a borax crystal with clay to the oven vithout any danger.
Thank you a lot! 🙂
Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about borax crystals. You could bake them at clay-baking temperatures to see what will happen.
What about adding metal or foil embellishments?
I think they would maybe change the temperature of the clay while baking.
I have a project I want to add small metal strips to, but I’m not sure how to go about this. Would it be best to just glue them on after baking?
It’s a common misunderstanding that metal will be hotter than the surrounding air inside the oven. This cannot happen, actually, unless the metal is in contact with the heating element. You can easily add the metal before baking.
Hi! Is it possible to fire torch Swarovski crystals as well?
Hi Mona, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know. I’ve never worked with torch firing.
I use torch firing when making silver jewellery and in my opinion, for what it’s worth, I would NEVER torch fire crystal. The temperature with a torch can easily reach in excess of 1000 degrees, for reference the melting point of silver is 970 degrees, plus the flame is applied directly to the material so can very easily shatter a crystal. If you really want to discover for yourself put on all the safety equipment you have, and you should have plenty if you’re working with a torch: face covering, safety goggles, safety gloves, the whole nine yards, apply the flame to a single crystal and see if it explodes. I would not, however, recommend you actually try this, cos that would be stupid.
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Thank you for a great article!
I’ve made the mistake of leaving plastic crystal in unbaked clay for some days, resting the project, and when I’ve returned, the plastic “crystal” has melted into the unbaked clay, all sticky… Heads up! 🙂
Ooh, that’s a really good point about the clay degrading the plastic of some crystals. Yes, I can imagine it would. Thanks for the heads up!
Whoa, UNBAKED? Like just room temp out in the open? Melted?! Must be a chemical reaction….
Great article! I work with stones/natural crystals/glass beads in polymer clay as my full time job. What I have found is that tumbled smoky quartz has exploded more than once in the oven, which makes me think that there may be moisture or air trapped inside the stones. I’ve also found that selenite does not bake well as it turns a bright white, resembling a piece of chalk … lessons learned .. & I thought this info may help others 🙂
Thank you, excellent information!
That’s great info, Suzy, I’ve been trying to get answers to that question for ages! Thank you!
Great article, as usual. Thanks, Ginger.
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To Krithika, Go online to Fire Mountain, They will send a large catalog plus sale catalogs during the year or with your order. Have fun, Sophia of MartiniMagnetics. on Pinterest and working on web site.
Excellent article, answers many questions I’ve had about crystals. I’d like to know if you have any good sources for some of these crystals? The ones I’ve seen in the local craft stores are quite dull and uninspiring. And I’ve only ever seen highly expensive Swarovski crystals online.
The crystals and rivolis at Hobby Lobby are quite nice and bright. The rivolis in the picture in the article…the clear and turquoise ones are Hobby Lobby and the slightly larger colored ones are Swarovski from a local bead store. I see a difference in quality control (see the flat side on one of them), but not in brilliance. Local bead shops are probably your best brick and mortar source of good crystals. Though…Hobby Lobby is now carrying actual Swarovski ones, too. Also check out vintage junk jewelry in thrift shops. See those pear-shaped clear ones next to the pendant? I dug them out of a junk brooch just for that picture.
Thanks for the quick reply Ginger. Looks like I may need to make a trip to Hobby Lobby soon. I’ll also try and check any bead stores nearby. I’m guessing that even in the craft stores I shouldn’t be looking at crystals in the fabric department? Those are the only ones I remember, and they’d be quite cheap looking in jewelry.
Try dreamtimecreations.com
They sell by weight. I got a lot, some I didn’t need for a great price. Certainly better than anywhere else! I just have a hard time with determing size and ring dimension.
Whoa…and their store is local to me. Nothing’s ever local to me. Now I need to find an excuse to visit. Heh.
Terrific article!! I’m happy to read this and sharing it with others. I’d like to hear more on applying natural gemstones. That info is hard to find.
What kind of info? Do you mean technical info (like bake times and such), or do you mean artistic info (like how to create common styles)? There’s really no limitation here…just add clay around the stones and bake. Dyed stones might change color. But really there’s no need to fear baking these.
Great article, Ginger. Thanks so much. You briefly mentioned pearls, so can we assume that they can be baked? How about opals?
I think pearls, opals, and softer materials like amber can be baked…conditionally. In other words, there’s no reason they’d melt or be destroyed at regular baking temperatures, but you might not want to use valuable stones because color changes might occur.
Not sure about the rest, but genuine opals should never ever be baked. Due to it’s water content, baking may cause it to “dry out” and it will crack all over 🙁
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