Lately, many home accessories are taking inspiration from geometry. Currently, anything honeycomb shaped is on trend but we're seeing all sorts of shapes in everything from textiles to dinnerware. Last year, Apartment Therapy published a Round-Up of this trend.
I thought it would be fun to try on my own and I had some supplies left over from other crafts so i compiled the following list:
- Polymer Clay (it's great because it doesn't crack easily in the oven)
- Aluminium Foil (to keep my bookends from becoming too heavy and to help me stretch my clay a little further)
- A cookie sheet (as a work surface)
- A knife
- Sandpaper
- Gold Spray Paint
- Acrylic Topcoat Spray Paint
I began by kneading the clay according to the directions. For my larger piece, I rolled up a little aluminium foil and worked the clay around it. This kept the weight reasonable and reduced baking time.
I molded the clay into a rough cube. I used the flat edges of extra cookie sheets to smooth the sides. Once I had a decent looking cube, I began slicing off pieces with my knife. I tried to keep my cuts as clean as possible and was careful to slice straight through as opposed to using a sawing motion.
Once I was finished, I baked my pieces according to the directions on the box. I then allowed it to cool before sanding some of the rough edges. I could have continued sanding to make perfectly straight edges, but I didn't mind a few imperfections and I knew most of them would be covered by paint.
I used tape to keep the paint off the bottom of each piece. Once the second coat of gold paint had dried completely, I sprayed it with a clear acrylic topcoat for added durability.
While I think they look neat on my mantle, I am looking forward to redecorating once we move and perhaps using these bookends for their intended purpose. I think our new space will see less chrome and more warm metallic tones.
