After spending hours making charms and baking them, they fell to pieces and off of the hooks. Anybody have any tips for keeping the ch in one piece on

Polymer clay "falling to pieces" is a different question than having the shanks of eye pins, etc, "coming out."I don't know which technique Klutz advises for inserting the shanks of eye pins into raw clay items, but it's probably just "push it in." That's the least secure way of using eye pins with polymer clay. Somewhat better is doing that, but pulling them out after baking, applying a small amount of instant glue to the shank, then putting back in and pressing hard for a few seconds. The BEST way though is simply to zigzag or curve the bottom of the shank before inserting it into the clay (then to snug the clay back around the shank). That creates a mechanical hold of the clay on the shank and the shank literally cannot be pulled out after hardening/baking the clay. There's more info about using that technique as well as others for inserting eye pins and using other attachment methods on this page at my polymer clay encyclopedia site if you want to copy and paste it into your browser:http://glassattic.com/polymer/pendants_cording.htm (click on the sub-sub-category called FULL LOOPS)......If the clay itself 'fell to pieces," that can mean that the clay was underbaked, or it can mean that the individual bits of clay that were put together weren't bonded well enough. For more info about that last problem, check out this page at my site too:http://glassattic.com/polymer/glues-Diluent.htm (click on SOME BONDING TECHNIQUES near bottom of list at top of page)

Yes, and probably the lines of polymer clay called Sculpey III or Bakeshop/Craftsmart since many other "kits" have used those two lines of Polyform/Sculpey polymer clay (they're cheapest). Polymer clay is different in various ways from the many air-dry clays sold or that can be made at home...for example, polymer clay *must* be heated to harden, won't shrink, can take much finer detail, is oil-based rather than water-based (so will never dry to harden), etc.

can you make earrings with the clay charms kit

I'm sure you could! There are no molds included with the kit so you can make your charms any size. The kit does come with small eyescrews to put into your charm shapes before you bake them so that you can attach them to a bracelet or earrings, but you will need to purchase the earring hooks on your own since they are not included.

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