Prefect Badge How-To

I haven't quite decided if I'm prefect material.

For those days when I'm feeling especially prattish exemplary, I have made myself a badge.

It's kind of what I envisioned, minus the slabs-of-polymer-clay-stuck-together look.

Here's how I did it, and if you're more proficient with polymer than I am, you can smooth out the seams to suit your tastes.

It's a basic tray setting, into which I secured a printed prefect design (I designed mine in Inkscape), and sealed with resin.

You'll need the following:

• silvery polymer clay (I used Premo!Sculpey Accents in Silver)
• a pin back finding
• jewellery glaze or resin (I used Diamond Glaze)
• sealer (I used ModPodge)
• jewellery glue (I used E-6000)
• printout/drawing of your house prefect design

1. Cut out the design of your choice. Roll out the clay to a uniform thickness (mine is a little less than 1/8" thick). Use your cutout as a pattern for the base of your setting, cutting around the basic shape and leaving 1/8' 'seam allowance' for the walls of your setting. Cut strips of the rolled polymer for the walls. I eyeballed mine, but I just measured and they're 3/16" high. Attach the walls, trimming as you go, around the edge of the base.

2. After all the walls are in place, bake as directed.

3. After clay has cooled, attach pin finding with jewellery glue. Allow to cure.

4. For added security, make a 'band-aid' of polymer - just a rectangle - and attach over the bottom of the pin finding. Rebake your badge.

5. Seal both the front and back of your paper design with sealer. Let dry, then glue to the inside of your setting, trimming if necessary.

6. Before you add your resin, you have to make the setting level. Use a scrap lump of clay under the bottom of the badge to raise it to level.

7. Pour in a thick layer of resin, following your manufacturer's directions.

8. Allow to cure, again following your manufacturer's directions.

Enjoy being a prefect! :)