While stalking @Kwality570 for The Santa Sack swap, I got fixated on the idea of making colorful sardine magnets for her. I really wanted them to have a glazed ceramic look to them but I don’t have the means to do pottery with a kiln.
So it was time to experiment. I decided to use some paper clay I have in the house. I find the clay incredibly challenging to work with but I figured it should be okay as I was just rolling it out thick and cutting out fish shapes with a little “cookie cutter” that I special ordered.
I let them dry for 3 days before painting them. My first attempt was terrible, I tried to add too much detail, so I sanded all the paint off and went with simple colorful stripes. I coated them with polymer clay varnish and set aside.
I liked the way they looked but felt they were missing something so opted to try using gold leafing on the sides. I was a little worried because you need to varnish imitation gold leafing and I wasn’t sure how the gold leaf varnish would interact with the polymer clay varnish but I held my breathe and hoped for the best. It was all good, no bad interactions at all. I did two coats of the varnish with time in between to let the initial coat dry.
By the way, gold leafing gets everywhere. The flecks on the top of the fish were initially an accident, but I liked the look and decided to not painstakingly clean them off and instead to varnish right over them.
I then glued three small earth magnets on the back so the little fishies could be useful little sardines. I am really pleased with my experiment.
The gold leaf was the perfect touch. I love the flecks on the top. I have some gold leaf on my Christmas wish list, and I can’t wait to experiment after seeing these.
I also love that you made them extra sturdy. There is nothing worse than a fridge magnet that won’t hold anything! Okay, there may be a few things worse, but not many.
These are incredible!
The gold leaf and layers of coating make them look so finished and special.
2 Likes
AIMR
(Linda -In the year 2025, I am happy to be alive! :us:)
7
The gold leaf happy accident really made these super special! I love how you used what you had and experimented. They all turned out lovely as well as practical!
These are gorgeous. Paperclay, when glazed, has a ceramic look that’s so lovely and you leant into that perfectly. The gold leaf was inspired! I have some, but have been too chicken to use it.
These would be wonderful to make with the air-dry clay that I love to use. I just love the fish motif! You gave me an idea to make some fish cutters with soda can aluminum.
Your sardines are so beautiful and I love your glazing. The colors and gold leafing elevate them to fine functional art. Thanks for sharing your technique and supplies.
I have some of those earth magnets too. Hard to separate and jumpy but very reliable to hold things!
I really like these! I love the simplicity of them, but the addition of the gold leaf is a perfect touch. I’ve never used paper clay, because I thought it would turn out lumpy, but you got really nice, smooth shapes!
‘Tis the season to be crafty! This awesome project is featured this week! 
You gave me an idea to make some fish cutters with soda can aluminum.
but very reliable to hold things!