Lookbook view
Styled context
Treat this as a starting point for inspiration and experimentation. The concept and reference imagery here is AI-assisted, and AI helped organize the maker notes. Clay brands, ovens, glues, finishes, and hardware behave differently, so check product instructions and test on scrap before making a batch. Measurements, spacing, and timing are estimates from the reference images. Test them on scrap before making a batch. Some product links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Check listing details, dimensions, materials, and fit before you buy. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosures
These are flat square white tiles, not rounded eyeball charms. Each one carries a chunky pixel eye in the center: a stepped yellow ring iris, a black plus-shaped pupil with a single white highlight pixel, and hot-pink staircase rays shooting outward across the white field. They hang from silver fish-hook ear wires on a short silver chain. You can build the pixel look more than one way, so pick the method that matches your tools. Whatever you choose, cut both tiles from one slab so the pair matches, keep the front dead flat, place the holes at the same height, and bake flat so nothing warps. Then round the edges and hang them after baking.
A matched pair of flat white polymer clay square tiles with a high-gloss front. Centered on each tile is an 8-bit style eye: a stepped (staircase-edged) bright yellow ring iris around a black plus or cross shaped pupil, with a tiny white highlight pixel inside the pupil. Hot-pink pixel rays zigzag outward from the eye in a sunburst across the white background. Each tile hangs from a short silver link chain and a silver fish-hook ear wire, connected through a jump ring at a hole in the top center of the tile. The fronts read as crisp, graphic, and glossy.
A flat pixel-tile build with the eye motif worked while everything stays flat. The stepped pixel look can come from a stepped color-block slab, from a pixel eye cane sliced into matched tiles, from thin cut-and-applied pink rectangles laid over a white base, or from a stencil or silk screen print pulled onto the raw slab. All four feed the same finish: cut a matched mirrored pair from one white slab, press the front flat, pierce matched top holes, bake flat, round the edges, then hang from a chain and fish-hook ear wires after the bake.
Condition each color to the same firmness so they move together. Roll one even white slab for both tiles using thickness guide rails or a pasta machine setting, keeping it thin so the finished earrings stay light. Wipe the slab clean so the eye pieces seat well.
Build the pixel eye. Pattern option A (stepped color-block slab): cut small uniform squares of yellow, black, white, and pink and lay them edge to edge into the stepped eye and rays, then roll the slab lightly so the seams close flush. Pattern option B (pixel cane): build a logged eye cane, rest it, reduce it slowly from the center outward, chill it, slice thin matched tiles, and press them onto the white base. Pattern option C (cut-and-applied pixels): cut the stepped yellow ring iris, the black plus pupil, and a tiny white highlight pixel from thin slabs, lay them on the white base, then cut small hot-pink rectangles and step them outward into the zigzag rays. Pattern option D (stencil or silk screen): pull the eye and ray motif through a fine screen with tinted liquid clay or surface color onto the raw white slab.
For whichever method, press the whole front flat under parchment with a roller so every piece is seated level and the surface is smooth and graphic.
Make a matched mirrored pair: cut both tiles from the same slab with one square cutter so they are the same size, and position the eye the same way on each. Cut the second tile and flip it if you want a true mirror, then confirm the two read as a balanced pair before you go further.
With both tiles side by side, pierce a clean hanging hole at the top center of each, the same distance from the edge on both, leaving a generous margin of clay around the hole so it will not tear. Mark and pierce while the clay is raw, since holes cannot be moved after baking.
Bake the tiles flat on a smooth ceramic tile topped with parchment or cardstock at your clay brand's package temperature and time. Use an oven thermometer to confirm your oven runs true, and loosely tent thin tiles with an index card so the edges do not scorch.
Let the tiles cool fully, then wet-sand the cut edges through rising grits so they are rounded and smooth and will not catch hair or feel sharp. Keep the edge moving so you round it rather than cutting a new flat.
Open a jump ring by twisting it sideways with two pliers, thread it through the tile hole, and connect a short length of silver link chain. Add a second jump ring at the top of the chain to the loop of a silver fish-hook ear wire, then twist each ring closed so the cut ends meet flush. Repeat for the second earring, keeping the chain length identical so the pair hangs even.
If you ever want a stud version instead of a dangle, embed a textured, slightly bent flat-pad post into the raw clay back under a thin clay slice before baking for a hold with no glue seam, or score and alcohol-wipe a cooled baked back and bond a flat-pad post with label-approved two-part epoxy or E6000, letting it reach full cure before wear.
Metal findings like posts, hooks, and jump rings may contain nickel or other allergens. If your wearer has sensitive skin, choose surgical steel or titanium findings and test any sealant or coating on a small spot before wearing.
Before you buy, match the sizes and parts to the version you want to make.
The color stock and clay body choices that carry the visible design.
Matches the iris color that makes the eye readable from a distance.
Useful for the pupil and the smallest graphic line work.
A firmer polymer clay ideal for crisp details, pixel grids, and canes to prevent distortion during slicing and assembly.
What you condition with and how you keep the slab even.
Stencils, blades, and cutters for cleaner outlines.
Hole placement, bake surface, and oven check tools.
Needed for the full eye tiles and the clean border around the motif.
Matches the corner blocks framing the eye tile.
Keeps the square tiles flat during cure.
Useful for tiny marks, seam cleanup, piercing points, and crisp separations before baking.
Posts, jump rings, chain, and connectors that finish the piece.
Matches the hook-earring assembly visible in the worn image.
Lets you recreate the short connector run above each eye tile.
Needed for opening and closing jump rings cleanly during jewelry assembly.
Adhesives and attachment choices when the build needs them.
Optional surface products if you want to shift sheen, sand, or coat.
A lightweight clay with a cohesive suede finish that holds fine textures without sticky residue.
A polymer-clay-compatible glaze option for a glossy finish. Test it on baked scrap before using it on the finished piece.
Each one walks through a technique used in this piece, in full detail.
Graphic lips, eyes, mushrooms, and badge-like brooches are often easier to build as flat or gently domed pixel slabs. This guide covers crisp staircase edges, stacked layers, and ways to keep left and right pieces matched.
If an inspiration piece looks like it was built from placed petals, dots, lips, stars, or tiny cut motifs, this is usually the technique family you need. Learn when to applique, when to press pieces flush, and how to keep flat builds crisp instead of lumpy.
Custom range
Ask for a build pack to make it yourself (the cutter or tool files, a supply list, and a plan), or ask the studio to make the finished pieces for you.
More pieces with a related form, finish, or making path.
Pin it to a board, copy the link, or keep it saved here while you make your own version.
Tag Clay Bake Studio on Instagram or TikTok so we can see how you adapted it.
