Pink & White Millefiori Flower Collar Pin

Condition pink, white, yellow, chartreuse green, and dark navy clay until smooth. A firmer clay keeps the petal edges crisp through reduction and slicing.

Pattern option A (millefiori cane, the look in the photo): Build a pink five-petal flower cane and a white five-petal flower cane, each wrapped around a yellow center. Cap both ends of each cane, make a waist, and reduce in a barbell shape so the design holds, until each flower is about 6 to 8 mm across. Let the canes rest, then slice thin even rounds with a clean tissue blade, turning the cane a quarter turn between cuts.

Pattern option B (cut-and-applied flower slab): Build the flowers as a stacked loaf instead of a round cane, slice thin cross-sections, and treat them like the cane slices in the next step. This trades the round-flower read for a slightly more graphic, blocky flower.

Pattern option C (hand-laid raised relief): Skip the cane. Cut tiny petals and yellow centers from thin clay, brush a seriously thin film of liquid polymer clay onto the blank, press each piece down, and blend only the foot so the flowers stand slightly proud. This reads dimensional rather than flush.

Build the blank: roll a dark navy slab to one even thickness using guide strips so the disc bakes flat. Wipe the raw surface with a damp swab to clear dust before applying the pattern.

For options A and B, lay the flower slices edge to edge across the blank and tuck small chartreuse green dots into the gaps, matching the scatter in the photo. Smooth from the center outward to push out trapped air.

For options A and B, roll the whole patterned slab gently (butting one edge against the pasta machine wall and swapping sides) so the slices fuse into one flush surface. For option C, leave the relief proud.

Cut the disc with a round cutter and ease the outer edge with a fingertip for the soft domed profile shown. Check the blank against a flat tile so it does not rock.

Choose your pin route now. Glue route: bake the disc plain on the back, attach the pin after cooling (later steps). Embed route: texture and slightly kink the pin pad, brush liquid clay over the seat, press it into the raw back above the horizontal center line, cap it with a thin clay layer, and seal the seam.

Bake flat: rest the disc on a ceramic tile lined with parchment or plain cardstock so the back stays matte, and tent loose foil over it to even the heat. For an embedded pin, nest the piece so nothing presses the back flat against the finding. Cure at your clay brand's package temperature and time, using an oven thermometer to confirm the real oven temperature. Bake the full time so the back holds the pin.

Let the piece cool completely on the flat tile before handling, since warm clay sets its shape as it cools.

Wet-sand the front through 400, 600, 1000, and 2000 grit with water to level any high slices and bring the millefiori up crisp. For option C relief, sand lightly so you do not flatten the raised flowers.

Finish to the photo: buff to a satin sheen, or brush one thin coat of a water-based gloss glaze, tested first on baked scrap. A water-based finish keeps the cane edges crisp; solvent or aerosol coats can stay tacky over time.

Glue route only: lightly score the glue seat on the cooled back and the metal pad, wipe both with isopropyl alcohol to remove oils, then bond a bar pin set above the horizontal center line with two-part epoxy or E6000. Let it cure fully and undisturbed before wearing.