How to Make a Leftover Kaleidoscope Cane

Polymer clay leftover kaleidoscope cane
Polymer clay leftover kaleidoscope cane

The Leftover Kaleidoscope Cane has to be one of my favorite leftover techniques. It takes some of the worst leftover bits and pieces and turns them into something really cool.

Each cane is completely unique and can’t ever be exactly repeated. Something rather boring becomes something really exciting as you never know what the cane is going to look like until you’ve cut into the finished piece.

This technique is easy, fun, exciting and works for just about any leftovers.


You will need the following supplies:

  • Three or more colors of leftover clay
  • A tissue blade
  • A pasta machine
  • An acrylic roller
  • A ruler or Kato Marx-it


How to Make a Polymer Clay Leftover Kaleidoscope Cane Step by Step

  • I’ll be using four different colors of leftover clay today.
  • Roll each pile of leftovers into a ball and then a cylinder. (I cut one ball into two so now I have five cylinders.)
  • Take each cylinder and place them next to each other in a sheet.
  • Compact them with your fingertips so that they stick together.
  • Flatten the sheet with your acrylic roller.
  • Roll this through the pasta machine on the thickest setting so that you lengthen each cylinder.
  • Take it down to your fifth thinnest setting, again lengthening the cylinders.
  • Repeat on the third thinnest setting.
  • Cut the sheet into inch wide sections perpendicular to the stripes and stack them. You should now have a rough rectangular shape.
  • Compact your stack using your fingers.
  • Squash your rectangular shape into a triangle and reduce it until you can cut out six pieces. See the video for the correct procedure.
  • Trim off the distorted ends.
  • Cut your triangular cane into six equal pieces. I use my Kato Marx-It to measure out my pieces. You could also use a ruler.
  • Place these six pieces together into a hexagon shape just like you would any kaleidoscope. Make sure the pattern lines up exactly on both ends.
  • Press all the pieces together by resting the cane on the tile, pushing down with your fingertips, rotating the cane and repeating.
  • Go round one final time, rolling each side with your roller to flatten it. See the video for the correct procedure.
  • Allow your Kaleidoscope cane to cool and rest for a while before slicing.
This is how you make a Kaleidoscope cane with your leftovers.

In the video I show some examples of different canes, so be sure to take a look.


How to Make a Leftover Kaleidoscope Cane

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suggested links

If you need more information on reducing your canes, take a look at my reducing polymer clay canes tutorial, where I show how to reduce round, square, triangular and hexagonal canes correctly.


If I have missed something, or you still have questions, please leave a comment below


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