How to Make Colorful DIY Rainbow Sunglasses at Home

– Round or circle sunglasses (choose frames with a rim you can glue onto)
– Polymer clay in your chosen rainbow colors (and white for clouds)
– Craft knife or X-Acto knife
– Parchment paper
– Pen or pencil
– Small rolling pin (not for food use)
– Strong craft glue (E6000 recommended)
– Toothpick

1. Place your sunglasses on a sheet of parchment paper and trace the outside of the lenses. Flip the paper over so you can see the tracing from the back — this prevents pen marks from transferring onto clay. This becomes your guide for shaping the rainbow pieces.
2. Choose the colors you want for your rainbow. For a pastel look, mix a small ball of each color with a slightly larger ball of white clay and knead until smooth. I used five colors, but for smaller frames consider using fewer colors so the design doesn’t block vision.
3. Start with the middle color of the rainbow. Break the clay ball in half and roll each half into a long, even “snake” using the table and your hand.
4. Lay the colored snakes along the upper half of the sunglass tracing on your parchment paper. This line marks the rim placement for all the colors.
5. Roll out the remaining colors into snakes and place each directly above the previous color so the edges touch. The touching seam will bond the colors together when baked.
6. It’s fine if colors blend slightly where they meet — the seam will be covered by a cloud shape later, so just make sure the cloud will hide any messy joins.
7. Roll out white clay to about 1/4″ thickness. Use your craft knife to freehand cut three cloud shapes for each side. Make clouds large enough to cover the ends and seams of the rainbow, but not so large that they block your view. Test sizes by laying them lightly on top of the rainbow and adjust if needed.
8. While the clouds rest on the rainbow, trim any excess colored clay so nothing peeks below the cloud edges.
9. Transfer your finished clay pieces to a piece of parchment on a baking sheet and bake according to polymer clay package instructions — generally about 15 minutes per 1/4″ of thickness. For most sunglasses pieces expect roughly 12–15 minutes. Keep an eye on them after 10 minutes to avoid burning.
10. Remove from the oven with oven mitts and allow the pieces to cool completely.
11. When fully cooled, run a thin line of glue along the upper rim of the sunglasses (work one side at a time). Press a rainbow piece onto the rim so the middle color sits centered on the frame edge. Hold briefly and repeat on the other side. Let glue set a few minutes before adding clouds.
12. Apply glue to the back of each cloud and press them over the ends of the rainbows to hide seams. Let the glue cure completely following the glue manufacturer’s instructions before wearing.