The World Colors line by Faber-Castell includes more than the fabulous color pencils with blendable skin tones I shared at the beginning of the week. They also sent me their World Colors Modeling Clay. (Affiliate link here and throughout the post.) This fun set has fifteen colors of clay, including six skin tones, seven rainbow colors, and black and white. The package also includes three double-ended tools.
I played with the clay during a two-hour long meeting (one of the best things about meeting via Zoom is the opportunity for crafty multitasking) and eventually made this:
I say 'eventually' because I did a lot of experimental blending and mixing first. The actual project took around 15 minutes. The first thing I did was to create a bunch of different skin tones, which you can see on the bottom right of my work tray. (Which, in a previous life, held something edible from Costco.) Then I did some marbling with the other colors and started what resembles a patchwork quilt. It was so much fun to just play with the colors. It's been a long time since I've used modeling clay.
I put some thought into how to make use of the skin tones I'd created and came up with the idea of the connected hearts encircling the globe, which I'm calling World Peace in Clay. Note that modeling clay does not harden and is intended to be used again and again, which is perfect for kids. If you want to make something permanent, use an oven-bake clay like Sculpey.
---------
World Peace in Clay
Materials:
- World Colors Modeling Clay
- clay rolling pin
- tiny heart cutter
- nonstick mat (I used a sheet of plastic, but a mat would have been better)
Steps:
Mix white and blue clay to make the perfect shade for your globe. Roll it out, then find something round that's the size you want the globe to be, and press it into the clay to mark the circle (I used a tupperware bowl). Use the provided tool to cut away the excess clay.
Roll out green clay, then use the tools to shape pieces to look like the continents. No need to be precise - just the approximate shapes. Layer them on the blue circle.
Roll out each of the skin tones and press the heart cutter into them, one at a time. Then place the hearts onto the globe where the Equator is.
I love how this turned out. Thank you to Faber-Castell, both for letting me play with this clay and for making the product in the first place. What a wonderful thing that we can now so easily depict all skin tones in our crafts.
