How to Make a Dog Mask Out of Clay
Make a dog mask to hang as a decoration in your home or to wear to a costume party. There are many materials you can use to make a mask, as well as many different techniques. By using polymer clay, which you can bake in a conventional oven at a low temperature, you can make a clay mask in your own kitchen. Follow a basic procedure to mold the mask to fit your face and shape it to look like the face of a dog.
Things You'll Need
- Aluminum foil
- Ruler
- Marker
- Utility knife
- Polymer clay
- Rolling pin
- Skewer
- Acrylic paints
- Paintbrush
- String
Instructions
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1
Unroll about 3 feet of aluminum foil from the roll and fold it up over your face three times to make it 4 inches longer than the height of your face.
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2
Roll the edges in around the edges of your face as neatly as you can, and press it against your face so that it molds to the shapes of your facial features. Do not press the foil around your nose, just your forehead and eye sockets.
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3
Bend the sides of the aluminum inward past your cheekbones so that the remaining portion of the mask is 3 inches wide.
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4
Use a marker to mark the location of your eyes on the aluminum mold. You will need a friend to do this part for you. Remove the aluminum to reveal the form of your face.
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5
Cut out the eye holes with a utility knife. Work carefully so you don't warp the shape of the face mold as you cut.
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6
Work a block of polymer clay in your hands to soften it and roll it into a ball. Roll the ball out on a clean, smooth tabletop with a rolling pin until the clay is about 1/4-inch thick and a little larger all the way around than the aluminum mold of your face.
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Place the flattened clay on top of the mold of your face and gently press it against the foil so it takes on the shape of the mold. Carefully cut the eye holes in the clay with the utility knife.
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8
Flatten two oblong pieces of clay and press them to either side of the mask near the top to make floppy ears. Pierce a hole through the clay near the edges of the mask on either side with a skewer.
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9
Put the clay-covered fold into a conventional oven preheated to 250 degrees. Bake the mask for 20 minutes and remove it from the oven. Wait at least 1 hour and gently pull the foil away from the underside of the mask. The clay is now hard and holds the shape of the dog mask.
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10
Paint the front of the mask with black, brown or gray acrylic paint to give the dog mask a color. Paint the end of the snout black or pink for the nose. Wait about 1 hour for the mask to dry. Tie the ends of a string to the holes on the sides of the mask to hang it on a wall or wear it on your face.
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References
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
