Easy Peasy Sugar Skull designs with Delight™ Air Dry Modeling Compound

Hello all and welcome to my Halloween/Day of the Dead design preparations.  In my role as art teacher to grades K-8 I look for easy "filler" projects that the students can create.  Enter Delight™ Air Dry Modeling Compound and a silicone mold! 

Browsing around my favorite craft store I found a skull silicone mold on sale (woohoo!).  Of course I picked it up to experiment with.  As soon as I got home I pulled out my Delight™ clay and went to work.  I pulled off a bit of the clay, squeezed it in my hand, and then rolled it into a ball.  The ball was pressed firmly into one of the skull cavities in the mold until I was pretty sure the clay filled the space.  Then I repeated the process until all of the cavities were filled.

 

I tried to press the clay out of the mold, but it left a huge dent in the skull.  Not the look I was going for, so I placed the mold into my freezer and let it sit for about 15 minutes.  BINGO!  The skulls popped out easily and without distortion.  I repeated the process with the rest of the package of Delight™ (NOTE:  I was able to create 16 skulls [each about 1/2" thick] from one package of clay.  If creating thinner skulls then of course more could be made).

(NOTE: If you are a patient soul, the clay can be left in the mold to dry.  As noted, I am not the most patient of souls when it comes to crafting 😉)

I placed all of the skulls onto a paper towel and set them aside to dry overnight.  In the morning I turned the skulls over to make sure they were dry all the way through. 

An optional drying technique: Place them on a drying rack, so air circulates and speeds the process. Plus, no need to turn the pieces over!

Once dry I went to work with Prismacolor® markers (NOTE: Sharpie® markers would also work for this part).  I Googled "sugar skull designs" and found quite a few ideas for decorations.  I went to work.  

I used the fine tip for the bulk of the coloring process.  The clay took the colors beautifully and didn't seem to "bleed".  Glitter could be added or crystals or paint...if you can imagine it, I am sure it can be done!  I have a few left that I may use nail polish to give dimensional details.

I hope you have enjoyed this quick and easy craft.  Completed skulls can be used in many ways: pins, magnets, table decorations, wreaths, or shadow boxes...they are even lightweight enough to be made into earrings!