Welcome to the Wonderful World of Worbla

I’m always excited when I discover new things that fill a void in my life I never knew existed.  Like Amazon Prime – I never knew how much I needed free, next day shipping until my neighbor let me sponge off his account for a year. Now I can’t imagine my world without the nearly-instant gratification of getting my bulk order of mod podge or year supply of ramen noodle delivered long before I’ve decided I totally didn’t need that junk.

So today I pay it forward and do for you what my neighbor did for me when he lent me his Prime benefits. Today, I introduce you to the greatest crafty medium you never knew you needed – Worbla. . .

The Canary Mask (AKA – The Day I Discovered Worbla)

It’s September, which means it’s time to get a costume plan in place for Halloween (don’t judge me for being proactive!) Some years I’m too lazy to deal with a full-on plan, but this year I’m feelin’ it and am ready to rock this suburbia trick-or-treating. As such, I’ve decided to be a masked crusader – Canary from Arrow – to be exact. But since I live in cookie-cutter-house-ville and 9 out of 10 people probably have no idea what Arrow is, I’ll just tell everyone I’m a kick-ass chic and be done with the explanation.

As this kick-ass chick, I need a mask.  My lovely partner in crime is always up for helping make a costume, so he began checking out blogs and YouTube videos on mask making for me.  We tried a few liquid latex versions, but they weren’t as awesome as we had hoped.  Then …… we discovered the coolest, most awesome cosplay (that’s costume play for all you too cool people out there) product.  It’s called Worbla, and it’s quite possibly, the most versatile crafting medium ever made.

Worbla comes in a roll and looks and feels like extremely heavy cardstock with a plastic coating – and that’s essentially what it is – plastic paper.  It’s moldable, sitckable, bendable, pliable, and any other “able” you can think of – just heat it and watch the possibilities unfold! Don’t believe me – check out the website or do a Google search to see the endless options.

Our first Worbla project is pretty basic – a simple, straight forward mask. We started by making a template out of scrap paper and testing it on my face for size.  Remember, your finished mask will form to your face, so you have to account for that in your template. As you can see, the flat mask seems to have its eyes father apart, but that’s because I will need the mask to mold around my nose.

Once you’re happy with your template, transfer the pattern to your Worbla. Use a heat gun or hair dryer to heat the Worbla so that it’s easier to cut. DON’T THROW AWAY YOUR SCRAPS! Worbla isn’t cheap so save those scraps to use in another project.

After you have your mask cut out, heat it again so you can begin molding it to your face. Once the Worbla is warm and wiggly (don’t burn yourself folks), apply it to your face – smooth side in – and start molding it to your unique facial shape.  My partner in crime helped mold mine while I relaxed on our family room floor, but you could easily do this in a mirror. Reheat and remold again and again until you are happy with the shape. Once you’re satisfied, hold it in place till it’s somewhat cool and hardened.

My mask is simple, I’m painting it black and not adding any other dimensions.  But Worbla molds to itself, so you could create pretty much any feature you imagine. For me, I’m sealing my Worbla with a few coats of Mod Podge to give it that leather look and prepare it for paint. A few quick coats of spray paint and my mask is ready.  If you want it super smooth, break out some sandpaper and go to town – you’ll also want to prime it and sand it again between coats for a super perfect, glossy finish. A little spirit gum or liquid latex holds it in place.