Preheat oven to 275 °F. Test temperature with oven thermometer for perfectly cured clay. Condition all clay by kneading until it’s soft and smooth or running it through the Clay Conditioning Machine for several passes on the widest setting. Fold the clay in half after each pass and insert the fold side into the rollers first.

Take 1/8 of a cube of Black and roll it into a 1/2" diameter tube that is 20 mm long.

We are going to make a bulls-eye cane with the Black and Ecru clays. Start by rolling out a sheet of Ecru that is as wide as our squat tube of Black. Lay the tube on one edge of the Ecru sheet and start to roll the Black tube.

Once the edge of the Ecru meets up with the other side, unroll so you have a cutting mark. Cut the sheet at the mark.

Roll up the Black tube with the Ecru sheet meeting the ends of the sheet. Then, add two more sheets of Ecru around the bulls-eye.

Now, take your bulls-eye and reduce it to where you can get 2 separate 20 mm canes.

Take one of the 20 mm bulls eye canes and reduce it again this time to a 40 mm length. Do the same to the other. These are going to be the cartoon kids' eyes!

Now, we are going to work on the nose. Make a 1/2" diameter tube that is 20 mm long with Ecru. Roll out a sheet of Black that is the same width as the Ecru tube.

Mark, slice, and wrap the Black sheet around the Ecru tube.

Next, take the tube and wrap with three (3) sheets of Ecru.

Next, reduce the nose bulls-eye cane to 40 mm measuring it with a ruler

This is what we have so far:

Now, we have to fill in the space between the eyes. Roll out a 1/2" tube of Ecru and shape the tube into a triangle. Cut two 40 mm lengths of the triangle.

Stand the triangles on end and put together as shown:

Add the eyes, compact slightly, and gently smooth the edges of the triangles to the eyes.

Now, we have to add the nose. Make two 40 mm triangles that will fit into the space between the eyes and the nose.

Smooth the triangles into the eyes and nose and compact slightly.

Now we are going to add the mouth. Take a sheet of Ecru the depth of your new cane and wrap it around the bottom of the nose area. Smooth the edge of the Ecru sheet into the triangle slightly.

Roll out a Black sheet the depth of your cane and add it to the mouth area.

Next we need to cover the mouth with a sheet of Ecru, and smooth the seams into the cheek area.

Repeat this part of the step two (2) more times.

Now, we have a face that needs to be made round. Make two 40 mm triangles to fill in the cheek area, and take a small slab to fill in the area above the eyes.

This is what your cane should look like at this stage.

Don't worry if you have a larger cheek area or a larger forehead area than what is shown in these pictures. This is what makes all face canes unique. At this point we need to wrap our face cane with a sheet of Ecru.

As earlier, reduce your face cane until it is about double in length, and slice off the distorted ends if needed.

Now, we need to add a forehead to the face cane. First, we start by making a triangle that is the same length as the face cane.

We want this triangle big enough to go from approximately the center of one eye to the center of the next eye.

After you have carefully placed the triangle on the top of the cane, check the other side to make sure it is also going from the center of both eyes. Carefully smooth the triangle into the top of the cane.

Now, we have to give our kid some hair. Take 1.5 packages of the Raw Sienna, and after conditioning it slightly, form it into a slab that is as deep as your cane.

You want to make certain that it will go from the bottom of one eye to the bottom of the other eye. Find the center of your slab and slightly indent it with the Needle Tool.

Using your index finger, indent the slab really well.

Now, we are going to center it on the tip of the forehead triangle.

At this point it’s a good idea to cut all of the left over cane ends, and try to recoup any solid colors that you can.

Now it is time to reduce your carefully constructed cane. Start by squeezing at one end of the cane and slowly work your way to the other end, using even pressure.

This is what your cane should look like at this point. Slice off the distorted ends.

Now we have to roll the cane to the desired diameter. You can use the palm of your hand to roll the cane evenly. You need to make sure your cane does not get twisted.

If it does get twisted, give it a twist in the other direction to straighten it out.

A good size for the base of the kid face canes to be 3/8" in diameter. It makes a good bead size. Since we are making a boy and a girl, we need two lengths of cane the same diameter. You will have lots of face cane to make other boys and girls with. Now, we need to give our kids ears! Using one of the round disks for the clay gun, we are going to extrude Ecru for the ears.

NOTE: Take a hardware store caulking gun, and insert a PVC straight plumbing connector that will lay in the trough. Lay the clay gun inside the connector so that the "arms" extend over the sides of the connector. Bring the caulking gun plunger down to meet the clay gun's plunger. Carefully use the trigger of the caulking gun and watch the extrusions "shoot" out easily from the end of the clay gun.

We are going to need 4 strands of Ecru the same length as our canes.

Now, here's the tricky part. Lay your cane on its side. Take one length of extruded ear, and line it up with the hair. Press the ear length on straight. Then do the other side.

See how the ears are really pressed onto the side.

The next step is easy. We need to take 1/4 cube of the White and mix it with 1/1th of a cube of the Cadmium Red Hue to make pink, and then do the same with the Cobalt Blue Hue to make a light blue.

It is time to make a hat for the boy. Take the light blue we just made and roll into a short, squat tube. Take your Super Slicer blade and make a V mark on the top of the tube.

Once you like the V, take your blade and cut straight down to make 3 different sections.

Now, roll out the Cobalt Blue Hue the same height as the middle section of what was our short, squat tube. We are going to apply those sheets to the middle section of the tube and then put the tube back together again.

Take the tube with the “V” and turn it upside down. Shape it into a triangle.

By gently pushing, patting, pulling, and stretching, reduce the hat cane until it is about the same size as the kids head at the base.

We will return to the hat cane in a moment. We are going to cut off the top of the boys head to make room for his hat. Start by putting your blade on the side of the face just above the ears and push in slightly. At first it is better to take off less until you get the hang of how much is necessary to make a flat surface for the hat to sit on. Work your way to the other end of the cane, making sure you put your finger on the end of the cane to stabilize it.

Now, take the hat to make sure it is the appropriate size. Roll out a sheet of the Cobalt Blue Hue making sure it is as long as your hat cane and at least twice as wide. Also, cut one side of the length of Cobalt Blue Hue sheet to give it a straight edge to place the hat cane.

Take the hat cane and line it up on one side of the Cobalt Blue Hue sheet. Take your blade and cut the other side of what is now the bill of the hat to give that side a straight edge.

Now it's time to put the hat on our boy. Line up the edge of the hat on one side of the boys head, and the bill side will hang over one ear.

After you like your placement of the hat, then press it well so that it sticks to the head.

His hat now needs that button thing on top. Take some leftover Cobalt Blue Hue and roll out an even log as long as the boy cane.

Place the log on top of the hat and line it up straight. Place the whole cane in your hands and by using your fingers to push, work your way down the cane from one end to the other pressing the log onto the hat.

Your boy cane is now done.

Now, the girl needs a bow for her hair! Take the pink clay that we mixed, and roll into a tube that is 60 mm long using the ruler to measure. Cut the tube into 2 pieces, one that is 40 mm long and the other 20 mm long.

Using the 40 mm long tube, flatten slightly and mark the top with 2 straight lines as in the picture.

Roll out a sheet of Cadmium Red Hue and cut straight down the pink tube using your marks. Take the sheet of Cadmium Red Hue and place it inside the cuts, cutting off any excess clay. This will be the bow sides.

Take the 20 mm tube, wrap with a sheet of Cadmium Red Hue, making it into a bulls-eye cane. This will be the bow center.

Reduce both the bow center and the bow sides to approximately 1/4" diameter.

We will need 2 bow sides and one bow center.

Try to keep the bow sides straight as we will be using the lines as a guide. Taking one of the bow sides, place it on the bow center with the lines facing the center. Work your way down to the other end keeping the bow side straight.

Pick up your bow and gently press the sides together. Work from one end of the bow to the other, gently reducing the size of the bow.

Now, let's take that bow we just made and see how pretty our girl looks with it on. We will need 2 bows (one for each side of her head), the same length of the girl cane. Take one of the bows and line it up on the side of her head with her ears.

See how pretty she is with her bows on!

It is now time to add the pig-tails. Using the left over Raw Sienna clay, make a log as long as the girl cane.

Flatten the log out slightly. We will need one for each side of her head. Line up one side of the flattened log with the middle of her bow.

Starting at one end of her head, gently flatten the hair along the top into the bow, making sure you cover the middle section of the bow. Do the same to the other side, and this is what you should have so far.

Pick up your girl cane and gently press the hair onto her ears. Now, lay her upside down on your table and curve the hair around her ears, making sure that the hair sticks to her ears.

There you have it, a beautiful girl face cane!

Baking Instructions: Bake your canes by this rule of thumb: Bake on index cards or copy paper in a calibrated oven (check dial temperature with an external thermometer, and adjust accordingly) set to 275 °F for 30 minutes per 1/4" of thickness.