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Masquerade Mask

Create your own masquerade mask for Halloween, Mardi Gras or costume parties. They're great for school plays and performances as well. This craft includes printable mask templates plus lots of creative decorating ideas.

See Earth-friendly tips for this craft Earth-friendly tips for this craft

Materials Needed

Printable card stock
Poster paint or crayons
Scissors
White glue
Paint brush
Dowel or disposable chopsticks
Feathers
Glitter glue
Glue gun (optional)
Decorative materials: sequins, rhinestones, ribbons, crepe
paper strips, puffy paint,
aluminum foil, etc.

Safety Guidelines

Small decorative materials such as sequins and rhinestones may be a choking hazard. Do not use these with children below the age of 3.
Keep the glue gun out of children's reach.
Watch out for this sign . It means you need an adult's help for the particular step.

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Steps

	1.	Choose from any of these Masquerade Mask templates and print it out on Letter size or A4 card stock.
	2.	Notice that the mask templates are quite plain. This is to give you more room for modifying or drawing additional detail on the mask.
	3.	Cut out the mask, including the eye holes.
	4.	If you are planning to make a two-toned mask or a multi-colored mask, it will be helpful to sketch the design on your mask. This will make painting or coloring a lot easier.
	5.	Paint or color your mask. Here are some tips and options: a.) Two-toned or multi-colored masks are great for making bright and festive masks. Metallic colors like gold and silver are commonly used for masquerade masks but ordinary colors are great too.
		b.) You need not necessarily use many colors for your mask. Sometimes a single color or even an unpainted mask can be a good option since more decorations can be added in the succeeding steps. c.) To prevent your mask from curling at the edges, you can do the following: Refrain from adding water to paint or add only a little bit to make it spreadable If the paper or cardstock you used isn't thick enough, glue the template onto cardboard or thick construction paper before Step 3 Paint both sides of the mask- you can paint the underside with white or any single color of paint. d.) Instead of painting, you can color your mask with crayons or oil pastels.

	6.	Add more sparkle to your mask with glitter glue. The glitter glue's small nozzle is very ideal for decorating small areas and making those little details (top photo). For large areas, you may squeeze on a glob of glitter glue and spread it with a brush (bottom photo). Note that you can also achieve the same effect by either sprinkling glitter directly onto wet paint or brushing glue onto the mask then sprinkling over with glitter. However both these options oftentimes result in a lot of stray glitter which can irritate your eyes. For safety reasons, glitter glue is a better option.
	7.	Glue on decorative materials such as sequins, rhinestones, gem-style stickers and plastic gems. You can also make textured/raised dots and lines using puffy paint, glitter glue or undiluted poster/acrylic paint. Here are some examples: a.) This fiery dragon-inspired mask was achieved by gluing on various-shaped sequins along the edges of the mask. Little black dots around the eyes were made with puffy paint while red glitter glue was used to make the smaller red dots on the upper corners. b.) The little black puffy paint dots defined the main lines for this plain silver mask. You may also make these dots by applying undiluted poster or acrylic paint using a cotton bud or the wooden tip of a paint brush. A few rhinestones and a fabric star were added as accents.

		c.) A colorful mask, especially when brushed over with glitter glue, does not need a lot of embellishment.
	8.	Obtain a dowel or chopstick to use as the handle for your mask. You may keep the handle plain or decorate it by painting it, winding a fabric ribbon around it, or covering the whole stick in aluminum foil.
	9.	Glue the handle at the back of the mask. You may glue the handle's tip in the middle or along one edge of the mask. For a quicker drying time, use glue gun instead of white glue.
	10.	Complete your mask by gluing on some feathers, curly ribbons, crepe paper strips, pipe cleaner and other materials to accent the handle or sides of your mask. These decorations that sprout up or trail down from the mask highlights most masquerade and Mardi Gras masks.
	11.	Let the glue dry thoroughly before wearing your mask. Hold it by the handle in front of your face for a fabulous Halloween or Mardi Gras disguise.

More Ideas

	For a longer lasting mask, you may trace the mask template onto craft foam or felt sheet. Cut out and decorate the craft foam mask following the steps above. Instead of feathers, you can use strips of fabric or colorful paper. In this mask, I even used aluminum foil! The trailing material along the sides are curled fabric ribbons.
	Combine any two mask templates to come up with a unique effect. This butterfly mask was adorned with crepe papers strips trailing along the sides. The antennae was made from pipe cleaner bent into a "V" shape and curled at the ends.

Earth Friendly Tips

When it's finally time to dispose of, or dismantle your craft project, sort out the materials that you can re-use (e.g. rhinestones, sequins, dowels, feathers, etc.).

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