I love masks. Friends give them to me as gifts. I’ve made them from paper mache and fabric for various costumes. I covet the lovely artisan-crafted ones on Etsy and at various neighborhood festivals. So when a friend invited me to a 12th Night Fairyland Masque in the East Village, I had Big Plans.
Some of those plans involved spending money I didn’t have. So I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. The “Sprinkles in Springs Chick Masquerade DIY Mask & Template” looked cool. Â I ordered the necessaries: black puffy paint, tulle, and ribbon. I already had Saran Wrap, scissors, and tape at home.
Pinbusted or Pintrusted: DIY Masquerade Mask Test Number 1
Setting up was pretty easy. I printed out the template from the website, taped it down, taped saran wrap over that, and then taped a length of tulle down after that. Then I got to work.
All was going quite well until I touched the saran wrap accidentally and a half-hour’s worth of careful line tracing turned into a puffy-paint puddle.
But I’d gotten the hang of it by then. Or the bug had bitten. Something. Because I laid out not only two more mask templates, but drew a few of my own. This time, I didn’t mess with the surface after I’d put the paint down.
Pinbusted or Pintrusted: DIY Masquerade Mask Test 2:Â
I turned to Twitter for help.
So I drew the tentacle mask too.
and it turned out really great.
The toughest part was waiting for this whole batch to dry. Â In four hours, it was dry enough to peel away, but the masks smelled very strongly of paint. I worried they might be intolerable for the party, which, given my careful planning skills, was only about 10 hours hence.
I used craft glue to attach ribbons to the sides and let those dry. Then I trimmed the tulle, making the eyeholes as wide as possible. First tests showed that the masks stayed on well, though I would have loved some fabric starch to add a little body to the tulle.
The real test for the masks was at the party–where they looked great and the smell had completely faded. However, with a lot of talking and movement, my mask shifted a bit too easily. Fabric starch might have helped that, but another guest suggested a dab of theatrical spirit gum would also have solved the problem.
I took my mask off after a while and laid it on a table. It had certainly passed with high marks for a homemade mask. It could also be that my alterations to the pattern left it less sturdy. A friend wore her mask (because I’d made several) all night, and she looked smashing in it.
So? Overall, this is a solid Pintrusted, with a recommendation for spirit gum. The project was a ton of fun.
You can check out other Pinbusted/Pintrusted posts here.
A friend used eyelash glue to glue the mask to her face. It lasted a whole night of partying with no problems!
Oh, good to know, Tee! Thanks for the tip.
Love this post—glad to know my mask has been Pintrusted! 🙂 That’s a great idea.
Thanks so much, Kara!
Great craft! Will try this.
These are great, Fran! Now I need a masked ball to make one for…
Thanks, Helen! I think there should be more masquerades all around, for Reasons.
Curious – none of the photos in your posts show up for me (though the side ad pix do!) no matter which browser I use. Any thoughts?
Many thanks!
Debbie