DIY Day of the Dead Mask

 

I was looking for a Halloween costume that didn't require a short dress.  I decided to go with a Day of the Dead themed mask (pair with a black flowy dress for a woman or a tie-less tux for a man).

 

All you need to make the mask is:

• a mask (duh), I bought a full fase mask at A.C.Moore
• paint (white, black, & red)
• scissors
• hole punch
• thin black ribbon

 

1. start with a simple full face mask, you're going to end up cutting off most of the face.

 

2. cut off the elastic that you would use to hold this in place (you're going to replace it with something better)

 

3. notice that the holes on each side of the mask don't match up, curse, mark two new holes so now each side of the mask will have two evenly spaced holes.

 

4. mark where you want your forehead to end, I used a ribbon and two small clamps to draw a nice smooth even line (see image 4).

 

5. discard the cut off bit of the forehead and then try to round your corners out as much as you can to avoid corners that will end up poking you.

 

6. then cut off the bottom of the mask (below the nose, above the mouth), you don't have to be as careful with this cut.

 

7. cut out the bottom of the nose (see image 7), again, try to round your corners out as much as possible.

 

8. sketch out some ideas for your mask, I found some images online that I tried my best to recreate.

 

9. apply that sketch to the mask.

 

10. start painting

 

11. keep on painting until your mask starts to look pretty awesome.

 

12. string some black ribbon through the holes on the side of the mask so that you can tie it on and wear it.

 

then BAM! You've got yourself a Day of the Dead mask!