Custom Make Your Own Mardi Gras Mask

Mardi Gras is on February 5th 2008. That gives you plenty of time to design and make your own Mardi Gras mask. Making your own mask gives you the freedom to put your own personality into the mask. You can get some ideas on shapes and designs at this website, Mardi Gras masks.

The base of mask can be constructed out of any medium such as thick cloth, paper or card stock. All the base mediums can be over layered with paper mache to help hold its shape. Heavy card stock can be purchased at any office supply store. Cut out the desired shape of the mask and if using card stock wet the medium and place it on your face and form it to your contours. Don't wet the medium too much or it won't hold it's shape. You can then start over-layering the base with paper mache.

Paper mache can be either bought as a powder and mixed with water to form a thick paste or you can make your own out of several home recipes. Home recipes range from a flour and water mixture to using wallpaper paste. Almost all the recipes have you add salt to the mixture to prevent your work of art from molding. Many easy home made paper mache recipes can be found at How to paper mache.

Decide how you will be wearing the mask. This will determine how you will attach the strap or stick to the mask. If you will be wearing the mask hands free then you will need to attach 2 strips of ribbon to the mask to tie it to your head. You can also go with the stick method of holding the mask up to your face. I consider this type of mask the most alluring and is often shown at fancy dress balls. Remember to keep in mind how comfortable the mask will be to wear for a period of time. You don't want the mask to rub your skin raw or cause you to sweat excessively.

When picking out colors to decorate your mask consider the fact that the following colors are associated with Mardi Gras: purple (for justice), green (for faith), gold (for power).

The mask can be decorated with paint, makers, crayons for color. Feathers, sparkles and beads add to the showiness of the mask. If you are attaching anything to your mask use a glue that dries to a clear state. Two great sources of supplies for feathers, beads and art supplies in general are Oriental Trading Post and Mister Art. Oriental Trading Post also has ready to wear masks at bulk rates for those of you who don't feel artistically inclined.