With what impatience we expect a holiday! Preparation for it sometimes begins in a few months. Especially if a costume ball is expected. Here everyone has to smash his head: how to make a carnival mask, what to sew a costume from, what replicas will the mumbler say?
You can, of course, not bother about this, but just go to the store and buy the right suit with a mask. Or even easier - make an order online. These are, by far, the easiest solutions. But, alas, then along with the problems, the aroma of the holiday disappears, languor, expectation, the happiness of owning an exclusive outfit, such that no one on earth has!
So for those who want to give themselves and their loved ones the highest pleasure from the expected holiday, there is no other way but to make a carnival mask with your own hands and sew a costume with your own hands.
There are several ways to make a mask. The simplest is a crown mask. Basically, these masks are prepared for the smallest children, who are simply afraid to put on a real mask on their faces. For such a mask, a headband must be made of paper to fit the head so that it fits snugly on the forehead and passes through the back of the head. On the front, a picture depicting the character in which the child dresses up is glued to the rim.
The second way is masquerade glasses. They are also decorated with either ears or appliqués that match the theme of the entire outfit.
Using the third method, everyone will learn how to make a papier-mâché mask. It is more complex, but the result is much higher than the previously described methods. So how to make a papier-mâché mask?
To make it, we need a lot of old newspapers or used school notebooks, glue or paste, some clean white paper for the top coat, paint for coloring (you can take a little varnish). But the most important thing is the form on which we will stick pieces of paper.
The easiest way is to use a piece of cool salt dough. From it should be molded right on the table the desired shape. If someone is interested in the question of how to make a mask from papier-mâché not on the whole face, but only on the nose and eyebrows, then they can be advised to use plasticine. The nose and eyebrows of the desired shape also stick to the surface of the table, like dough for a full mask.
Craftsmen advise in some cases to use a balloon, on which the necessary bulges are molded: nose, lips, eyebrows, chin. You can use the ball, but then the “face” of the mask will turn round, which does not always correspond to the character.
After the template for the mask is made, the process itself begins. Since making a mask from papier-mâché is not very difficult, it is recommended to involve children in this process, especially in cases where the costume is prepared for kids. They can, for example, tear paper into small pieces. Older children can be entrusted with pasting the form with pieces of paper.
The process begins with the fact that pieces of paper are glued onto the form without the use of glue, but only soaked in water. This is done so that later you can easily remove the mask from the form. All subsequent layers are already glued with a paste or glue. So many layers should be glued so that the thickness of the product is 4-5 mm. The last layer must be made of white paper, as the top layer will be painted. The exception is only masks, which subsequently will need to be completely painted in black or brown.
After that, let the mask dry well. After drying, the mask is carefully removed from the mold, openings for the eyes, nose and mouth are cut out with a sharp razor, cuts are made for ties at the temple level. Now it remains only to paint the mask, if desired - to cover it with varnish, insert the ties into the holes and - put on with the fancy dress. And now - crib, crab, boom - the fairy tale itself came to visit us !!!