Posts tagged ‘The Layman Group’

Craft Sessions for Carnivale: A Masquerade Mask Tutorial

If you are a regular reader of my blog (and if you are – thank you! much love!), then you know that I have been working with The Layman Group on their events for the past year. And the biggest event of the year is coming up very soon – Carnivale Gala and Masquerade! PS – this event is open to EVERYONE so go here to get your tickets. I will see you there!

Last year was super fun. But, I felt very much like a slacker because I had bought my mask from Party City while so many others came with masks they had made themselves. Being one of the major sponsors of the event, I decided that this year I needed to step up my game and make my own mask. A full crafting session was needed. As I have stated before, I’m not really a crafty person until I get a certain idea in my mind. Then, it’s on. So, I went to our local Hobby Lobby and spent some time browsing.

I have never made a mask before. So, I was kind of guessing what all I needed and how much. First, I knew I wanted a full feathered mask. I recently bought a dress that I found on super sale and decided that it would be my Carnival dress. It has earth tones in it and has a little bit of a tribal feel to it. Don’t worry. I know that tribal could be questionable. But, it’s BCBG. Tribal done right. I decided that I would go with that and get feathers in brown tones. So, I picked up a few packs of feathers, a blank mask, some glue, some black paint and some paint brushes. You can see my general set up below – pardon my iPhone quality photos. Most crafting projects I do require a glass of wine to start off.

Then, I had to prep the mask as a whole. I took the elastic band out and got started by painting the whole mask black. I thought that the white showing through wouldn’t go with the tribal look. I used black paint and brushed it on. It obviously didn’t need to be perfect, just enough to take the white out, but I did do two coats. As a tip, it would have been much easier to spray paint it. I really have no clue why I didn’t just do that.

Once this was dry, and it didn’t take long, I started placing feathers. This is just a layering process. So, I started by placing some feathers around the edges. Keep in mind that feathers and glue go really well together. You don’t have to fight to get them to stick. This includes any glue that you get on your fingers and then try to pick up any feathers. It can get really annoying. To combat this, I decided to paint the glue on the mask with a brush, working in sections, and then put the feather down. That way, I could keep my fingers as clean as possible.

You might notice the mess that I have made thus far. This is because I had to trim most of the feathers I ended up using. They were either too long, or they had these fuzzy pieces that I wanted to get rid of. Like this:

Once I had the base layer put together, I could put some larger feathers on that were strictly decoration. And, I used some thinner ones to finish off the edges of the eye holes.

And, the mask is done! I spent about $20 in all. Not too bad. As a final verdict: I enjoyed my little project and I think it came out okay considering I had close to no plan going into it. It will go with my dress well and I know nobody else will have one like it. It’s not super flashy or over the top. Mostly because I will be working at the event and I need something that isn’t high maintenance. Now that it is all done, it is itching to be worn and I am more ready than ever for the Masquerade to be here! Be sure to get your tickets early! We are going to have a great time!!! – Below is the finished mask next to my choice of dress. They go together, right? Until next time – XOXO, Julie