How to Make a Masquerade Ball Mask

Hi hi, so my very first How to.. oh dear god, do brace yourselves.

Things you will need: *essentials

• Glue - PVA or Polyvinyl Acetate, which ever floats your boat
• Scissors
• Acrylic Paints
• Vaseline (LOTS - unless you fancy setting a new strictly no eyebrow trend ofc )
• Sand Paper
• Water
• Decorations - Glitter, beads, feathers, flowers, anything and everything
• Plaster Gauze
• Newspaper

STEP 1

Ok, so clear your working space (it gets crazy messy!) Might be worth working on a newspaper

Apply lots of Vaseline all over your face or where the mask will go, make sure to put extra on eye-brows and hairline. (No image for this as I'm trying to keep this blog pretty)

STEP 2

Cut up your strips of Plaster, various lengths and widths, one by one dip them in water and set them across your face, forming and X across first - making a base, then add the rest. 

Get it to about 3 layers.

Wait a few minutes, then scrunch up your face, lift your eyebrows etc, - this is where you get to do whatever the **** you like with your face and pull as many faces as you like, all in good cause & within reason - then you'll feel it come off. 

Put it down, and leave it to set ( a few hours & a little hair dryer will do)

STEP 3

So now you can get rid of the odd looking edges, cut them out to the shape you like.

Its probably got a rough texture so I used a little sand paper to smooth it.

So now you have pretty much the desired shape and feel, if its still a little rough (mine was) I coated it in newspaper and glue & yet again tested my patience by letting it dry for a while, since mine isnt too great I yet again used the good old hair-drier - does miracles that thing! 

Also it can get a little messy, so do take care.

OK so now you're ready to get a little creative, this might be great for some but a nightmare for others so, if in trouble blame it on the shitty materials! 


STEP 4
OK so now - as long as your mask is dry, you are ready to paint!
I used acrylic colours and went for Black - it was the safe option for me, do experiment though or match it to your outfit, its easy with paints as you can practically pick out the identical shade!
Be careful not to apply too much paint though, Acrylic sometimes slips on PVA glue, shows below 
If you are in trouble and its too late now though, just use a VERY THIN layer of acrylic to cover the cracks. 

Yea I get into a little trouble here.

Then yet again test your patience and let it dry! I wouldn't recommend too much hair-dryer as it may make the slips of acrylic worse!








STEP 5
So now the little technical bit where I just used my initiative, I used some of the ropes that you saw in the first picture, stuck a little blu tack on the end for a little security, and then onto the mask! 
Give it time to dry before trying it on, and adjusting it, or else it wont be secure!


STEP 6
Now your free to cover your mask in whatever you like! Feel free to express your personality here and be the next Pablo Picasso - in masks - if you like! I covered mine in glitter, I couldnt resist and I must admit I ate about a Kg of glitter by the end of it! 

Any feedback on this, - its probably a little long - would be very much appreciated.
http://ilikeitsimple.tumblr.com/ask
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That's all xoxo