September/October brings change of season, and fresh starts and frivolity and seriousness too. So for a break from whipup realtime I am introducing a few weeks of guest bloggers to liven up your crafty experience. To bring you something fresh, and hopefully invigorate you to make and do and be and think! Its going to be a fun few weeks so come along for the ride.
Today I want to welcome the lovely and super talented Elizabeth who recently launched her very own e-magazine Nuno you can see a preview here.
I blog about recycled crafting, refashioning clothes and other creative fun things on my blog. With the help of my sister and husband, I recently launched a new e-magazine, Nuno. Nuno is devoted to crafting, sewing and knitting projects which utilize recycled and salvaged materials. I had a wonderful time creating our first issue and am excitedly working on our second. You can read more about Nuno Magazine at nunomagazine.com.
I’ve been fascinated by masks since I was a tiny girl. The most recent manifestation of my mask fascination has been designing a series of animal masks made from cut up cereal boxes. [Here is a previous bird mask (with a really big beak) I made a while ago from a cereal box and a Tyvek mailer.]
This little bird mask is made from cereal box card covered with burlap. The burlap takes paint beautifully and the double layer of materials creates a sturdy mask that will hold up to an exuberant child’s play or your own grown-up rabble rousing.
How-to:
Print out the mask and beak using the pattern found here [also below]. Most printers will allow you to feed the cereal box card directly through the printer. The PDF pattern is sized for 8″x10″ (20cm x 25cm) card. Load cereal box card so that the pattern prints on the brown side.
Burlap and Cereal Box Bird Mask
Cut out pieces on solid lines. Check position of eye holes. You may need to move them closer together or cut them a bit larger if making the mask for a child. Cut out eye holes with a razor knife. Punch holes for strings.
Score on all dashed lines. To score, use a razor knife and a ruler to cut partway through. Gently bend on scored lines.
Cut a piece of burlap a little larger than the mask and a second piece a little larger than the beak.
Coat the front (colored side) of the mask and beak with a thin, even layer of white glue. Press the burlap onto each piece. Smooth out any air bubbles and allow to dry completely.
When the glue is dry, trim away all excess burlap. Use a razor knife to cut away the burlap covering the eye holes.
Glue beak to mask, fitting the tabs at the top corners of the beak behind the mask, as shown.
When the beak has dried, paint the mask with tempera or acrylics.
After the paint has dried, use a heavy needle and yarn to attach strings to tie on the mask.
Note to parents and teachers: If you cut out the eye-holes and score the lines on each piece in advance (leave the outside scissor cutting for your child), most elementary age children will be able to safely complete this project with minimal adult assistance. The beauty of the plain burlap surface is that each paint job will be entirely unique; preschool ages can be given an assembled, plain burlap mask to paint on their own.
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