It’s below freezing today, and I’m finding it a little challenging to stay awake by the fire! This is the first time it’s been lit this year. It makes seem a little odd to put together a post for a huge outdoor party…hopefully, it’s little warmer in New Orleans this week than it is at my house.

Why is this a #MondayMotivation Post? Well, You get enjoy yourself for now – but I REALLY want you to be thinking ahead to Lent! Catholic or not, most Christians participate in Lent in some form…it’s a way of giving something up in our lives (a luxury, a comfort, a desire, a vice, a habit) so that we can give that time, energy and money back to God.

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing — grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God. 

Joel 2:12-14

I’ve always found it ironic that such an event is connected to a religious observation, though it does make sense…because, well, we are only human. I’ve never personally been to Mardi Gras in NOLO, and have zero desire to go, but it seems to be the center of all ‘Fat Tuesday’ Celebrations. Have you been? What do you recall the most? Would you go again?

We’re having a brief online party with mask contest this evening, best mask wins… so, I wanted to participate, but really didn’t want to spend any money. I thought I’d save you a little searching – and give you some options for your homemade masks.

MAKE YOUR OWN MARDI GRAS MASK

These DIY templates and tutorials could be used for Mardi Gras, a Masquerade Ball, halloween, or any other occassion you might need a decorated mask for – even for a quick super hero mask for your little heros!

I’ll be giving you a few tips and a roundup of different methods of making a mask. With each method, I’ll direct you to some tutorials or other round ups for options and inspiration. It really helped me to have lots of different things to look at to know what was possible. Also, you can download these mask images to use as a template! Just print them and trace as much of the shape as you want to use when making your template. Print in draft mode to save on ink! You could also just print them in full color, and use them as your mask! You’ll find out, later in this post, how to stabilize them.

Here are some things to keep in mind on ALL of these templates and tutorials:

• Make sure, before doing any major or final decorating, painting, cutting, etc, to measure the space between the eyes – you can easily fold a template in, or add a little width as needed. You just want to be aware of this potential issue. My first mask attempt was small enough for my daughter…she’s thrilled!
• You make this as intricate as you want to! You also don’t have to spend a dime…look around your home, and find things that will work, even if you don’t have what a tutorial calls for.
• The Glue Gun tutorials call for cling/plastic wrap – I used parchment paper…It came off easier, but looking back, I think the plastic wrap might give the glue a little more stability.

Three ways you can make your mask:

1. Completely from scratch and materials you have on hand, with or without a template.
2. Assemble store bought materials – plastic ‘super hero’ facemasks seem to be readily available at the Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby, Party Supply stores, etc…
3. Glue Gun – NOT EVEN KIDDING! This is SO COOL and so much room for creativity!

DIY Round Up with templates and tutorials This is where you will find several options :

Below is one I almost did from the round up above – Tauni has a GREAT template you can print, and just seeing her adorable GIF at the bottom of the page is worth the visit! It’s a NO SEW with a fabric! So fun!

I ended up making the Hot Glue Mask! We used a Hot glue gun, spray paint, peacock feathers, bobby pins, and hairbands! It was so fun! Before I share with you the two tutorials I followed, let me tell you what I learned that might save you some trouble:

• Small, intricate designs are hard to do with a glue gun – the glue will run a little.
• A steady hand helps SO MUCH if you are worried about the finer details, I wasn’t and DO NOT have a steady hand.
• **Both of the tutorials below use tulle for a backing – I couldn’t find any around the house, so just tried it without (literally, I just needed a picture of this.) The backing will be important for stability if you plan to wear this out of the house. **
• Again, I used parchment paper instead of cling wrap, I don’t know if it made much difference in the end, but it was certainly easier to peal off.
• I ended up just doing a simple outline, and not trying to trace the inside patterns with the glue gun – I just literally made swirls to connect the edges.
• Thicker/wider glue is better. You want good connections. If it’s too thin, it’s frail.

This is the first tutorial I stumbled across, and was quite thorough and delightful! You can just watch this one and be done…

This one, though, is a step by step post rather than a video if you prefer that – you’ll also see, in this post, that you can actually get COLORED GLUE STICKS!! I’ll have to plan ahead a little better next time!

https://www.happinessishomemade.net/easy-diy-lace-masquerade-mask/

Here’s a quick photo of my finished mask – Please let me know if you try this project, and which tutorial you chose – or will you just wing it??

Have fun with it!

Much Love to you and yours!

Cindi

^{Self proclaimed Godmother of the Messy Bun Mafia.}

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