Cardboard Character Masks

$15 - $20 (based on 2017 prices)

Makes six masks

 

In 2017, I was commissioned by an actress to create masks for her role as the Cheshire Cat in a local production of Alice in Wonderland. She wanted a series of whimsical pieces to express six emotions (anger, contempt, happiness, mischievousness, sorrow, and surprise) that she could use to display feelings throughout the play. Sadly, the items were cut apart for the actual production and only the mouths were used (it is still unclear if this was the decision of the actress or the director).

• Four sheets of cardboard (at least 12” x 24” for each sheet)
• One 8 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying latex paint in flat white*
• Two brown paper bags
• One 12” x 24” piece of brown burlap
• One 12” x 24” piece of white fabric
• One 12” x 12” piece of textured wallpaper
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat black*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat brown*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat pink*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat purple*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat red*
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat orange*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat red*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat yellow*
• Four buttons
• Two chenille stems (one red and one white)
• Two artificial flowers
• One yard of black yarn

1. Trace the outlines of each mask onto the cardboard and, if it helps, some of the basic facial features like eyes, mouths, and noses. You can make these items as large or small as you want, depending on how you plan to use them. Also, you can utilize alternate materials like insulation foam.

2. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give the front and back of each mask a few even coats of white paint. Although this step is optional, it will help give everything a uniform appearance and cover up any unwanted elements like writing on the cardboard.

3. Fashion skin with a variety of materials: for mischievousness and surprise, I used brown paper bags, crumbling the bag for mischievousness to create wrinkles; for contempt and sorrow, I used burlap on contempt and white cloth on sorrow, shredding strips to outline the mask’s edges; for anger, I used a textured wallpaper that looked like snakeskin; and, for happiness, I used a sponge to pat layers of pink paint, leaving the white smile untouched.

4. Detail the faces with a collection of items: for anger and surprise, cut out openings for the eyes, mouths, and noses and paint these features with blacks and reds; for contempt, sew the outlines of the eyes, mouth, and nose with yarn, accent the features with black and brown paint, and adhere to small buttons for beady eyes; for sorrow, smudge black paint around the eyes, mouth, and nose to give the mask a smoky appearance; for mischievousness, create an ombre effect by building up layers of red, orange, and yellow spray paint then paint the eyes and mouth with black; and, for happiness, outline the mouth and teeth in purple and use buttons to fashion eyes, chenille stems to create whiskers, and flowers to craft ears.

5. Attach wooden dowels to the backs of the masks for easy handling. You can also create eye slits on each mask and glue elastic bands to the backs so the character can wear them if they need both hands free.

6. The beauty of these props is their versatility. Everything, from the overall shapes to the items used for their skins, can be altered to cater the items to your haunt’s specific needs.

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.