Spider Baby Mask

$10 - $15 (based on 2017 prices)

Makes one mask

I normally craft my own mask and costume for each haunt to correspond with the theme. Working on a haunted house in 2017 presented me with the opportunity to costume not only myself, but a collection of scare-actors. To achieve this, I made several doll masks for each one to wear and help unify the motif.

• One plastic doll mask
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat black*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in spice brown*
• One 20” x 20” square of white fabric
• At least four tablespoons of dark roasted coffee grounds
• One pan large enough to soak the fabric square
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*
• One yard of black yarn
• One yard of brown yarn
• Three buttons
• Four plastic spiders
  

1. Use a sharp knife to cut the jaw off the mask. For visual interest, create jagged edges. To make this process easier, trace the outline of your cut with a marker first.

2. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give the top half of the mask one or two coats of black paint. Although I only used two coats, you may want more depending on your desired coverage. Keep in mind, though, that this is the base coat and much of the paint will be covered up by the coffee-stained fabric.

3. Boil enough water to completely submerge the fabric square and pour it into the pan. Add the coffee. The longer you allow the coffee to brew, the darker the stain will become. Likewise, greater amounts of coffee will produce a richer stain. Submerge the cloth in the coffee mixture and soak it until it reaches the color you desire. I soaked mine for four days and scattered the coffee grounds over the top of the fabric to add spots. Remove the cloth from the water and allow it to dry.

4. Once the fabric square has dried, center it on the mask and, starting at the front of the face, adhere the cloth. I found that this process works best if you move in stages: apply a layer of glue to one section, hold the fabric down until it sticks, and then repeat the process.

5. Once the glue has dried, smudge brown paint around the eyes and nose and along the edges of the mask to give the illusion of grime. You may want to experiment with a scrap of leftover cloth before applying the paint to the fabric.

6. Trim the excess fabric from the eyes and edges and create holes randomly on the forehead. You can make one or two small openings to serve as subtle accents or a mass of tattered cavities for an extremely distressed look.

7. Fraying and shred the fabric below the mouth and add strands of black and brown yarn. For visual interest, stagger the lengths of both the cloth and yarn.

8. Accent the mask with a cluster of spiders crawling across its surface and a few strategically placed buttons. NOTE: The particular spiders I used were made with a slick plastic which did not adhere with hot glue. As a result, I used superglue gel to affix them to the prop.

9. If the mask did not come with tie strings, you can fabricate some with extra yarn or replace the existing elastic band with a makeshift twine version for additional creepiness.

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