Well, we all know that fall has officially begun. That also means that Halloween is not far…(yay!!This is one of my favorite holidays). Halloween is the perfect time for DIY projects. You can make your own decorations, activities, and even costumes and masks.

Today, I am going to show you how to make a simple mask out of cardboard. This project is easy enough for all levels of DIYers. It is a perfect project to do with kids and costs nearly nothing.

1. First, you have to decide what your mask will be. You can base your design off a character, an object, or something you have imagined yourself. For me, my son has been really into the Fortnite game, lately. One of the characters in that game wears this fox-like mask. It looks like this:

2. The second step is to separate the design into flat sections. By this, I make a basic line sketch of each “layer” of the mask. For example, one layer is the full outline of the face (minus eye holes), another layer is from the cheekbones and up, the third layer is the nose and forehead section. Each layer adds another dimension of depth to your mask.

3. Next, you take all those layers and stack them up. Once you decide on the final location of each layer, glue the layers together. This part reminds me a little bit of a putting together a puzzle. The cool part is, as you stack the layers, your design starts to show its shape…really cool!

4. Now, you get to decorate your mask. I always like to start by painting the entire thing in a solid color. When painting on cardboard, I like to use tempura paint. It soaks in well and covers the surface evenly. For this mask, it is mainly white, so I used that as my base coat. On this step, it is best to use your dominant color to start with, then add the details, afterward.

5. After your base layer of paint has dried, then you can add other details. (By the way, you can also use markers, crayons, colored pencils, pens, etc….whatever your heart desires, really). On my son’s mask, I used colored pencils to sketch in the design details. Since my background color is white, this worked rather well. If you have a darker base color, paint may work better for visual contrast.

6. The next part to making a mask is finding a way to wear it. For this mask, I attached a ribbon to the mask. I glued a piece of ribbon directly to each side of the cardboard mask…one on the left and one on the right. Then I glued a third piece of ribbon to the top edge of the mask. This piece goes across the top of the head to hold it at the right height on the head and face.

When cutting the ribbon, measure it to fit around the head of who ever will be wearing it, plus a couple inches extra to use for gluing and for adjusting the size. For many masks, that is the final step; you can tie the ribbons together to hold it in place. I wanted this mask to fit a little more comfortably for my son, so I added small Velcro strips to the loose ends of the ribbon. Then, all three ribbons stick to one another and the mask can fit my son or my self!!

7. Finally, the last step is to try on the mask. Wear it and have fun!!