Are you afraid of plaster? Does the thought of using papier mâché make you recoil? Do you have an abundance of really sticky tape and tin or aluminum foil? Making a mask using tin foil and tape is straightforward, simple, and fun!
Step 1
Take 3 sheets of tin or aluminum foil. Overlap them in a stack.
Step 2
Push the sheets at the same time onto your face. Push down as hard as you are comfortable pushing. Do it carefully, so the foil does not become punctured.
Step 3
Make sure you have the general outline of your face: nose, lips, corners of your eyes, and cheek bones. Take your fingernail or a toothpick and gently (without tearing) trace around your eyes (it might be good to follow the bones around your eye socket) for where you want the eye holes in your mask to be. Also, trace around anything else you want cut out. (Breathing holes are useful for breathing.)
Step 4
Carefully remove the foil from your face. Cut with sharp scissors around where you want the edges of the mask to be. (Try not to reverse the order on those two steps.) Remember: once you cut it, you can't really go back easily, so leave extra.
Step 5
Carefully cut out the eye holes either by puncturing the foil with a tooth pick and tearing the foil out, or snipping in the center of the area with the tip of scissors and folding the foil back.
Step 6
Cut holes/slots in the side of your mask for the ribbons/cord/shoelaces to attach it to your face.
Step 7
Cut small sections of tape, and, while pressing the mask to your face to keep the features strong, gently place the tape onto your mask. When you feel the mask's features are firm enough, place all the sections of tape, overlapping, across all visible places of foil, including the back (foil is itchy).
Step 8
Tie whatever you feel will work to the holes in the side of your mask, making sure to have enough length to not only wrap around your head, but tie in a nice knot/bow.
Step 9
Use acrylic paints and paint whatever you want, making sure to leave it to dry in a spot where prying hands/curious pets/flying particles of anything won't disturb it. You can even sprinkle glitter on the paint while it's wet if you like.
Tips
- The good news is that even when covered in tape, foil retains its flexibility, so any features lost in the taping process will still conform to your face when you wear the mask.
- If you want to add on any features (horns, a pointed nose, antlers), just mold them out of foil and tape/glue them onto the mask.
- Acrylic paint dries fast. A little bit of paint goes a long way, so use sparingly and put the caps on your paint tubes.
- Use packing tape if you want your mask to look crinkly and metallic.
Warnings
- Sometimes your scissors get sticky from all the adhesive on the back of the tape. Wipe the blades on the edge of the roll of tape.
- Make sure to wrap the tape around the edges of the mask and eyeholes, so as to avoid sharp edges.
Things You'll Need
- Really sticky, firm tape
- Tin or aluminum foil
- Scissors sharp enough to cut foil and your tape
- Ribbon
- Paint (Optional)
- Glue (if you don't trust your tape)
