Making a Mask Form

• 1). Cover your work surface thoroughly using a drop cloth or inexpensive, plastic table cloth. Blow up a sturdy latex balloon to about the size of a human head.
  
  
• 2). Tear blank packing newsprint into strips approximately one by four inches, leaving edges jagged and uneven. Pour one and a half cups of wall paper paste into a disposable plastic bowl, and mix in two tablespoons of table salt, which will prevent your paper mask from molding.
  
  
• 3). Hold the balloon in front of you so the tie is at the bottom where the chin side would be. Brush a light layer of petroleum jelly on the front of the balloon.
  
  
• 4). Dip a paper strip into the paste. Smooth off excess paste, by running the strip between your fingers and lay it on the balloon, horizontally. Cover the front of the balloon with pieces of newspaper, slightly overlapping them at the edges.
  
  
• 5). Create a single horizontal layer in roughly the shape in which you want your finished mask. You can make it just an eye mask, a half mask that ends at the nose or an entire face-sized mask. Leave openings for eye holes, if you want your mask to have them, though they are not necessary for decorative masks. Do not make eye holes too big, you can always trim them later. Allow the first layer to dry for a few hours.
  
  
• 6). Put on another layer of newspaper strips for a second coat, this time, laying the strips vertically. Let the second layer dry, and add a third and final horizontal layer of strips. Allow the final layer to dry overnight.
  
  
• 7). Pull the mask carefully off the balloon, once it is completely dry. Trim the edges and eye holes (if added) to make them neat and even.
  
  

Decorating the Mask

• 1). Put on any decorative elements you want to blend into the mask. Create features, such as a nose or lips, by cutting the desired shapes out of cardboard, and gluing them onto the mask. Cover them with strips of paper mache to blend them into the mask. Add decorative swirls or lines, if desired, by gluing thick yarn in a pleasing pattern. Let all glue and paper mache dry before continuing.
  
  
• 2). Spray paint the mask a base color of your choice, and allow it to dry. Hand-paint decorative elements on the mask, if desired, using a stencil or free-hand. Allow them to dry. Brush on glitter glue, or draw lines and swirls with a glitter glue tube, to add some sparkle if you wish.
  
  
• 3). Glue on decorative elements, such as feathers, craft gems, beading, lace, leaves, acorns, silk flowers or other embellishments.
  
  
• 4). Tape a piece of string to the inside of the mask, at the edge, about even with eye level. Tape the other side of the string to the other edge, at the same height. Make sure the string is secure, and use it to hang the mask on a nail or hook.