Looking for some Halloween masks that would be fun to make? Halloween is sneaking up on you and if you get caught without a costume, it could be scary! Don't scream. With a creative mask pattern or stencil you have the start of a unique Halloween costume. Plus you'll have a great time making it yourself. And as you may have guessed, there are many ways to use stencils to create a costume. We are going to explore several of them here. So, let's jump right in but don't be scared.
OK! So there aren't too many stencils out there that are specifically designed as Halloween masks. So, you'll have to think outside the pumpkin a little and get those creative juices flowing. After all, that's why making your own craft masks is so much fun.
When we were kids we loved making our own costumes except we didn't have all the fancy stuff like felt and craft foam or patterns from the internet (I'm dating myself aren't I?). It didn't matter because we had a ball coming up with ideas using the things we could easily find around the house.
First, there are many stencils available for carving pumpkins. Right? Well, these are great for creating masks. How, you say? Well, let us count the ways.
Cut out a round or pumpkin shape from orange felt (stiff felt is great), orange craft foam or even paper you painted orange. If you can, don't forget to cut a little stem on top and dab some green paint on that. If you really want to be creative, paint some vertical curve lines in a darker orange to really give it the pumpkin look. Then take your stencil designed for pumpkin carving and use it to cut openings into the felt. You may need to make some adjustments to the size of your stencil to make sure that eye, nose and mouth holes are in the appropriate places for you to see, breath and talk. Just take the stencil to a copy machine and reduce or enlarge it until you have the right size. Use a hole punch tool to make nice round holes on each side and attach orange or black ribbons so that you can tie it around your head.
Here is one of our tried and true methods of mask making. It's a little like the tip above. Take large paper bags (big enough so that you can slide it over the head). Paint the bag orange and then use a stencil for pumpkin carving to cut out the face on the front of the bag. You can find plenty of printable Halloween stencils on the internet. You may need to trim out some curves for the shoulders so that the bag can come down low in the front and back. Don't forget to cut out holes around the ears for good hearing. It's quick, easy and best of all free!
To complete a pumpkin mask costume, cut leg and arm holes in one of those jack-o-lantern leaf bags. Fill it with plastic shopping bags to fill it out and tape it around your shoulders once it's full.
Let me just mention another creative way to use these stencils designed for carving pumpkins. Try using the old stand-by sheet for a ghost costume and cut out the stencils in the face area. Use a little creativity and decorate the rest of the sheet too. Or maybe spray paint the sheet orange around the area that will cover the head before cutting out the pattern. To be really creative, after the stencil is cut into the sheet, outline the holes with some black acrylic craft paint. This makes the openings stand out and also helps the edges from becoming frayed.
Halloween stencils offer an easy way to trick (or treat!) out a t-shirt. Use an old one from the closet or purchase a new one (old is preferable). If you have an orange shirt, use black fabric paint to put the image from a pumpkin carving stencil across the front of the shirt. If you have a black shirt handy then use orange or white fabric paint.
OK. So we covered all the common stencils for pumpkin carving that are designed as the normal faces we're all used to. But now with the internet we have so many others to choose from. Some very talented artists have taken the whole pumpkin carving stencil art to a whole new level. You can find designs of cats, pirates, wolves, witches, demons, cartoon characters, vampires, ghouls, mummies ... Well, the list is too long to keep going. My point is that the above options for creating a mask can be used for most of these. Remember that these were designed for a round pumpkin so that to resize them for face shapes and sizes is not a far stretch and can usually be achieved.
Now let's come up with a few ideas to complete the costume for some of the masks mentioned above.
Feel like howling at the moon? A wolf mask is easy to create with gray felt, craft foam or paint. Complete the costume with a gray t-shirt and gray sweat pants.
Feel like a feline? Black cats are always popular at Halloween. Complete a cat mask with a black turtle neck shirt, black leggings and a black feather boa for a tail.
Want to be Frankie Baby? That's an easy one! Get some lime green felt, craft foam or paint. Dress up the mask with an old plaid flannel shirt, a ragged pair of jeans and a pair of work boots.
Are you a Witch? I mean for Halloween! Use black felt for the mask. You need to have an old loose fitting black dress (try a thrift store if you don't have one that you can use) and a broom.
And speaking of the many possibilities that stencils give us to decorate, here are some more creative and easy ideas. Just because Halloween stencils and patterns were designed for pumpkin carving doesn't mean that they can't be used for a large variety of other Halloween crafts such as: paint them on a bag for collecting your treats; paint them on the corner of a napkin to decorate your festive table; or paint them on colored paper for decorating the windows or doors. There are many other ways to use these wonderful designs to embellish your holiday decorations.
I know how creative you can be when you get started so don't be frightened to try something new. Create a costume using a stencil or mask pattern and finish up with some other fun ideas. I hope your Halloween is a real Scream!
If you are really looking for Halloween mask stencils, then there is only one place to go and that's Designs From Penny (http://www.designsfrompenny.com).
There you'll find four Scary Halloween Masks patterns for you to paint on paper and cut out (a Witch, a Skull, Frankenstein's Monster and a Black Cat).
Plus you'll find three patterns for craft masks created by cutting out pieces of felt or craft foam (a Pirate Skull, a Cat and a Wolf).
These are two great options that give you a variety of ways to be creative and they are easy enough to get the kids involved. Best of all they are very inexpensive printable Halloween mask patterns that allow you to adjust the size to fit and each one comes with complete instructions. Since they are adjustable, why not have some real fun and dress the whole family in the same costume (like a pack of wolves or a band of dead pirates)?
If you are looking for more information on how to use stencils and want to find great ideas for using stencils then head over to All About Stencils (http://www.all-about-stencils.com). They have a great article on painting stencils on t-shirts with complete step-by-step instructions on how to do that successfully. And don't forget to look for the Free Witch Hat Pattern.
