Tag Archives: mask

Protecting Our Most Precious Companions

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protecting our companions

Today’s simple project is the result of a news photo I saw the other day…an exhausted-looking mother in NYC, pushing a heavily covered baby carriage. She was wearing a medical mask. Gripping tightly to her other hand was a little boy, also in a mask, toting a stuffed dog.

But the stuffed dog wasn’t wearing a mask. And my daughter has the exact same stuffed dog. Something in my heart just pulled.

So here’s how to use two common household items to make a mask for those most beloved companions. The ones your children reach to for comfort and reassurance. And hey, if you want to give Domino the Dog a quick cuddle yourself, you just go and do that.

You’ll need:

  • 1 flat bottom/basket style coffee filter
  • 2 rubber bands
  • Scissors

Apologies for the image quality…I’m shooting from my not-so-camera-ready home studio!

Stuffed animal heads, noses, and ears vary wildly, so you might have to cut the coffee filter down a bit. Same goes for the rubber bands! You can see how I shortened my rubber band below:

shorter rubber band

Flatten the coffee filter, then fold the top and bottom inwards like a burrito. The size of the folds will, of course, vary with the size of your stuffed animal’s head.

Now tightly bunch both ends of the folded coffee filter. Use scissors to snip a small hole in the bunching on each side (and aim a little ways in from the ends so the rubber bands don’t tear through). Finish by looping rubber bands through the holes.

Slide the mask over your stuffed animal’s nose and face, and the rubber bands behind its ears. Adjust as needed. Stay safe, little friend!

Monster Class

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monster class photo

Even monsters need to learn their ABCs! These easy monster mask / hat combination costumes made it easy for terrifying young scholars to brainstorm ideas for their very own spooky alphabet books.

We read My Creature Teacher, written by Laura Leuck, and illustrated by Scott Nash (South China Printing Company, 2004). It’s your typical day at school…monster school that is! Hang up your spider sack, raise your paw in class, spell spooky words, and take the fire-breathing class pet out for a little fresh air. Teachers, no matter where they are, or how big their fangs are, all deserve our respect and gratitude.

You’ll need:

  • 1 plastic hat
  • Poster board
  • Mask decorating supplies (more on this below)
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

The thing I like best about these masks is that they’re attached to a hat. This makes it easier to avoid the dreaded “mask sag.”  And let’s face it, hats are awesome, especially on werewolves!

werewolf maskWe offered 3 different types of hats, all purchased from Oriental Trading Company:

  1. Top hat ($7 a dozen, item #13743494)
  2. Fedora ($10 a dozen, item #31/243)
  3. Derby ($7.50 a dozen, item #25/562)

Cut a mask from poster board, then curl it a little and tape it to the inside front of a plastic hat. In the below image, you can see where we attached the Creature from the Black Lagoon mask to the plastic fedora:

creature from the black lagoon maskHowever! It’s best to decorate the mask before you attach it to the hat. Just make sure you leave some empty space at the top of the mask so it rests flat on the inside of the hat.

For decorating supplies, we offered curling ribbon, paper crinkle, crepe paper streamers, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, sparkle stems, craft ties, mesh tubing, iridescent cello, patterned paper, foam beads, pom-poms, dot stickers, goose quills, cone water cups, fabric flowers, and self-adhesive foam. And the Bling Bin of course.

The crepe paper streamers were INCREDIBLY popular for making braids down the sides of the masks. The more streamers, the thicker the braids. We secured the braid to the hat with tape, but we secured the bottom with staples.

skeleton maskOnce the transformation to monster students was complete, we gathered in the “classroom” to learn the monster alphabet. Basically, I created a template with space for illustrations (see mine below). I had the class recited the monster alphabet with me (even though it was hard not to giggle).

monster alphabetWe also printed and stapled together a set of alphabet letters for kids to take home a illustrate themselves. And yes, Z is for ZOMBIE!

z is for zombie