'Laissez les bons temps rouler' (Let the Good Times Roll)

Oh yes....it's that time of year again and we LOVE it!! What time you ask? Mardi Gras time of course. ^_^

Did you know that Mardi Gras began first in Mobile, AL in the year 1703? Oh yes, it's a long standing tradition and one we just can't get enough of. All the parades, the beautiful bright festive colors of green, purple and gold and Owwww Weeeee...the food!! Ohhh and getting to decorate for it too. Gotta so LOVE that!! I don't go all out but it's enough to make folks smile when they walk in the door.

Some of the beads we caught at a parade (standing in the rain) last year.

Oh yeah....we love our parades rain or shine...hehe

Now this handsome fella is Mr Ted E and he gets dressed up for several holidays around here..like Halloween and Christmas. Click on the links and see if you can find him.....hehe!! He is sporting more of the beads we caught from last year and his sweet owl mask. It fits us humans too but he likes wearing it the most. I LOVE making things and thought I might do a small "How To" on this mask. Want to learn? Well, let's get to it. 

What you will need:

Cardstock

scissors

pencil

black markers

paint

glue

string

feathers

I used a butterfly shape on the cardstock and cut it out. If you aren't good at drawing, no worries because I have a template you can use. (it has several different mask templates just in case you want to make several different mask)

These were found HERE

After you cut out the mask then you need to cut out 12 feather shapes....making one a bit larger than the rest. (it's going to be the nose) and then start gluing them on. I used regular Elmer's school glue (and no it doesn't dry purple..hehe) on just one end not the whole piece. We don't want our feathers laying down completely flat now do we? 

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Here's the way I glued mine so you will have a pattern to follow.

Now once all the feathers are glued on and we have let it sit for about 5 minutes to dry, we are going to do some detail work. I used yellow for the beak and I used off white for the feathers we just glued on. 

Once you have detailed using your paint you can see that the feathers are pulling up......just like real feathers...all fluffy!! If some are sticking up more than you would like simply put a tad bit more glue. Now you can do some detailing with the black markers.

I glued some real feathers at the ears and the crown and then punched holes on either side of the mask and used my green string so that I could tie it on Mr Ted E. (or the Chazman's) head.  If this mask is going to worn and taken off a good bit then I would put some clear tape over the holes before you punch them out. It gives that area a bit more strength. I also tie knots on the front side of the string to keep it from pulling back through. I added some pretty beads just to give it some Umph...boy style. ^_^  If you didn't want to do the tie on the mask you could glue or tape a straw to it so it can be held or perhaps a smooth tiny branch to let it keep that outdoor feel or you could make your own holder out of paper. Just take a 12x12 piece of paper and starting at one corner, roll tightly on the diagonal. Once you have rolled the entire piece take and tape the end down. If little hands are the ones that are going to be holding this then I might even neatly tape the whole thing. Just a thought!!

There are so many ways to make cute mask. You can use paper plates....simply cut plate in half, cut some eye holes and decorate. Did you know that letting your kiddo do an outline of their hands and then cutting them out makes a cute mask to be decorated?. Ohhhh, I kid ya not!!

Found this cute idea HERE.

It makes a great rainy day project or snow day project (for most lately it's several snow days inside) and one I hope that you will do and have fun with it. 

Until next time.........HUGS,

Regi