DIY Mardi Gras Mask

 

Soooooo, my oldest daughter goes to prom this weekend.  They have to wear a mask.  We found one at the mall for about $15.  Instead of buying one, my oh-so-crazy 16-year-old daughter says “I want my mommy to make one!”  Umm………..yeah!

Things I’ve learned in decorating a mask:

1. They look soooooo pretty!  Seriously!  I found some gorgeous ones online and thought I can do that with Stickles, right?  Umm………not!  “Why not?” you ask.  Well, I tried!  I put a thin line of Stickles around the eyes of the mask and set them aside to dry.  After about an hour or so, I reached for it and GUESS WHAT!?!?  The friggin’ Stickles popped off the mask in strips!  Ugh!!!!  That takes me to…….
2. i-rock crystal gems!  Yeah, I heat set gems all the way around both eye holes.  I let them cool for a moment and pushed them with my finger.  Cool.  They seem to be sticking!  I moved the mask aside to do something else.  When I did, gems popped off and shot everywhere!!  At this point, not only gems were flying, but a few choice words were as well!  :-(
3. THEN!!!!  I decided to try to glue the dang things on!  Yeah…….did you know that it’s nearly impossible to get a little tiny bead of hot glue onto a gem and get it where it needs to go without burning the crap out of yourself?  It’s true!  Who would have thought? 
4. After the hot glue was obviously not going to happen, I decided to try Zip Dry.  Nope!  That didn’t work either!! 
5. I finally told my daughter I was GIVING UP!!!! 
6. I hot glued trim on the outer edges and around the eyes.  I added some black, lime green and a bit of white ribbon and called it done. 

I was nervous to show it to my daughter!  Okay, scared as hell was more like it!  My daughter & my husband are THE two pickiest people I’ve ever met!!!  If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear they shared the same DNA!  LOL

 

 

Her response?  She loved it!  REALLY!?!?  You mean my burned fingers, ulcerated stomach and massive headache are all worth it because my daughter liked her new mask?  YES, it’s true!  Woohoo!!  :-)

I’m going to curl the ribbons with a curling iron between now & prom to give them some shape, but other than that, she’s all done!  I don’t think I’d recommend this project to anyone!  It’s well worth the $15 to go buy one!  LOL

Prom pics to follow………  ;o)

Thanks for stopping by!!

{hugs}

Billie