Sugar Skull Mask

To kick off the start of my Halloween-themed posts until the 31st October, I have an idea to create your own mask from Day of the Dead celebrations - the Sugar Skull (calavera).   I have been long fascinated with the tradition, so wanted to create my own to display.

What I Used:

Skull mask [Hobbycraft, £2.99]

Paint / Sharpies

Foam Flowers [eBay, £1.99]

I started the sugar skull by applying a couple of coats of white paint to the skull and leaving to fully dry:

 ...before marking my design lightly in pencil around the mouth and eyes:

 Once happy with my design, I could start making it permanent with a range of Sharpies.  The white background makes the colours clear and vibrant and the pens easier to control than paint and paintbrush for the design details.  I started with the mouth:

 Before the eyes.  I started these with the main block of colour around the sockets:

 ...then smaller details around the outside:

....before defining the design with black outlines and adding any further details:

 Next, for the headdress, I picked up some foam flowers from eBay in complimentary colours:

Cutting the heads, I attached the flowers to the skull with hot glue:

Starting with a central rose, in the middle if the skull:

 ...then begin building the flower headdress around this:

...until full:

 ...and the sugar skull is complete:

You can use this as a mask, or as I am, to display.  

The designs, colours and materials you can use to create your own are endless.

see you next time x
[that's tomorrow - and I'm back on my honeycomb game, see you then]