Mask Masks

Mask Masks
In honor of swine flu season, here is a project for all those face masks!

Usually I am pretty good at planning for Halloween, it being my favorite holiday, but on occasion I have to throw something together last minute. This was the case last year when I took an extra face-mask  I had hanging around to make a quick costume! By re-using things around the house this project is cheap and easy on the environment. The skill level required is low, ranging from kindergartner with marker to amateur seamstress/tailor and the final product is a cute and comfortable Halloween mask.
 
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Step 1Gather Materials

Gather Materials
Face-mask: you can use anything from the nicer cotton ones people wear all over Asia to the ones used in hospitals or even the paper-like ones used in construction and painting.

Eye-mask: The ones for traveling are the kind I have in mind - there always seems to be one somewhere in the back of a cupboard that came from some international flight's complimentary toiletry bag.

Permanent markers are ideal if you plan on drawing, but all I had to use was the cheapest quality water-soluble kind, and my mask still came out all right. No matter what there will probably be a little bit of bleeding around the edges, so don't try to draw anything too detailed.

Material Scraps of any kind will work, depending on what you want to make. Nylon is especially useful for eye-masks

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40 comments
Sep 20, 2011. 4:36 PMblack eye says:
Where did you get the the face mask from that you used on the sack man looking one? Im a 15 year old kid who was never taught to sew and I tried making one but cant. Hah, So it would just be easier to buy one. I'm just hot gluing it.
Aug 31, 2011. 7:00 AMvman3 says:
You are a genius.
Nov 17, 2010. 2:21 PMVoot says:
That tooth'd hoodie reminds me of the description of the Innsmouth look from the HP Lovecraft tale. Looks great!
Oct 28, 2010. 9:41 PMChewy2634 says:
THANKS SO MUCH MAN!!! i just finished my mask a couple mnutes ago, it took about 3 hours, and it turned out AWESOME!. great instructable man. i use one of the masks that doctors use, and just put black material over it. for the eyes, i used some old gym shorts, and for the rest of the materials, i just used shirts. i used hot glue for everything. THANKS A BUNCH!!!!!!!!!!!!
74361_172205689460298_100000126053513_628421_1099097_n.jpg
Oct 28, 2010. 7:09 PMcollins1997 says:
hey guys thanks for the great ideas
I couldn't find a sleeping mask so I used an old clarinet cleaner and a some felt, some hot glue, a hat i had and some sharpies. Its not done.
Oct 28, 2010. 4:36 PMDarthscout says:
It's pretty clear. I'm going to try to make this before Halloween.(HA like thats going to happen)
Oct 17, 2010. 9:56 AMntraft says:
The mouth component of the shark monster sorta looks bigger when you're wearing it; are you wearing anything else under there to support it and make it puff out like that? Like a surgical mask or something?
Oct 14, 2010. 6:15 PMtiriosh says:
Hi, I'm really interested in trying to make your shark mask! However I'm not sure where to get a cloth mask like that; I can't seem to find any.

Any suggestions? Is it possible to make one (though I think buying one would be easier than getting the elastic string part...)?
Aug 31, 2010. 5:01 PMcanida says:
Wow, these are creepy!
Nov 11, 2009. 9:27 PMNickIQ says:
Where did you get the masks? I'm poking around online, can't find a decent black one like you have there. Can you recommend somewhere?
Nov 12, 2009. 6:09 PMNickIQ says:
Thanks! I'll keep looking, eventually I'll find/make something that will work. This is going to by my winter face mask, for when it gets really cold. Thanks for the instructable!
Nov 10, 2009. 12:48 PMboomowthathurt says:
 Just face mask: Cute.
Just eye mask: Unsettling.
Face mask with eye mask: Straddling the line between cute and terrifying. 
Love this.
Nov 2, 2009. 8:39 PMwyrwolf says:
FYI
uh, Don't use markers (esp. Permanent) - The toxic smell NEVER goes away. LOL
Oct 23, 2009. 7:28 PMsk8er6 says:
did anybody else think evil domo?
Oct 27, 2009. 10:05 AMmasonrulz says:
lol, no i didnt, but i love domo:P icant believe how much there exploiting him now tho....
Oct 24, 2009. 10:12 AMthepelton says:
Reminds me of the shark from the "Jaws" poster of the mid-seventies.
Oct 21, 2009. 11:28 AMmasonrulz says:
i think the first 2 pics were pretty cool... the first one especially, but i wouldent get cought dead in the 3rd one...sorry. but the 1st one was AWSOME
Oct 22, 2009. 6:48 AMgoddessathena3 says:
 Umm, the first and the third are the same..
Oct 24, 2009. 1:24 PMmasonrulz says:
the first and fourth are the same
Oct 25, 2009. 8:56 AMJdark88 says:
the first third and fifth are the same
Oct 24, 2009. 10:39 AMhobzez says:
sackboy?
Oct 22, 2009. 11:34 AMbstevens says:
On the bottom mask part of this one, how did you get it to look like it does in the cool pic?  Is that just slit with extra black material sewed inside, then pulled up over your nose?

I love this idea, got a few additions ideas but would love to know how you did that.

Thanks!
Oct 22, 2009. 8:08 PMphant0m_sp00f3ra says:
 this made me recall how people specially doctors here in mexico used to decorate their face masks back in the swine flu hard time, in may. It was a little of happines and prank in the middle of the über Chaos and fear... 
Oct 21, 2009. 5:01 PMzeke34 says:
The first picture almost looks like an evil sackperson
Oct 22, 2009. 2:53 PMmasterochicken says:
There's already on named Leonardo, as in Leonardo Da Vinci.
Oct 22, 2009. 4:22 PMH3xx says:
Hey LOOK!!! There goes the point! :P
Oct 22, 2009. 5:45 AMPKM says:
The sharkmonster looks like something out of STALKER... if I met someone wearing that at night I'd probably stop and try to remember where I walked into a Lovecraftian horror o_O

The dog, on the other hand, is excessively cute (though the floppy fringe and floppier dog-ear-hoodie help).
Oct 21, 2009. 5:51 PMweswert says:
hiw do you see in that?
Oct 21, 2009. 3:30 PM=SMART= says:
I love the shark one in the hoodie, great last-minute costume !!
Oct 21, 2009. 4:25 PMMolten Boron says:
Yah, love it unless you meet it in a dark alleyway in real life. EEP!

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