"Day of the Dead" Mask by Denise

Every year during the Fall ... we get requests to post "Day of the Dead" projects ... here is a great "Dia de los Muertos" MASK from Denise Hahn with "step by step" directions to go with it!!

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Living in Southern California all my life, Day of the Dead celebrations are nothing new to me, I have long loved the artwork of the celebration including the famous Sugar Skulls and Calavera Masks. Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures on November 1st and 2nd. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. I decided I would attempt to create my own Calavera Mask. I have to say I am totally in love with my result! Why? Well I am not a "fine artist". I have no real drawing or sketching skills, and staring at the blank white mask I got at the craft store, I was thinking- this is going to be a mess! Amazingly, I figured out a way to make it work and now will show you how I did it. Don't be afraid- it really didn't require any special drawing skills- trust me! Now go get a white blank mask at the craft store, some Sharipe Brush Markers, and pencil, some foam core, plug in the hot glue gun, and gather your favorite Petaloo Flowers!

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I started by using some Kaiser Craft Stamps to make a few designs- they were clings, so I inked them on the cling using Clearsnaps Surfacez Permanent Ink in black and just used my hand rather than an acrylic block. Then using a pencil and some google images for inspiration I lightly drew out my design- the eraser works perfect so don't worry about making mistakes or starting over if you dont like it.

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After you are done and like your design- darken your lines with a Black Sharpie. The skull looks best if you darken in the sides giving it a more skull look. There are ton of ways to do the mouths too- just research first

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Next I wanted a scrolly vine-so made light dashes until I had the look I wanted

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Now start to color in more. I gave her some eye shadow. With the Sharpie markers, you can go over the top of same colors- but if you touch the other color they will mix

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I added another butterfly and colored it too (to the left side of temple) Now I laid my mask atop a piece of foam core. I drew about an inch and half away from skull and then lined up the edge as pictured

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I cut out the foam core and added some black paper to cover the white- I then hot glued it to the mask

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Now for the fun part! Start with your larger flowers first. Only glue in the very center- this will you allow to layer other flower by slipping them under each other.

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now start to add more flowers-I made sure to glue some in the crease so they cascaded over the top (see bottom right green flower) I then added the next smallest flowers, tucking them under as needed