#1 Fan Mask Craft

I love recycled crafts and Halloween so this mask making project is a favorite. You may have seen flat cardboard fans given away at county fairs and political rallies. These masks are basically the same thing, except they've got your favorite musical artist's face on the front.

If you have no album covers, take heart. You can still make a #1 Fan Mask from a photo or a cereal box ... read on.

How to Make a #1 Fan Mask
If you've got a bunch of old vinyl record album jackets hanging around, you can recycle the jacket fronts into celebrity masks on sticks. You could also use cereal boxes or magazine photos if they've got celebrity faces in jumbo head shot sizes. You'll need a face image that's approximately life size, so it will cover your face ...

Cut the face out of the album cover, cereal box or magazine page leaving just a slight margin around the face and hair.

Glue the face image to card stock; trim excess card from edges after glue dries.

Gather up some wooden paint-stirring sticks (the kind you get at the hardware store when you buy a gallon of paint). Or, if you've got some old wooden rulers around, they'll work too - and you'll be doubling your recycling efforts. You could even cut a wooden yard stick into 3 fan-mask holders. (Side note: Years ago roller-type window shades had wooden sticks in the bottom - if you have any of those hanging around, recycle those into handles.)

Paint the sticks if you wish, or leave them natural. Let paint dry.

Attach the cardboard cut out faces to the sticks using tacky glue or duct tape.

Enjoy your celebrity status by holding up your fan/mask to disguise your face ... or keep your cool. You can get really fancy with this project and attach a sign or another face to the back side of the stick.

Celebrity Photo Fan Masks
For another version of this project, print out enlarged photos of anyone - family, pets, celebrities. Find lifesized portrait pictures or enlarge them using a color copier, scanner or your computer and a good graphics editing program. Print the enlarged photo onto card stock or heavy paper and proceed with the project instructions above.

The best results come from photos that are life size with the subject facing straight ahead (or you can get silly and use a back of the head picture instead!).

Here are links to a few photos of famous faces available at Wikipedia.com that you can use to make your own celebrity face masks or mask-fans:

Barack Obama
Pres. Bill Clinton
Pres. George W. Bush
VP Dick Cheney
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Angeline Jolie
Hillary Clinton

PS Don't throw the vinyl albums away! You can recycle those into nifty bowls and wrist cuff bangles ... directions to follow in a future post.

Christmas Crafts Head Start

I know, I know. It's not yet Halloween. But if you like to create hand made gifts for the holidays, it's time to start thinking about what you'd like to craft for Christmas or Hanukkah gifts this year.

If you have kids, why not get them into the handmade holiday habit? You can start off with these easy Christmas Crafts for Kids, or let the children help you organize your supplies and gear for this year as you get going with your Christmas Crafts Head Start.