Unicorn Mask

Eight days before Halloween I decided that I needed to be a unicorn. Here is my transformation.

(This took 6 days.)

Here are the doodles I made to figure out the shape and construction of the mask. Just to get an idea of what I wanted.

The things you'll need are:

• Acrylic Paint - White, Black, & Gold (I used gesso to get a more uniform white).

• Newspaper - Cut into strips for the paper maché, and also have some squares to make the ears and horn.

• Flour Paste - Boil 1 c. Flour & 5 c. Water in a pot for 3 mins or until thickened. Let cool. Store in the fridge.

• Cardboard - To shape the snout and jaws.

• Glue Gun - To make/attach the horn, ears, snout, and jaws.

• Hairdryer - To speed up the paper maché part.

• Egg Carton Paste - Rip up one egg carton into small pieces and put into a pot. Add water to cover and 2 Tbsp. Salt, boil until the pieces turn to mush. Strain/squeeze out the water and mix in ~3 Tbsp. liquid glue. Store in an airtight container.

• Yarn - To make the wig and the ties.

• Knitting Needles - To make the wig.

• Scissors -

• Crochet Hook - To make the wig.

• Ruler - To measure the yarn for the wig.

• Tissue - To stuff the horn and build up the nose/mouth.

• Paint Brushes -

(My battery was dead so I didn't take pics of this part.)

I made a base mask with eye holes and using a hole punch I put two holes on either side of the mask. One above and one below each ear (these are so that you can later tie the mask to your face).

• The snout is just an 8 in. x 4 in. rectangular tube-y thing I cut from an orange chicken box, (that stuff is yummy).

• The jaws were ~5 1/2 in. across wonky half circles this time cut from a pot-sticker box, (those were good as well).

• The forehead was a circle of cardboard ~3 inches in diameter. I cut a slit halfway through the circle then overlapped the slit edges to give the circle a slight convex shape. Use a glue gun to make it keep it's shape.

1. Using the glue gun attach the snout to the mask where your mouth and nose would be.

2. Then glue on the jaws to either side of the snout where your own jaws would be.

3. Glue the convex circle to the forehead.

4. Now cover the whole thing in the newspaper strips using the flour paste as glue. (Be careful not to cover the holes for the ties.)

5. To make the raised area for the nose/mouth bunch up some tissues and glue gun them down on the end of the snout. Then cover with the paper maché. When your doing the paper maché, use a hair dryer to speed up the drying of the flour paste. It'll go a lot quicker.

To make the horn:

1. Make a cone out of newspaper. Use the glue gun to tack down the edges.

2. Stuff the cone with tissues. (This makes it stronger and as an added bonus is super light.)

3. Using newspaper and a glue gun seal the bottom of the cone.

4. Use the glue gun to make raised swirls/ridges from the top to the bottom of the cone.

1. Use the egg carton paste to make the details of the eye ridges and the nostrils. Let dry overnight.

2. Cover the dried paste with the paper mache.

3. Make the ears by cutting two triangles with rounded tips out of the paper.

4. Fold two of the tips over each other along one edge of the triangle. Fix into place with the glue gun.

5. Fill in the inside of the ear with the glue gun. (This will make it stronger.)

1. Paint 2-3 coats of the gesso on the head, horn and ears. (The number of coats depends on the thickness of each coat. I did 3 thin coats.)

2. Then break out that fabulous gold and give the horn 2 coats of paint. (Gold paint varies quite a bit between brands so you might need more coats than I did.)

3. Once it’s all dry use the black to paint on the eyes and lashes.

4. And then I mixed the white and black to make a light gray to paint the mouth and nostrils.

1. Use the glue gun to attach the horn and ears to the mask.

2. Fill in and smooth down the crevices at the base of the horn with the glue gun.

3. Again using the glue gun reinforce the back of the ears.

4. Carefully paint over the glue with the white for the ears and gold for the horn.

1. Untangle the mass of yarn your mother gave you.

2. Organize yarn into pretty rainbow circle.

3. Knit a 4 in x 7 in. rectangle in stockinette stitch (k one row, p one row). This will be the base of the wig.

4. Pick your color sequence and measure the yarn into 2ft lengths.

5. Place the knit rectangle right side down on your work space. Pick a line of stitches for your first row of yarn "hair".

6. Then insert your crochet hook through the loop of the first stitch.

7. Take two strands of your first color and fold them in half so you have a loop.

8. Using the crochet hook grab the loop and pull it back through the first stitch. Don't pull it all the way through.

9. Pull the end strands through the new loop you've just made and tighten it to fix the knot in place.

10. Repeat in rows until you've filled the rectangle.

1. Crochet two 14 inch lengths of yarn for the ties.

2. And then loop them through the holes.

I am complete.

(Note: To wear the wig tie back your hair into a tight bun. Place the wig on top of your head and use a gazillion bobby pins around the edges to keep it in place. You've used enough pins if you can wiggle your head a lot and the wig doesn't slip. To put on the mask simply hold your head upside down (to get the wig out of the way), then tie the mask into place.)