Frankie and I did this last week and I remembered how fun, easy and messy-as-heck the process is. Highly recommended for any creative types with time to kill these days. And afterwards you can create your own plays for each other with your new mask characters!
I do this with Arts Umbrella students fairly often and it’s always cool to see what everyone comes up with. We made half masks this time that only cover down to our nose, but do whatever you like! Ours were also animal inspired so we added ears and shaped the eyes accordingly.
It’s a pretty simple process so instead of giving a step-by-step, I’ll just share some pictures AND offer two pro tips:
- Tape your balloon down very well before you start paper-mache’ing to avoid it slipping around
- Wad up a little dry paper and put it where your nose would be, between the paper mache and the balloon. Then take it out once the mask dries and you’ve got yourself a nose hole! Just helps it fit better
Oh yeah, and the ratio for the mix is 2 parts water to 1 part flour. Also, they’ll take a day or two to dry so don’t plan on painting or decorating them right away.
Have fun! We sure did!
Balloons taped to the table, check! 
Rip, dip, wring and paste 
Messy fun! 
Drying time… 
Two days later… painting 
Everyone loves painting! 
Finished! 
Some improv in the park
