Jewelry Designer Blog. Jewelry by Natalia Khon: DIY Carnival masks by Svetlana Efremova

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

My today's guest blogger is Svetlana Efremova. She is a carnival mask artist. What a wonderful field! I am jealous! Why have I not think of this? :) Too late for me to switch, but maybe one day I will follow her wonderful DIY and decorate a mask if I have a carnival to go to!

Here is Svetlana's instruction:

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I would like to show you how to make the masks for your home decor. It is a rather unusual decor and it can surprise your guests! The masks can go to your wall by themselves or you can place them in a frame. Use mirrors and built-in lights for a more festive look. You can make collages using these masks too! Get really creative and you can make a unique gift! Who would not like to receive a gift with a story behind it?

Of course, these masks can be used for wearing to a carnival or a costume party too! Will you stay unnoticed wearing a mask like this? I do not think so!

I'll show you how to make an enigmatic mask... mysterious mask called "Midnight". Midnight is the time of dreams when the Universe smells with the stars...

You will need:

- Pre-made plastic mask (plastic is more resistant to the external impacts and strain if compared to papier-mache for example). A porcelain mask is good too.

- Acrylic gold paint, preferably "Royal Gold"

- Acrylic black paint

- Craquelure lacquer

- Acrylic gold contour

- Acrylic lacquer

- Hot glue gun

- Masking tape

- Decorative gold cord

- Gold glitter,black leaves sequins, gold stars sequins, circle sequins and black rhinestones.

First of all coat your mask with two layers of gold paint.

You will get a golden face like this:

Let it dry. You can use a hair drier to fasten the drying process:

Use masking tape to cover the spaces around the eyes and the lips. We need to do this to avoid paint cracking in these areas after application of the craquelure lacquer. Then apply the craquelure. Dry it and remove the masking tape.

Coat the face with the black paint.

When the paint starts drying you will see the cracks starting to appear.

Use chalk to draw the outlines of the eyes and the lips.

Paint the eyes and the lips with the gold paint.

Use the gold contour to outline the eyes and the lips.

You can use a transparent nail polish for the lips to attach the gold glitter.

Use hot glue gun to attach the black leaves sequins and the black rhinestones around the eyes (see the picture for the reference):

Attach the gold rhinestones the same way:

Coat everything with the acrylic lacquer. It will make your mask waterproof.

I also attached the gold cord around the face:

Then I attached more glitter, the gold stars and the circles sequins. Now it is done!

I re-named this mask into "The Midnight Secret".

I could stop here, but I wanted to decorate the mask more. I made it even more gorgeous and eye-catching by adding a black veil that I decorated with the sequins and the stars. I secured the veil with the glue gun. Then I added some long and sparkly earrings!

I could stop here too. However, I think it is going to look better as a wall decor. I attached the mask to a framed mirror.

There are two ways I can show the mask off. The first look is enigmatic with the black veil over the it's face:

The second look is a fashionista with a gorgeous hat on her head! The tough mesh veil holds its shape well, so I can simply bend it up and create a hat's field.