DIY: Mardi Gras Feather Mask – Cheap and Quick

In my previous post DIY Mardi Gras Party Decor – Under $50, I showed you an overview on how you can make your own masks and assemble your own centerpieces and decorations for your mardi gras party without spending a lot of money.

I decided to give you a step by step guide on how to make a feather mask. This one took me less than 15 minutes and cost about $2. If you have more time, patience, and want to make a really fancy mask, you can simply follow these basic steps and add on to it as you wish.

For this tutorial, this what you will need:

1. Cardstock (pick a mardi gras color like purple or green)

2. Project board (black)

3. Feathers

4. X-acto knife

5. Glue

6. Pencil

How to Make Your Own Mardi Gras Mask:

1. Choose 1 sheet of card stock and line it up with your black piece of project board.

2. Sketch free hand with pencil the shape of the mask you want, including the eyes. Go over it with marker to define exactly where you want to cut.

3. Cut out the eye holes with an x-acto knife. Press firmly so you go through the card stock and cut through the project board. Don’t worry if you have a frayed edges! It will all be covered with feathers in the end.

4. Now you should have 2 separate cutouts of your mask shape – 1 on colored card stock and the other on the black project board. Add glue along the perimeter of the project board mask and outline the eyes with glue as well. Adhere the purple mask onto the black one.

5. Add glue and start adding your feathers. Start by making a layer of feathers encircling the eye-holes of the mask. Then layer the feathers in any design you want, using glue to secure them.

And then before you know it…in only a few minutes, you will have finished your own handmade Mardi Gras feather mask!

This is what the back of your mask will look like. You can add elastic string (sacrifice a hair elastic) to make the mask wearable or glue a rod (plastic straw covered with black paper or a pipe cleaner) to make it handheld.

If you really have patience, and have the time to purchase some really nice looking feathers, you can add sequins around the rims of the eye holes – giving them more definition and making it look more pulled together. You can add extra pieces of card stock to the top of the mask to add height and allow for more feathers. With some extra time, you can put together a mask like the one I made below. I used feathers that I actually already had and pulled out the mardi gras colors. I also found a nice peacock one to go right in the middle. Feel free to get creative and make the mask your own! Happy Crafting! 🙂

DIY Mardi Gras Party Decor – Under $50

I know Mardi Gras is not for a while but I was asked to make Mardi Gras centerpieces for my fiance’s business party being held at the end of January. The tricky part? There’s a really tight budget. So I had to think creatively, roll up my sleeves, and hunt for a good bargain.

I scoped out a couple party stores and took photos of their over priced masks so that I could use them as inspiration. Why pay $5.00 or more per mask when you could make 6 masks for less than $9.00? I also did some important strategizing on Mardi Gras Outlet.com – they have the most fantastic prices and you can buy a lot of great party gear, in bulk, for a fraction of the price at iParty or at the craft store.

My fellow crafters, you know how pricey a project can get when you go out to buy supplies. I checked out my usual go-to store Joann’s to see what it would cost for me to buy my own sequins, feathers, project board for the mask base, rods, etc. I did the math and realized I would be paying about $10-12 per mask if I did it myself purchasing the supplies from the craft store. So what did I do? I bought supplies at the Mardi Gras Outlet and the rest at the Dollar Store in my town. I was able to spend a grand total of $49.79 on all of the supplies – enough to make 10 table centerpieces, extra masks for guests, and have some feathers & garland left over for extra decor. The only part I made myself by hand were the masks. The rest of the super cheap supplies were all ready to go upon purchase.

So here is how I did it!

Supplies Needed to Make the Masks:

1. Recycled Cardboard

2. Solid Colored Scrapbook paper (dark green, purple, gold)

3. Sequins – $10 (dollar store)

4. Feathers – 5 packs x $1.25 =

5. Glue

6. X-acto knife

7. Plastic rods or Drinking Straws – $10 (dollar store)

How to Do It:

1. Recycled cardboard works just as well as project board. The difference? Project board costs about $20 for a pack of 20 at the craft store. True, the project board comes in perfectly cut 12″ x 12″ slabs, but who needs that if you’re cutting out masks? I used cereal boxes as my base for the masks (easier to cut out than a cardboard box). Trace the shape of the mask and use the x-acto knife to cut it out.

2. Use your Mardi Gras colored scrapbook paper as a solid base to cover the card board you cut out. You can trace the cut out shape of the mask on the scrapbook card stock. Then cut out your second shape of the mask using your x-acto knife.

3. Adhere the scrapbook paper mask to the cardboard mask. They should line up neatly so one is right on top of the other.

4. Add sequins and feathers however you want. Use scrapbooking glue to secure everything.

5. Glue on your rod for the mask to serve as a stem. I found black plastic drinking straws from the dollar store (10 for $1). They are thick drinking straws sturdy enough to support the mask and serves as the perfect stem.

Other Materials Needed for the Centerpieces:

1. Glittery  mardi gras colored foam balls – 2 packs x $5.95

2. 10 Plastic vases – dollar store each $1 (total $10)

3. Mardi gras beads – 24 strands for $4.00

4. Mardi gras garland – $2.99 (dollar store)

5. Extra feathers – 2 packs for $2.50

6. Elastics for additional masks – $2.99 (dollar store)

How to Assemble the Centerpiece:

1. Use the glittery foam balls as vase filler

2. Add some throw beads pouring out of the top of the vase or leave them out and around the vase

3. Stick in one or more masks into the vase, like adding stemmed roses to a vase, and arrange however you want.

That’s it!

So there you have it – another easy way to make something from the party store for a lot less. AND you get to use recycled materials too! So you are staying green while you’re at it! Hope these tips help you to decorate and make your own masks for Mardi Gras this year! 🙂