Carnevale Mask GIVEAWAY!!!! CLOSED.

Here's a little taste of Halloween in September. I want to post my first 'official' Halloween giveaway on October 1st but I have my doubts that I will make that goal. I'm really throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the giveaway. So, in the meantime, please enjoy some Carnevalesque goodness.

When I saw these masks in the latest Martha Stewart magazine along with a DIY tutorial I knew I HAD to try them. If you like them too, check out the tutorial here.

These make a great 'adult' costume. I liked the formal attire combined with the 'masquerade' look of the masks.

Here are some tips if you decide to try to make them yourself.

DON'T skimp on the materials. You absolutely need crepe paper in the sheet form and NOT the streamer form especially for the beak.

DO use a glue stick and not a glue gun. You really need the wide application of a glue stick. But more importantly you need time to carefully arrange the crepe paper and a glue gun gives you very little time to make mistakes.

DO NOT start the feathers around the eyes first like it says in the tutorial. Rather start around the outer edge of the mask. This way you can easily layer them on top of each other rather than having to pull the feathers up to glue the next layer underneath. If this is confusing to you, follow the tutorial until you reach the step in which you must start to glue the feathers. You will see what I mean.


DO buy your crepe paper online. I used half a tank of gas searching for gray crepe paper. And I was lucky to finally find it in streamer form. I would have saved myself a lot of time and money by just buying them online. Since you have to buy the blank paper mache masks online you might as well go ahead and buy the paper.

DON'T substitute tissue paper for crepe paper. The reason why crepe paper works so well is because of the wrinkles. It lends itself well to the look of feathers and gives a 'creepy' sort of texture that compliments a 'carnevale' style mask.

DO experiment with different colors. If I were to do these again I would have done a red and black feathered bird. Or a plain black raven with a yellow beak.

DO buy broad scalloped scissors. This will save you a lot of time especially if you do not have the steady hand to make even bumps yourself. You can find links to everything in the above mentioned tutorial except for the scissors. I found those at Michaels for $1.99.



I found the retro red dress at the Salvation Army for $1.50. I think it's really slimming and hides my pregnancy.

You may not be able to tell from the photos but I cut off the elastic band that came with the masks and added two thin velvet ribbons which work really well! This way they are adjustable for anyone and look a lot more slick!

It rained all yesterday and all morning today. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday. We found a small window of sunlight between 3pm and 5pm and drove out to the wildlife preserve.

I really should have rethought my shoe selection. The ground was pretty gross and my stiletto heels sunk in like sand. Plus, wearing high heels when your 22 weeks pregnant is NEVER a good idea. I nearly fell over several times. Compared to all the other hikers I looked pretty insane.



By the end of our photo shoot I was feeling uninspired but I wanted to get one more shot. I asked Brian to do something silly for me. He answered, "Sillier than walking around the woods in a suit and tie with bird masks on?"

I think the best part of this shoot for me was not having to put on any make up except my red lipstick. And simply pulling back my hair in a ponytail. I was ready in about 2 minutes.

If you look at the Martha Stewart shoot you'll see that there are two smaller masks for children. No, I didn't forget about them! LOOK FOR THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT MASKS ON TUESDAY.

This giveaway is for the masks featured in this post and I would would say these masks will fit any adult.

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