Oct 28, 2010

Headband Masks for trick or treating

I wanted to make a bunch of Star Wars masks for my kids and their mates to play around in for my six year old's party and also for trick or treating a week later.

Firstly I want to let you know about the great mask print outs that we got from here and here. So lovely and retro and hand drawn/painted, just like the original artwork for the movie posters. Love it! I printed out some of the masks and then glued them to some Dollar Tree poster board to make them a bit more sturdy. Then it was Paul that did the cutting and covering with a layer of sticky back plastic, also from the Dollar Tree (the sticky back plastic, not Paul). He cut holes for the eyes and little doors for the noses to poke out a bit. We covered them with the sticky back plastic because the print outs were inkjet and so not water resistant. I figured there would be party beverages flying around, so the plastic covering would give the masks a better chance of lasting longer than just one night.

I originally planned to do the usual stick a couple of holes in either side and put elastic on to hold them on the kid's heads, but we had kids ranging from four up to eight years old and so one size wasn't going to fit all. It was a moot point anyway, because as it turned out I had no elastic. Bah. What I did have though were three packs of Dollar Tree kid's hair bands. They came in packs of three, so I had nine in total, which was perfect. They are just kid sized ridgid plastic hairbands that are covered with a woven fabric layer to make them prettier. All I had to do was get the hot glue gun out and glue them onto the backs of the masks at the right height.


The thing I really like about this result is that for trick or treating they can be flipped up to be worn like a real headband whilst walking about, so that you can see properly to cross roads etc, but it's easy to flip them down into a mask after you've knocked on the door. No more face planting on people's doorsteps because you can't see where you're putting your feet! (or is that just me?)

Ooh and one last one. I was one hair band short, so I glued an old pair of the 3D movie glasses to the back of the R2-D2 mask. That worked really well too, even though they were adult sized glasses.

So, just a quick post really, and more of an idea than a project, but I thought it might be useful to a few trick or treater last minute preparations.

Total cost for ten star wars masks was $5

$1 poster board
$1 roll of sticky back plastic (The Dollar Tree called it "self adhesive shelf liner")
$3 three packs of three Dollar Tree headbands.

The other good thing is that they have been worn a lot this week by a lot of different kids and none have broken so far. In other Halloweenish news... The 4th July tree has now become the Halloween tree. You don't need to tell me how weird this is ;)

No real projects to blog about from my older daughter's 6th birthday party really. We had to go for a pretty small party this year, with only four families, because we'd been ill and when we were finally well enough to have the party, the weather was terrible and with a party limited to the livingroom and kitchen, it had to be small. I used the same aproach with the cake this year as I did with the superhero cake from last year, only this time it was an Empire cake with storm trooper and vader party rings squished in the sides for decoration. We made balloon torch light sabers and had a death star pinata to abuse. I think my favourite bit was the party food at the "Ackbar Snackbar" in the kitchen :) She wants to be Darth Vader for halloween. Do you think it has anything to do with her feeling an affiliation to the entire crew of the death star, who just happen to all be British?
Hope you all have fun trick or treating on Sunday! Seems like October was the Star Wars month for us. I think we're maxed out with it now after back to back birthday and Halloween. I wonder what new obsessions November will hold for us.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haaaahaha. I just laughed so hard at the R2D2.

Caroline Farmer said...

Can I ask where you found the Luke and Han images to print? They are perfect for our Halloween costumes this year, but didn't see either face on the two links included.

Great post - cool ideas!!

Thanks!

The Knitty Gritty Homestead said...

I wish I was your child. Your house is just so full of wacky creativity, spontaneous spurts of arty energy...hilarious fun! I need to print out those masks tomorrow. I teach kindergarten and am trying to create themes/units that reflect the kids. Imagine if I did a Star Wars unit!! Wonder what the parents would think...love your blog.

Cass said...

Did you make the Death Star pinata? ;)

Lindsey said...

Jaimie, me too! It's like R2-D2 is doing an impersonation of Eric Morcambe :)

Caroline, I completely forgot that Han and Luke weren't included in the set on the Star Wars site. The Luke one was an old 1970s mask that I found just by doing a google search for "Luke Skywalker mask". I can't for the life of me remember where I found the Han Solo face though.

Homesteadgirl, Thank you for the kindness :) I hope your crew have fun with it all! My daughter would be on cloud nine if she got to do a Star Wars unit in school!

Cass, we did start making a spherical pinata for the death star, but then the weather turned on us and it wasn't going to be dried out fully in time for it's beating, so we ended up doing what Marie from "Makes and Takes" did, and getting a soccer ball pinata from the local party store and decorating it to look like the death star instead! It does mean that we have a spare pinata now that the original one has dried out. Christmas pinata? Too weird?

This Girl loves to Talk said...

I do christmas and easter pinata every year! We did one just covered in tinsel (round balloon shape) you can do christmas tree shape, or like a bauble( I personally dont like kids hitting human/animal shapes but you could do a round santa) and at easter we do an egg shape. Its not weird at all. Perfect activity for christmas day for our big extended family full of lots of little kids

mari said...

So gteat! I added you to my link roundup for the week. Happy Halloween!

http://bit.ly/9BmUxp

mousee23 said...

Your cake is awesome

Unknown said...

Too fun! Love the masks.

pam said...

You really, really are an amazing and talented and resourceful woman! Who but you would have thought to add headbands to printable masks - or any other mask for that matter!

You have a gift, you know. You really do.

Lindsay said...

oh, my hec!! my boys would LOVE all these masks. they are star wars CRAZY!! i'll have to search them out tomorrow. we did an activity of yours at our art group a little bit ago. here's the link

http://makebelieve-lindsay.blogspot.com/2010/10/doodlebugs-102110-5-little-pumpkins.html

thanks for all the awesome inspiration and creativity! you're awesome. :-)

Ruth said...

Thank you for sharing yet another fantastic post. My son is just getting into Star Wars at the moment so all this is perfect timing for us. And that cake is fabulous!
Best wishes from the UK
Ruth

MG said...

hello, it's the first time that i read of you: i think that you have a big creativity and good fantasy. Sorry if i write not good, but i'm italian, so my english isn't perfect...
very compliments.
Luna

Stephanie said...

My daughter loved these...we may be repeated this birthday theme in April! Thanks for the inspiration

Mrs. LIAYF said...

What awesome awsomeness!! We are big Star Wars fans here (hence, the blog), and love when we find something new.

My rocket engineer girlfriend just found out she is pregnant with triplets!! I sent her your website so she could be inspired in about 3 years - when she finally catches up on her sleep.

Amy A @ Child Central Station said...

Lindsey - I really enjoy reading your blog, thank you for sharing so many creative ideas! I gave you a blog award today. http://childcentralstation.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-award.html

Anonymous said...

please post a new project, i love looking at them!

Nikoli said...

Been missing updates from the Wizards. Hope everything is AOK and life is just busy. Take care and Happy Holidays!

Kristine said...

Hi,

just hope you guys are ok - since this post from Halloween is the last one I saw.
Have a nice Christmas!

Unknown said...

I know you haven't blogged in a while, but I love your blog, so today I gave you the "Me Encanta Tu Blog" (I love your blog) award on my blog. Hope all is well, since you haven't posted in a while... and I can't wait to see what new adventures your craftiness leads to!

Jen said...

Hello...
I've noticed no new postings for awhile. Everything OK? or just busy?

Anonymous said...

Hey, it's been a LONG time.. I hope everything is going well with you and your family!

- Jessica

julie said...

Filth Wizards' Mama! You are truly a crazy ass genius. I find your approach to parenting truly inspirational - being attentive to what fits for your kids, encouraging/teaching them to be independent and build stuff they want to build! for them! creativity and art, can be all around us, all the time! build your own toys!! why didn't i think of that?? so great.
i got a daiso styrofoam cutter and will soon channel my inner filth wizard to crack out something awesome.
i gave a build your own light saber kit to my brother for his 41st bday, [big hit] and my 2 year old was yoda for halloween [handmade 1 seam felt hood took 5 mins and a thrifted beige hoodie for a robe] and he loved, loved his light saber. 100% fun. next year, the masks, perhaps!
i am missing your posts, hoping all is well with you and your wizards of filth.
happy holidays.

andrea gardiner freeman said...

My son Max turned 6 the 24th of October and we had a big star wars bash too. How cool to have girls who rock star wars so well. I love your whimsy and creative spirit that you are passing on to your little earth contributors!

Anonymous said...

Hi there. I love your idea! Thanks so much for sharing!
I was just wondering if you might still have the downloaded files for the Luke and Han masks. I would be so greatful if you were willing to share them. I can't find Han anywhere and the Luke is questionable. My son love Star Wars and is having a party soon. These would be a hit, but I know he'd be bummed if we didn't have Luke and Han. I know its a long shot, but I just wanted to ask you. If you can help, please let me know. Thanks so much. :)

Lindsey said...

Hi Emily, The Luke one I found again and is a Flikr photo that someone took of an old cereal box mask. It's here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/teamhurley/5080572768/ I just scaled it to be the size we wanted to print. I still can't find the Han image that I used. I'll post a link to it if I do find it again though.