How to Make a Paper Medusa Mask

Instead of eyes, make the mask have cutout eye sockets.

If you are looking for a scary mask to make out of a simple material, such as paper, design a Medusa mask with snake attachments. Medusa is a female monster in Greek mythology that can turn people to stone when they stare into her eyes. Instead of hair, Medusa has snakes that stem out from her scalp. Use a paper plate as your paper base for the mask, which is large enough to cover the front of the face.

Things You'll Need

• Paper plate
• Glue
• Card stock
• Black marker
• Green tempera paint
• Paintbrushes
• Scissors
• Flat wooden stick

Instructions

1. Paint the front of the paper plate green with tempera paint and a paintbrush. Allow it to dry for one hour.

2. Draw oval-shaped eye sockets onto the top of the mask with a pen or marker. Angle the eyes so that the inner corners of the eyes are lower and the outer corners are higher up. This gives the face a more scary appearance. Cut out the eye sockets with scissors. This is where the wearer of the mask will see through when wearing the mask on the face.

3. Draw a nose on the mask with a black marker. Medusa has a normal human nose, so use an image of a nose to help the drawing look realistic.

4. Draw a turned-down mouth underneath the nose. Make the mouth 1/2-inch to 1-inch wide with the corners of the mouth down in a frown position. Since Medusa is a scary character, the frown will make her appear more angry. Cut out the inside of the mouth with the scissors.

5. Trace the outline of snakes onto card stock. Make snakes that look like they are slithering in multiple directions. The snakes should be a few inches long in order to stand up and out from the mask.

6. Paint the snakes with the green paint and wait one hour for them to dry. Glue the card stock snakes along the crown of the paper plate mask.

7. Glue a flat, wooden stick on the bottom backside of the paper plate. This is what you will hold to keep the mask up to the face.

Tips & Warnings

• An optional embellishment is to glue green yarn to the card stock snakes to give them more dimension and make the slithery shape stand out.

Resources

• Kaboose: Animal Masks or Wall Hangings