How to Make a Skull Mask

Human skull masks can make for very spooky costumes for Halloween dress up or other costumed celebrations. Making your own Halloween mask using only a few simple items from your local craft store allows you to personalize and customize it while also providing a fun craft DIY project for you and your kids.

Measure the wearer's face from the top of the forehead to the bottom of the chin and from ear to ear. This will give you an idea of how big you'll need to cut the mask.

Draw an oval full-face shape on a sheet of white craft foam using a pencil. Make it about an inch longer than the measurements you took to create a mask template. For example, if you measured 8 inches from the forehead to the chin, make the length of the oval 9 inches. Remember that you don't want a perfect oval shape, so make it a little narrower on one end to accommodate for the facial shape of a chin.

Cut out the face shape you traced using scissors and place it over the wearer's face to get an idea of where you will want to cut out the eye holes.

Use a pencil to mark the areas where the eyes line up with the mask. Draw large eye cavities that match the bone structure surrounding the wearer's eye. Use scissors to cut out the eye cavities you drew.

Cut out a piece of black craft foam in the shape of a triangle, about 1 inch wide and 2 inches in length. Glue the triangle onto your mask in between but just below the two eyes. This will be the nasal cavity of your skull, as skulls don't have protruding noses.

Use acrylic paints for fabrics to paint the teeth clenched together in a wide grin. Each tooth should be separated by thin, dark lines and should be painted individually.

Paint a thin jaw line slightly below the bottom row of teeth, expanding it outward when it gets to the cheekbones. Finally, add any additional touches you'd like, such as cracks and blood. Allow the glue and paint to dry for two hours.

Place the mask over the wearer's face and mark a small dot on either side of the mask where it lines up with the ears. Use scissors to cut out small holes where you've marked the dots.

Pull the string through one of the holes and tie a knot to secure it around the hole of your costume mask.

Place the mask over the wearer's face. Pull the string around the back of the head and through the other hole; then, tie it in a knot to secure it. You want the string to be secure around the head but not too tight. Pair your new skull mask with a creepy Halloween costume and you're ready for Day of the Dead and other scary seasonal cosplay.