The Repository of Dangerous Paper Plate Masks

For reals! We're talkin' some old-school paper plate action. Oh come on. It's fun!

Allright, so first off, you'll need some paper plates. Not the cheap floppy paper kind, but the sturdy cardboard type ones. Oh, stop whining, they're more durable. We're gonna be painting these so they need to hold up!

Get you some tempera paint. Now, Andrew Wyeth painted some fancy-lookin' stuff with temperas, but he was a master, and you and me, we're just hacks. So you don't need to get anything fancy. Tempera's cheap. Don't forget some cheap-o paintbrushes from the dollar store. And wear old clothes, unless you're, y'know, a tidy artist. (A tidy artist is no artist at all!) You also need a pencil or pen, some scissors, and any extra stuff. Y'know, if you're into glitter or something. Construction paper maybe. I used some construction paper and some pipe cleaners. Look, here's a picture for you, allright?

OK, we're gonna make a mask of ShaeDoll. So you need yellow, green, and red paint. You also need to know what she looks like, so here's a reference picture. Draw your best approximation of her face on the plate. It's easy. If I can do it, so can you! Circles for eyes, some hair across her face, and an X-ed line for a mouth. Voila!

See, this is where I would tell you all the details about how to paint and stuff. But for one, I didn't take pictures, and two- come on, you don't need me to tell you how to paint? Just do the lightest colors first, in case you screw up. If you were really spiffy you'd use yarn for hair and giant buttons for eyes or something. Well I guess I'm just not cool enough for that. But for crying out loud, don't forget eye holes, all right? They're important. If you're gonna wear it you can use twine to tie it on! (Note, don't wear it until it's dry. Also, don't eat the paint.)

See, you can make lots of masks. I'm going to use mine to scare the cats. Patton got pipe cleaners, and Davis gets construction paper, because mixing actual fire with anything (except marshmallows) is generally a bad idea. Just for reference:

Pink = Lots of white + drop of red
Peach = Lots of white and yellow + couple drops of red
Brown = Mix increasing amounts of paint of all colors together until you get something that isn't quite gray, but isn't purple anymore, either, finally