Here's how to make DIY confetti and papier mache masks to make with kids for
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousAs a matter of fact: the Carnival it is one of the favorite parties for children. THE fancy and colorful costumes,cheerful and carefree atmosphere, the greedy sweets, the succulent dishes, the possibility of meet up with friends and schoolmates and to devise together jokes and fun pastimes make this particular time of year be second only to Christmas in the scale of appreciation of the little ones. So why not try to involve them personally in the preparations for the party, perhaps creating together masks and confetti do-it-yourself and taking advantage of it - why not? - for tease their creativity and pass on them some good green habits in the field of recycling and reuse?
Don't worry, it's not too complicated a business: just have a few tools and few raw materials at hand. Just think about the whole card no longer usable that you have accumulated at home: not only old newspapers and magazines, but also note sheets, advertising and promotional flyers, used and no longer useful post-its, gift paper, cards, wallpaper ... Well, the Carnival can become an excellent opportunity for recycle all this in a creative and eco-sustainable way: for example, as we have anticipated, turning it into colorful confetti.
Just take some used paper, perhaps choosing the most colorful pages, cards and sheets, and get one very common desk punch, of those used in offices and that produce gods nice round and regular holes. Together with your children or grandchildren you can have fun punching the paper, ending up producing a fair amount of "waste", in the form of funny confetti which you can then collect in a bag to be pulled out at the right time. In the absence of a puncher, you can resort to an even more immediate and artisanal method, cutting your paper into vertical strips, which you will then shred well, to create confetti of various sizes and shapes: rhombuses, rectangles, squares… and so on and so forth, the more! What to say: a simple, fun and even cheap operation.
If you have time and patience and, above all, if you are a lover of manual work, you can devote yourself to a more complex work, which can however be a source of enormous satisfaction for you and your little ones: DIY papier mache masks. A few elements are enough to make the mask: about ten sheets of newspaper or an old magazineand vinyl glue (even better if ecological), a basin of water to soak the paper with a little glueand film or of aluminum paper, the Scotch tape and a couple of scissors.
To give the mask the shape you want you can use a cardboard as a base, on which you will trace the outlines with a felt-tip pen and then cut them out, or, in the case of a mask that will have to cover the whole face, a balloon or anyhow rounded surface. Both the cardboard and the balloon will be coated with foil or aluminum paper and then covered for several layers with the strips of newspaper that you have soaked in water and glue.
Remember that, in order to wear your small work of art, you need to create small slits on its sides, through which a string or ribbon can be passed. For decoration, however, the only possible advice is to give free rein to your imagination and that of your child, recovering old fabrics, tulle, scraps of colored paper, ribbons or perhaps thick woolen threads to make the hair. In short, at the bottom of the wardrobes and drawers of the house there are certainly objects and tools that you have not used for a long time, but which can prove to be very useful to complete your small art project.
If the idea of the do-it-yourself papier-mâché mask intrigues you, know that there are very detailed and very useful tutorials online: for example, in this movie it explains how to make a Harlequin mask, While in this the procedure is shown preparation of a full face mask, which everyone can decorate and personalize to their liking.
If you are not inclined to manual work but still love drawing, you can make a simpler project drawing your favorite mask on a card, then cut it out and decorate it at will with colors and applications, creating small slits on its sides to pass the ribbon necessary to tie it around the face. Sure, your little work of art won't have the consistency and strength of a papier-mâché mask, but it will still be original and witty. So much so that you can think of making more than one and using it as a decoration of your home if you are planning to organize a Carnival party.
Finally, if 1) you are not a great designer, 2) you are short of creativity, 3) you do not have enough time to dedicate to DIY, but you still want to try to amaze your children, on My Page find some ready-made pdf templates and of the most disparate forms. Just download them, print them and cut them out. All using, if possible, the FSC certified paper or recycled, in order to combine creativity and fun with respect for the environment and make your Carnival as eco-sustainable as possible. Lisa Vagnozzi
