Evan and Audrey's birthdays are coming up, and since they are only a week apart, we just have combined parties for now. This year's chosen theme is Superheroes and Princesses! I decided that the boys are going to get superhero masks, and the girls are going to get princess crowns (coming later). So here are the masks that I came up with for the boys.
They are just made of craft felt, thread, and 3/4 in elastic. You can make your own by using the drawings or "templates" that I created found here. You can even glue them if you don't have a machine or use craft foam or paper if you don't like the felt look. I made them each with at least two layers of fabric so they don't flop around.
First, cut out two of the overall shape in the main color. On the template, the nose curve is pointed. I changed it when I was cutting to make them rounded. You can do it either way. Next, cut out any details (letter A, hair, etc.) then sew them to just the top layer. For the Spiderman and Thor masks, I just cut up the template and marked the fabric as I went to sew all the lines in the right places. I just used some black thread the a regular stitch on my machine. Sorry about the bad lighting. It was 106 outside, and I was staying as far away from the windows as I could get.
Next, cut your elastic to be about 14 inches long. Pin the two layers together, sandwiching (and pinning) about an inch or so of the elastic in the middle on each side.
Now sew around the whole outer edge of the mask and eyes with thread that matches the fabric. Trim it up and you are done. BE CAREFUL not to cut the elastic while you are trimming!!! I did it THREE times! UGH! Here is the finished front.
And here is the finished back. More sturdy with two layers and less scratchy stitching against the kid's faces.
And of course Evan was SO happy to pose for the camera. He thought this picture was hilarious "I'm sad that I'm Iron Man."
Audrey, on the other hand, was more than willing to cheese it up for me and be Spidergirl.
Going along with the superhero theme, we bought Evan this awesome Look and Find: Marvel Heroes
book for really cheap on Amazon.com. You might have to look around at different listings to find a good price. He loves Look and Find books and this was absolutely perfect for him! Perfect for keeping him quiet and entertained.
book for really cheap on Amazon.com. You might have to look around at different listings to find a good price. He loves Look and Find books and this was absolutely perfect for him! Perfect for keeping him quiet and entertained. |
I've got so many ideas for their birthday party! Check back in for more.
**EDIT** I have had a few requests through my etsy shop and by email asking if I can make these for you to purchase. I would LOVE to sell these masks, but due to the fact that they were
made using the likeness of licensed characters, I believe it would be
illegal for me to do so. These templates are for PERSONAL USE ONLY.
Also, check out my tutorial for appliqued superhero capes!
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Those are awesome! Thanks for sharing, I can't wait to make them.
ReplyDeleteAudrey cracks me up!!! Looks awesome. Your party is gonna be so cool!! :) Such fun stuff!
ReplyDeleteLove these! I just did a post on my blog about my son's superhero obsession, and he wants an Avengers themed party, these are perfect!
ReplyDeleteThese are awesome. My husband is a superhero geek, and passes his superhero knowledge on to the kids. He would be thrilled if he came home to a house of superheroes. Thanks for the patterns!
ReplyDeleteI think you should let the girls be superheroes too, there are plenty of great female superheroes out there. why do they have to be princesses? :(
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly :D But you could alter the colorations to make a Spider-Woman, or adjust Thor's headpiece to make a Sif, or turn Wolverine into an X-23 :)
DeleteI thought about doing girl superheroes, but my daughter told me that she wanted a princess party. I wanted her to be able to pick what she wanted too. :) Thanks for the comments everyone!
ReplyDeleteLove them!
ReplyDeleteMy two boys just went ballistic when they saw these. They want me to make them right NOW!
ReplyDeleteThanks for a FABULOUS idea :)
Love these masks...They are just what we needed in this house as our 4 year old little girl is OBSESSED with super heros ...with her favorite being Spiderman at the moment. She is even into all the Old School Spiderman cartoons...Can't wait to make these and thankyou for the tutorial.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea and something even someone as un-crafty as me can figure out!
ReplyDeleteThese are so awesome - my 7 year old has just told me his fave superhero is Iron Man (was so sure he'd say Spidey, didn't even know he had heard of IM, must be playground stuff I guess..) and I went to see The Dark Knight Rises on Saturday, so clearly I need a Batman mask for myself! Thanks for the greta tutorial xx
ReplyDeleteAnd I thought I was done with everything besides food for my 4 year old's avengers party this weekend ... dang you!
ReplyDeleteThese are really lovely!! Such a great idea for summer fun. I would love if you wanted to share them in my link party http://toastiestudio.blogspot.nl/2012/07/made-monday-30.html
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing with us at Someday Crafts! I will be featuring your project tonight on our blog. Please stop back in and grab a Featured at Someday Crafts button for your blog. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteWe are obsessed with all things Superhero and had to make these!!! Thank you for such a fabulous idea! I posted it on fb page today:)
ReplyDeleteI found this on pinterest, and I love it! Pinning! It was fun to explore your blog and I am happy to be your newest follower! I'd love to have you stop by my blog and see some of my felt projects...and other random posts: dosmallthingswithlove.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteNancy
Thank you so much for this! I've made three sets! One for my SuperHero crazed son and the others for his cousins.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE THESE!!! Thanks for posting the templates. Could you tell me how to enlarge it on the PDF? I would need to make an adult size one (DH is a comic book geek!). Thanks!
ReplyDeleteNot sure how to enlarge a pdf, but you can probably just pull up the pdf, push Ctrl and Print Screen. Go to a photo editing program and paste the image in. Crop, enlarge and print. Or... if you have microsoft publisher (usually comes with word, excel, etc.) you can email me and I will send you my file to resize. Hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous idea for a birthday party. The boys would LOVE them!!! They'd also be great for the dress up box. I would love for you to share these at our ongoing linky that's just for Pretend Dress Up Clothes...
ReplyDeletehttp://threadingmyway.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/threading-your-way-pretend-dress-up.html
My Son is suddenly going through a 'Spiderman' phase, and on friday while researching ideas for his party I found these fantastic masks (via pinterest) and he insisted I make the spiderman one straight away, so I've spent the weekend handsewing two for him and his sister! Here are my efforts: http://handmadebyrianna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/spiderman-spiderman-wears-mask-and.html
ReplyDeleteThankyou so much for sharing such a fab idea!
Rianna
x
My daughter (turning 3) and my nephew (turning 4) have b-days 2 weeks apart, to this point we've done a combined party. But this year he wanted Superheros and she wanted Princesses, haha! My sis & I decided to just make it a dress up party and do both to keep in combined. These masks & crowns will be perfect. Thank you, excellent timing!
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMy son would absolutely flip for these! This may be my homemade Christmas project for him!
ReplyDeleteThese are absolutely fabulous!! Can't wait to give them a try for my lil' guys! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you SO much for sharing, these are so amazing!! You rock!!
ReplyDeleteOk, I originally commented like a month ago about doing this for my son's super hero party. Well, the party is now over, and I did a post about the masks on my blog. I of course linked it back to you for people to get the templates. Check it out at http://sunshineandasummerbreeze.blogspot.com/2012/08/diy-avengers-masks.html
ReplyDeleteI hope that's ok!
Love this tutorial! My son's 6th bday party is coming up and of course avengers is the theme and I'm so glad to have found this in time!!! Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is EXACTLY what I was looking for... thank you, thank you!
ReplyDeleteDang! I found these one day too late. My daughter's school had "superhero day" today for spirit week. (yes, she's in high school, and loves spiderman! :))I'll make her one anyways. It's just too bad she wont be able to wear it to school. :( Thank you so much for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea!
ReplyDeleteMy son just decided that he wants a batman party this weekend, so I will be whipping up a few fun masks starting tomorrow!
I posted about your idea on my blog and will share pics when I am all done!
Thanks again!
Found via Pinterest! Thanks so much for the tutorial and templates. We are doing an all-handmade Christmas this year, and these will be *perfect* for my kids. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks!! My son loves these.
ReplyDeletejust found on Pinterest and definitely adding to my "to make board"!!!!! THANKS!!
ReplyDeletep.s. After I make them, I'll be putting a post on our activities page of our blog for preschoolers. Will give you a trackback once posted!
Thank you so much for posting the pattern. We used the bat man and spider man for my son's super hero training camp. And all the kids loved them.
ReplyDeleteI have my son's party posted here and I linked back to your site for credit on the masks.
Thanks again.
http://notyournormalsteam.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/superhero-training-camp-the-training-plan/
Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThose are wonderful & simple to do. My daughter wanted it right away & I'm not the crafty at the sewing machine so hand stitched the elastic, hot glued the rest, & used a sharpie for the Spiderman LOL Thank you so much for sharing! It's a blessing to find your blog.
ReplyDeleteHey everyone! I just want to say thank you for all of the wonderful comments! I have read each and every one of them, and they all make me smile. :)
ReplyDeleteI was wonderinh where you purchased your felt and about how many pieces were needed. This will be a fabulous Christmas present!!
ReplyDeleteI just used the craft felt that they sell at Joann's or Michael's. They are about the size of a piece of paper. For one mask, you will probably need just one sheet of each color used.
ReplyDeleteAwesome superhero masks! Please do share the Princess theme as well. Thank you for sharing your party ideas and fun!
ReplyDeletemmm. the templates won't come up for me... i just get a blank page... any ideas?
ReplyDeleteJulie, they are still working for me. Try once more and if it doesn't work, send me and email at cutesycrafts@hotmail.com and I will email the templates to you.
DeleteFound via Pinterest! Loving your blog! These masks along with the princess crowns will be on the Christmas making list for this year. Now following your blog.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like them and thanks for following me! :)
DeleteThank you!!! Found this via Pinterest and plan to make them as Christmas gifts this year!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter found your masks and superhero costumes by twindragonflies on pinterest and asked me to make them for her preschool class. Guess what I've been doing all day?! The kids will love these. Thank you for the templates.
ReplyDeleteThat will be a fun day at preschool! You're welcome. :)
DeleteDid you use anything to draw on the template on the felt? I may have some black felt left from making Mickey and Minnie ears for my daughter's 2 year old party last year. Thanks! Doing a Batman themed party for my soon to be 6 year old!
ReplyDeleteNo, I usually just pin the template to the felt and cut around it. It it's a really small piece, I usually just hold it. Sometimes I use my disappearing fabric marker, but that wouldn't work on the black. I have also used just a regular piece of chalk before. Having really sharp scissors and using just the tip really helps get around the curves. Happy birthday to your almost 6 year old!
DeleteSo cool! I have a friend with 3 boys who love superheros and every year I struggle to find a really great gift. These are perfect, I just cut out the templates and am about to get started on them. Thanks again for the wonderful templates and ideas!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like them. Thanks for the kind comment!
ReplyDeleteYou made the making of superhero masks plainly simpler. Thank you so much for sharing this artwor, which is useful for parties for kids.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe templates are not coming up for me...just a blank page. I tried in explorer and chrome but neither worked. Could you email it to me at pparkhurst3 at gmail dot com. I would really appreciae it!
ReplyDeleteJust sent you an email. Trying to fix the links. Let me know if you don't get it.
DeleteOh no, for some reason the templates are not working for me either, it's just coming up as a blank page. Can you e-mail it to me or check the link?
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Rebecca
rebecca03stringer (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Sorry, not sure why this is happening. Sent you an email. Let me know if you don't get it.
DeleteThese are fantastic! I'm gonna make masks, capes, and a fort in Avengers theme for my two boys for christmas! in case you didn't know, if you make the wolverine mask in purple and black and put an H on it (like the captain america mask) it is the mask for Hawkeye! My boys are gonna love these!
ReplyDeleteOh, good idea! That would definitely work. I love that you are doing a whole theme with a fort! So much fun!
DeleteI do not have a computer or printer. I am just going to freehand cut my pieces based on your examples. Can you please tell me the width and height of just the basic mask? Also on average the distance between the two eye holes. Thank you so very much :) this is going to be a christmas gift for my son.
ReplyDeleteLooks like they are about 3.25" high at the tallest part, 6.5" wide, and 1" between the eyes.
DeleteI'm not the author but am sitting at my sewing table finishing up these guys which my 7 yr old is super excited about having for his party. I'm measuring mine at 6.5" wide, just over 3" at it's longest height and from the bridge of the nose piece to the brow line is 2.5". The eye holes are about 1.5" wide and 1" tall. Fit my adult face and my kids face as well. Also for those who may not know, a good trick for cutting on felt is to first cut out your template then using clear packing tape to tape it onto the felt piece and then cut it out! Makes working tight corners a cinch.
DeleteThanks! I didn't have one sitting in front of me. :)
DeleteFound you via Pinterest! Making these masks as I type. Wonderful for my attempt at a homemade Christmas.
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat idea to have a homemade Christmas. Bet you are busy!
DeleteI found you via Pinterest as well! One of the commenters asked about resizing the PDFs--I just played with mine using the print menu zoom (or "scaling") until I got it to the size I wanted (for some reason they were printing super small at first). Anyways, hope that helps! :) Thanks for the tutorial!
ReplyDeleteI can't thank you enough for these templates. I am making these for Christmas presents for all the little cousins. So far I have made 12 sets, all the heroes except Thor. That includes 2 girl sets of each mask. A pink spidergirl is pretty cute! (Yes, 72 masks)I am also making a couple set of superhero cuffs for each child, found that pattern on pinterest. Here is a couple things that I did to save some time. On the spiderman masks I just drew on the web with a sharpie. It looks great! For my boys I sewed the web on, that took too long but those masks look the best. I found that if I used the heaviest Pellon backing that the masks were stiffer if that makes sense. I bought the Pellon stuff at Walmart, it was $2.77 a yard and I have used about 4 yards to make the 72. I cut the masks out of the felt, pinned it on the pellon and sewed it, then I cut it out. That made sewing the tips of the batman and wolverine so much easier. For the elastic I used this https://www.etsy.com/transaction/71056934, only cause I had it on hand and didn't want to go to the store. We are gathering at a church with a gym for our family party and I am going to do superhero training games and they will earn their mask after they do the training. Still working on that part. Also, needed a pre-school present the other day so I printed the batman template at 50 percent in size and made a mask for a little Mickey Mouse stuffed doll that I found at Walgreens, we also gave a batman mask and cuffs to go with Mickey. Present was a hit! Thanks again, my Christmas presents this year for the kids are all from your templates. And the kids are going to love them!
ReplyDeleteWow! You have been busy! What a cute idea to put in on a stuffed animal! Thanks for the tips.
Deleteloving these masks! I made the Batman one back at Halloween and was surprised by how easy it was! Today I'm making a few more for my nephew and am very excited to give him such a great and personalized gift! Thanks!! I'll be putting a post on my toddler activity blog with photos and a link-back (www.BusyBagCentral.blogspot.com)....once the post is up, I'll let you know!! THANK YOU!!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like them! Just started following your blog. :)
DeleteCan't download template :( says "Sorry, we are having a temporary problem generating a view of the document. Please try again later. " Second day in a row, numerous attempts trying to download the template and still no luck. Love and wanted to make the mask and princess crowns. Does any one else have this problem?
ReplyDeleteSend me an email at cutesycrafts(at)hotmail(dot)com and I will email you the files. :)
DeleteThank you :D just sent you an email!
DeleteI made these for my boys. They are going to be so excited when they get them! Thanks for the templates, making this an easy and fun project!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! :)
DeleteThank you, thank you, thank you! I made the Spiderman, Batman, and Iron Man masks for my nephew this Christmas and my mother found silk capes online. He loved them and wore them the whole day, changing masks to coordinate with the capes.
ReplyDeleteI can't thank you enough for making a little 4-year old boy's Christmas!
Aw! Glad he liked them so much!
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI too was having a problem downloading the templates. I am hoping to make these for my sons 4th birthday party (The Avengers theme), and you hit the nail on the head with these!
Ugh! Google docs is killing me! :) Send me an email at cutesycrafts(at)hotmail(dot)com and I will email them to you.
DeleteHi Jessica,
DeleteI played around on the computer a little bit, and made it work. I have a couple computers with only one connected to a printer, but I found Internet Explorer pulled the files up, but not Mozilla Fox (which is what I use on the computer with printer). So what I did was copy the image to a word document and was able to save and print them all off. Thank you again for your templates. I know this will be a big hit at my son's party.
Glad you figured it out and you're welcome!
DeleteThank you. You are so nice to share. I am going to attempt to make enough for the guests at my son's superhero party.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! Let me know if you have any questions. :)
Deletethanks for the templets these will be awesome for my daughters birthday party!!!
ReplyDeletethanks again Jeanine!!
You're welcome! Glad you like them!
DeleteHello I am make a set of each mask for my son's party on Saturday. I have all the masks cut out and pinned ready to sew but had a couple of questions. Did you sew all of Hulks hair down or just around the top edge? How about his eye brows? I know you said to sew the details on first but my question is after you have the wings on Captain America mask you would then go around the outer edge of the mask in blue thread, did you just skip over the wing or go around the outside edges? Same thing with Ironman if you seal the edges applying the gold then how do you go around the whole mask in the red color without going over the gold?
ReplyDeleteHope I did not confuse you too much and thanks for the templates and help.
I just sewed the top edge of the Hulk's hair and just one line through each of the eyebrows. For the details on the masks, I believe I sewed around all but the furthest edge first. So for Captain America, just sew the inner parts of the wings with the white thread, put the two layers together, and then use the white thread to sew though the outer part of the wings and both layers of the mask. Then change your thread to blue and sew the rest. Make sense? Hard to explain without photos.
DeleteOh okay I assumed that is how you did it... so basically a lot of changing thread, lol. I did the Hulk mask last night just like you posted (just read this) so we where on the same page. Boy getting those pesky eyebrows to stay in place was not fun! Slowly but surely working my way through them. I did find I had to shorten the length of elastic to about 12-13" to fit my sons head, at 14" it fell right off him.
DeleteYes, lots of thread changing. I think my kids have big heads. Haha.
Deletei just found your tutorial through pinterest, and am now following your blog. I love these masks. My daughter is all about playing "superhero" and this will be perfect. Thanks so much for the patterns!
ReplyDeleteMelanie
http://violetsbuds.blogspot.com/
You're welcome! Just started following your blog. Love your cute hair things! :)
DeleteHi :) Just wanted to let you know that if you sell them using Etsy, it's perfectly fine to sell them without worrying about copyright issues. Tons of people sell fan merchandise :D especially if you look under the "Geekery" tab.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was taking the "better safe than sorry" approach with it. I know there are lots of people selling fan merchandise on etsy that get away with it, but I've also heard of people getting their shops closed, sent notices from lawyers, etc. I've gone back and forth on it so many times, but in the end, I'd rather be safe. :) Thanks though!
DeleteI'm the Editorial Assistant for Fun Family Crafts and I wanted to let you know that we have featured your masks! You can see them here:
ReplyDeletehttp://funfamilycrafts.com/superhero-party-masks/
If you have other kid friendly crafts, we'd love it if you would submit them. If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above. Thanks for a wonderful project idea!
These are masks are so cute! I have used them twice, once for a Spider-Man birthday party and just recently I modified them slightly to make Spider-Man and Iron-Man class Valentine's Day hand outs and t-shirts for my two boys.
ReplyDeletehttp://betweentherabbitsears.blogspot.com/2013/02/diy-spiderman-valentine-masks-and-shirt.html
I love the masks! It's just sad that you can't wear them when you have to wear glasses.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Didn't think of that. :(
DeleteWe now have the full set :D Just blogged the Captain America one, it's by far his favourite. Again, thankyou for the patterns, it's given me the confidence to go ahead and make some of the more obscure superheros (including Hawkeye etc). Must do a collective post of all his masks soon :)
ReplyDeletehttp://handmadebyrianna.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/captain-america-to-rescue.html
For some reason, I'm not able to view the templates. Is there another way that I can see them? I'm needing to make a Batman mask for one of my boy's Easter baskets. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMallory
Send me an email at cutesycrafts(at)hotmail(dot)com and I will email them to you.
DeleteThanks for the fabulous templates, Jessica!!! I've finally made some...
ReplyDeletehttp://threadingmyway.blogspot.com/2013/04/felt-masks.html
Perfect timing for the masks and capes. My nephews' birthday is right around the corner and he is obsessed with superheroes. Thank you so much for the patterns. You have made so many people and kids very happy. I do have a question though...what would you recommend for cape fabric?
ReplyDeleteUrsula
uschbear at gmail dot com
Thanks! These are adorable! Carol
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! And thanks for the comment!
DeleteLove these!! Thanks for taking the time to make a pattern..they are so fun!!
ReplyDeleteHeather
Thanks Heather!
Deletej'aime beaucoup : en plus, les explications sont claires et bien faites, ce qui est assez important aussi !... merci de partager toutes vos jolies idées... le lien est ici : http://pinterest.com/lemondedis/fetes-pour-les-p-tits-chats/
ReplyDeleteI'm making these for my brother-in-laws 30th birthday party, he's a huge super hero guy! Are the templates kid size or adult size?
ReplyDeleteThey are kid size for sure. If you can't figure out how to re-size the templates, send me and email, and I'll see what I can do. :)
DeleteI'm pretty sure I can figure out a resize, just wanted to know before I made a bunch for adults and the don't fit : )
DeleteThanks!
I did resize them and they're coming out awesome!! I also added in The Flash and Green Lantern! Plus I altered one of your princess crowns into Wonder Woman's! I'll post a link to my pics when I'm finished.
DeleteAwesome! So glad it worked out. Can't wait to see them! :)
DeleteHere they are, I LOVE THEM!!!
Deletehttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200654895726408&set=a.3013536229019.133504.1580940151&type=3&theater
They look great! Wow, you made a lot! Thanks for sharing.
Delete