The Lions of Waltham Forest

Make a Lion Mask from a large cardboard box

Suitable for all ages

Step 1

Get all your equipment together

This is harder, though with more scope for your own design than the monkey mask. Younger makers may need some adult help

You will need:

A large piece of thin card,
Some water based paint (red, blue and yellow, white) mixed together make light brown)
Paint tray or pot
Black marker pen
Glue and stapler
Pencil and ruler
Scissors
Any decorations like tissue paper (optional)

Step 2

Draw a large circle. I drew round a frying pan.
This circle is 30 cm by 32 cm, so not quite round.
Then cut your circle out.

Step 3

We all enjoy colour mixing. Mix red, yellow, blue and white to make light brown. I used lots of yellow in the mix.

Step 4

Paint the circle you have cut out brown, save some of the paint for the ears,

Step 5

Make the ears by drawing 2 more circles. I drew round a baked bean can, cut them out.
Paint one circle brown and the other yellow and let dry, Cut both circles in half. Cut the yellow circles down in size to make inner ears and I shaped the outer ear a bit as well, Glue the inner ear to the outer ear.

Step 6

Draw your lion face shape. This was the hardest bit! I drew a few before I was happy. Finally I drew this vase shape I liked, using my ruler, and cut it out
I drew an eye shape and cut it out, then folded the face in half to mark where the second eye was going
Not bad job.
Paint the face, let it dry and then place on the back of the mane circle. Position it in the centre and mark out the eye space.

Step 7

Fold the mane in half and draw a small heart shape that covers the place where you marked the eyes
Cut the heart shape out

Step 8

Glue your lion face and ears into position. I left a gap at the top of the forehead because I want to glue some tissue paper in there later
Draw on some lion features. I used a ruler to help me.

Step 9

Time to decorate. You could use tissue, crepe paper, shiny paper. I couldn’t find much so I decided to make another layer out of the scrap card. This would also help hide all my head!

Find the scrap card the lion mane was cut out of
I painted it yellow and put it in position. I thought it needed a bit more decoration
I painted on some contrasting brown stripes
Glue the trim on the back of the mask and cut some fringing

Step 10

I cut more fringing. I rushed this a bit and now I wish I had taken more time to cut it carefully!! Am sure you will do a better job

Step 11

I decided to make a ‘hands-free mask’ but you could always mount it on a stick, like the monkey mask

I cut a fairly wide band of card, measured it around my head and stapled into place. A good tip is to staple so the sharp ends are away from the face.
This is it finished. I was somewhat slapdash because you won’t see it.
Carefully staple the top of the lion mask onto the hatband, making sure you can see through the eyehole BEFORE you staple it in place.