Grumpy Cat Mask

Do you, or does someone you know, embrace the attitude of a feline who "embodies" a particular serious president? Well, why not make your own grumpy cat mask!

This was a cheap-and-quick mask I made for my friend Colin - who doesn't wear costumes, can't wear costume makeup, and whose frown is reminiscent of an internet-cat-celebrity's-sulk.

Here's what you'll need:

- Cheap Plastic Cat Mask (I got mine at the dollar store for $2 around Halloween - during the rest of the year, a craft store might be your best bet.)
- Pink (Acrylic/Craft) Paint (...or Red and White Paint!)
- Paint Brushes
- Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
- White or Beige (Faux) Fur Scraps
- Brown and Black Marker
- Ribbon, elastic or painted dowel - depending on how you want to wear your mask

- Optional: Acetone

Clean your mask of paint, glitter, trim, etc, before you get started. You don't have to do this, but I recommend it.
I easily peeled off a ribbon trim from my mask, then wiped it a cloth soaked in acetone to remove the paint. Do this outside or in a well ventilated room please!

I actually made two masks - for the first, I couldn't get these dang glittery swirls off of the cat mask just by using the acetone cloth, so I just left them on. For the second (completely-glitter-coated) mask, I soaked the mask in a small amount of acetone - this proved to work against the glitter.

If you are to wear your mask by tying it around your head, tie a piece of elastic/pieces of ribbon through the holes at the side. (I'd be very surprised if the cat mask you buy didn't have holes punched already - but if it doesn't, carefully take some scissors and puncture in two).

After cleaning and drying the mask, paint the ears and nose pink!


^{_{(...blast those glitter-swirls! blast them!...)}}

You now need to cut out and glue the white or beige fur onto the mask.

The growth pattern of fur on a cat's face extends out from the center of the nose. So, in a nutshell, the fur on the top half of a cat's face grows upwards, and down-and-out for the lower half. To mimic this different fur direction, I cut out 5 pieces of fur; one for the forehead and upper-bridge of the nose, two for the cheeks, and two for the ears.

I laid out scraps of fake fur - good-side down - over the mask, and traced out the sections I needed. I then cut them out, applied hot glue to the mask, and added the fur.

If you have scarp fur of different colours, you can layer brown and black fur over the white to get face-markings that match Grumpy Cat.
Otherwise, you can do as I did and colour the fur with a marker! I used a black and brown marker to colour the ears and around the eyes.

If you chose to hold up your mask by a baton, buy a small piece of dowel, paint it, (optional) and glue it to the back of the mask at the side.

Now wear with a scowl, and refuse to have fun at parties!