Just in case you're like me and it doesn't occur to you to check a calendar every so often, you should know that Halloween is less than a week away. And the only thing more terrifying than Halloween is the idea of braving your local Halloween superstore, which is probably so picked over at this point that people are fighting over the last Princess Leia costume like rabid wolves. Thankfully, you're not completely out of luck: Etsy seller Steve Wintercroft has a cheap and easy solution to all your Halloween related woes: for a mere $7.42, you can print and assemble your very own geometric paper mask.
The masks come in all sorts of varieties of beasts, both mythical and real. Werewolves and pumpkins and owls, oh my! Wintercroft, who also builds surfboards, Bento boxes, and furniture in his spare time (is there anything he can't build?), claims that his inspiration for the masks came a few years ago, when he made a fox mask out of recycled paper for a party and received a lot of compliments. Since then he started the Etsy shop and has been steadily adding templates, all of which download and print immediately after purchase.
Wintercroft recommends printing the template and cutting out the mask with a sturdier material like old cereal boxes. More advice: the dog is the quickest one to assemble, and even then it takes an hour or two, so make sure not to procrastinate too much on this year's costume. And of course you'll be tasked with decorating it yourself. But I've got a feeling it will be well worth it in the long run, not just from the money you'd save, but from the stir you'll generate wherever you go. Once you print the mask there are no rules you have to follow. I, for instance, would print a bunny mask and paint it entirely pink, but that is quite possibly the least spooky idea anyone has ever had. For some better ideas, you can take a look at some of these stunning pictures of what Wintercroft has done with them himself:
Images: Fearless Photography/Etsy
