HOWTO: Cardboard Deer Mask

A few months back I discovered this wonderful etsy store called Wintercroft. Based in the UK, Wintercroft is run by husband and wife Steve and Marianne Wintercroft. They sell probably some of the most aesthetically pleasing animal masks I've ever seen, but here's where things get interesting. You don't actually buy the mask, you buy the template in order to create it. I love the hands on experience Wintercroft delivers. I also love their standing on recycling and helping the environment. 

Wintercroft believes that "by supplying the templates digitally and enabling people to build the masks themselves, no energy is wasted in both manufacturing or shipping. The masks are intended to be built from discarded, reused or recycled card. For example old cereal boxes are ideal. When you have finished with your mask you can strip the tape off and throw it in with the recycling."

Anything that's hands on and good for the environment, I'm in.

I've bought a few templates from them but today, I'll be showing a quick photoset with the mask that helped give me an A in my 3D Design Class. The Deer/Stag mask was a little challenging to make, but it was so cathartic putting it together and seeing it be built from a 2D design into a 3D one.

To save time, I printed the template directly onto cardstock. Handy tip, invest in a good cutting board and an X-Acto Knife with a bunch of extra blades.

 

Cutting and scoring along the mountain and valley folds. It looks like a mess at first but trust me on this, once you start matching the numbers up and taping it, it'll come to life right before you. 

 So from all those scraps of cardboard we had earlier, we get this:

Pretty rad huh? It took me a good 4 hours to construct this; the more tedious you are, the better the results. 

For more information on Wintercroft and where to buy their masks, visit their website right over here.

WINTERCROFT