Wolf Mask Pattern
For Paper Mache
$7
Do you ever feel like howling?
If so, you and Brother Wolf may be kindred spirits. Make this mask today, slip it on, and celebrate your wild side.
No sculpting experience is needed. The pattern creates all the shapes for you. Just add a layer of paper mache and paint your mask in your favorite wolf colors. Then proudly tell your friends “I made it myself!”
How to make your wolf mask with this pattern:
Print the pattern on standard letter-sized or A4 paper and attach it to cardboard.
Cut out the pieces and tape them together..
Add one layer of paper mache or paper mache clay.
Bring your wolf to life with acrylic paint.
Finished size:
About 11.5 inches (29 cm) high, 9.5 inches (23 cm) wide and 4.5 inches (11.5 cm) deep. The mask will fit an adult head, but the cap can be easily altered to fit anyone. The instructions that come with the pattern show you how.
Two ways to use your new wolf mask:
Make face mask or helmet-style mask to wear to your next party. You can paint it to match your own favorite wolf photo, or get really creative – either way, it will be sure to catch the attention of anyone who sees it.
Or use your wolf mask as a wall sculpture. It’s a great way to display your love of these beautiful animals.
Or, do both – wear it to the party, and then make some minor changes so you can keep it as a permanent part of your decor. 🙂
$7
Video #1: Putting Your Wolf Mask Pattern Together:
Video #2: Adding Paper Mache to Your Wolf Mask:
Video #3: Painting Your Wolf Mask:
My downloadable PDF Patterns come with full instructions.
There’s no waiting for your pattern to arrive, and no shipping costs, so you can start on your project right away.
Note: If you’ll be saving your pattern to and iPhone or iPad, those devices like to hide your downloaded files. You can scroll down this page to see how to find them.
And remember – if you have any problems downloading your files or putting your pattern together, just let me know. I’m always happy to help. 🙂
To make your wolf mask you will need:
- Light cardboard* from the front and back of three cereal boxes (recommended) or a
sheet of corrugated cardboard from a cardboard box. - Full-sheet labels (recommended if using cereal box cardboard) standard letter size
paper (8.5” x 11”) or A4 paper (210 × 297 mm) - Glue stick** if using regular paper instead of labels
- Straight edge (optional)
- Scissors for cutting the cereal box cardboard, or a box cutter if you use corrugated cardboard.
- Good quality clear tape. Don’t use “invisible” tape, like the kind use to wrap gifts. It
isn’t sticky enough. - Paper strips and paste. Find recipes for paste by clicking on the ‘recipes’ tab at the top of this site.
- Acrylic paint and varnish
*If you don’t have any cereal boxes, you can order “light chipboard” online. The medium and heavy chipboard is too stiff to bend well.
$7
Do you have a question or need help with your pattern?
There are two ways to contact me: The fastest way to get an answer is to leave a comment below. I read all comments and answer them as soon as I can, usually within a few hours. One of my readers might also chime in to help – we have a very supportive community here on this site.
If you prefer to reach me privately, you can send me an email.
I get a ton of spam and I don’t want your email to get lost, so please put “paper mache” in the subject line so your email won’t be accidentally deleted. If you don’t hear back from me within 24 hours, assume the cyberspace gremlins ate your email, and try again. 🙂
Just a few of the masks made with this pattern …
Have You Used this Pattern? Tell Us About it …
I saw your fantastic masks, and will definitely be making the lions. But right now I was wondering if you think it would be possible to change the wolf pattern into a racoon. Any guidance on if this would be possible is greatly appreciated.
It’s possible – but not without a lot of fiddling. The first three things would be fairly easy – change the shape of the ruff around the face so it’s more oval-shaped, make the eyes round, and the ears round instead of pointy. But the muzzle would be challenging. Raccoons have a very distinctive muzzle that’s a lot more pointed than a wolf. You might need to cut the pattern and tape it together a few times, changing the shapes each time, until you get it to look the way you want it to. Another option would be to do a search on etsy.com for a raccoon mask papercraft pattern. They’re created by computer so they have sharp edges, but if you use cereal box cardboard and fill in some of the shapes with crumpled foil and masking tape, you might be able to get the shapes you want more easily than rebuilding the wolf. 🙂
Hi Jonni this pattern is a lifesaver! (well, not literally, but a MAJOR timesaver, which is very valuable!)
Anyway, before I start making them all (yes, plural, hence the time saving being important), I see you updated the patter to include being able to wear it, but I don’t quite get how that translates when making the mask – do you mean the cap part should be covered with paper mache too, as if so I wondered how that would fit and at the same time sit properly on the head without it wobbling too much, or you just make the face part of the mask and stick it somehow onto a beanie-type hat?
Thanks!
Liz
Hi Liz. The mask pattern did get some additional pieces so it can be worn as a cap-style mask, or you can leave the back pieces off and tie it to the head with a ribbon or elastic strap, like a traditional face mask. The cap portion should be covered with a layer of paper mache to make the seams strong, and it can be custom-fitted to the wearer’s head to make it fit correctly. I don’t know about sticking it on a beanie-type hat – I don’t know if anyone has tried that or not. Go ahead and put one together – it will help you decide how to make them. Are you making a whole pack of wolves?
Hi Jonni thanks for this! Yes I saw that cap pattern on the pattern I downloaded, but I just wondered if it might nevertheless wobble around a bit due to more of the weight being around at the front of the head?
I’m making several for a production, so they need to be able to stay on securely while the actors are moving around. Have you, or any of the community, made the full head mask and if it is custom fit, would it stay in place even with enthusiastic movement?
As I’ve been brought in to make them rather at the 11th hour, I have very scant opportunity to be able to come in and custom-fit them to each person, but if that does make the difference for a good fit without any wobble then I’ll see if I can somehow make that happen – please let me know. Otherwise I was thinking perhaps a generic make and adding chin strap perhaps, or alternatively a baseball cap with the front part cut off. Not much time to experiment though!
Thanks so much!
Lots of people have used the Lion King Jr masks in their productions of the play, and they seem to work OK. But there are two options for making the masks fit better if you can’t customize them for each person. You can attach a wide elastic strap on the inside the the mask that would go across the actor’s forehead. I’m not sure how it would be attached, though. And the easiest way would be to put two small holes in the cap area behind the ear, and use them to attach ribbons or elastic cords that would tie under the actor’s chin.
Hi, Thanks for the wolf mask. For school, I have to make a red wolf. What colors would you recommend for painting it?
Hi Jessica. A mixture of burnt sienna, burnt umber and yellow ochre would work really well – I hope you’ll show us how it turns out! 🙂
Also for the wolf do you have to Papier Mache it?
You don’t have to – someone just spray painted his (he left his homework assignment until the last minute and didn’t have time for the paper mache.) I’ve thought about using colored duct tape instead of the paper mache and paint. If you can think of other ways to do it, I hope you’ll let us know. And be sure to show off your wolf on the Daily Sculptors page when it’s done. 🙂
Ok! ?
Sorry I didn’t mean the ? Thanks for the advice!
Can you do an African Wild Dog mask? It is super simalair to the Hyena. Look it up if you don’t know about them.
Hi Paisley. You could use the wolf or hyena mask for your African Wild Dog, but give him much bigger ears. I just looked at both hyenas and the African wild dog on Google image search, and it looks like the dog’s muzzle about half-way between the wolf and the hyena. Not quite as long as a wolf, but heavier, like a hyena. The most noticeable things about the AWD is his crazy ears and the black “mask” he’s wearing, with the dark stripe going up between his ears. I think if you got those right, either the wolf or hyena mask pattern would work equally well.
Sure!
Hi is it necessary to use corrugated cardboard or would it work with cereal box cardboard?
I think it would work with the lighter cardboard, but I haven’t tried it and the pieces were made to fit with the corrugated cardboard. For that reason, the pieces might not fit together quite as tightly – but if there are gaps they will be covered by the paper mache so it shouldn’t matter. Make sure you check the mask often while the paper mache is drying, to make sure it doesn’t go out of shape. After saying all that, I should add that the cat mask was made with cereal box cardboard and it worked just fine, so the wolf should work, too. If you try it, let us know how it came out. 🙂
I can’t see what I am supposed to down load. Sorry haven’t done this before. I just purchased a pattern of the wolf. I thought I was going to get it in the mail.
Hi Marie. If you click on the link in the order email, it should bring up a browser window with two buttons. One is for directly downloading to your device, and the other button is to download the file to your Dropbox account. I recommend using the first button and downloading it directly to your device so you always have access to it.
If you’re using an iPhone, iPad, or other Apple device, they have a way of hiding your downloads. I don’t have an Apple device, but this article may help. If you still can’t get it to work, let me know what type of device you’re using so I can be more helpful.
I resent the order email to you, in case you lost the original email with the download link.
Good luck!
Hi. I’m interested in this wolf mask. I wish to know if it will fit a 15 years old guy… I see that most of the reviews here are from younger children. I suppose I’m asking if it will fit an adult. Thanks, Daphna
Hi Daphna. I just tried it on, and it fit me perfectly – as soon as I took off my glasses. If your son’s head is a little larger than mine, you can put something inside the mask while the paper mache is drying, to make it slightly wider.
Have fun!
Thank you
Oi, boa tarde, parabensss!!!!, lindo de mais o seu trabalho, da vontade de sair fazendo!!!!!Parabensssssssssssss
Hi, this is my first time making this because of a school project, and I was a bit of confused, after adding layers of paper onto the mask and then what should I do? Should I just paint it or…..Because I tried directly add white onto it, and it just ended up all soaking wet and beneath layers of newspaper just showed up.
Hi Alyssa. Was the paper mache completely dry before you added paint? And what kind of paint are you using? I’ve never known of anyone having this problem before. We normally use acrylic paint, over dry paper mache. You will get brighter colors if you use an acrylic gesso first, but I’ve painted many things without gesso, without having any problems with it. Let us know a bit more about how you’re making your wolf, and we might be able to be more helpful.
Hi! I made these masks with my 2 daughters and their 4 cousins, aged 5 to 13. They had a blast! Thank you for the great pattern. My daughters are wondering if you are going to design some dog mask patterns. They love dogs.
They look great – and what a wonderful photo! A dog would be fun – maybe a bulldog or mastiff, with those sad-sack eyes. I’ll put it on my list. 🙂
Hello Jonni.
Can I ask you What kind of glue on paper use at step 2?
Thank you?.
Hi Michell. I used the cooked flour and water paste for this one, but you could also use the raw flour and water paste, or the Elmer’s Art Paste, or any other recipe. You can find my favorite recipes on this page.
This may seem like a silly question but, how is the wolf mask worn? Will I need to attach a strap to hold it on?
Hi Kathleen. Yes, the mask will need a strap. I usually wait until the mask is complete before I add holes for a strap. That way you’ll see how it fits the face and how it’s balanced.
This looks amazing! The one thing you might redesign is the eye alignment. A wolf’s eyes are not horizontally aligned like a dog’s eyes. They are obliquely set and have a distinct “V” appearance. If you look at any head on wolf photo you will see what I mean.
I need to make 6 wolf masks for an upcoming performance of Beauty and The Beast.
Really love the design of this, but need it to look a little more realistic.
Do you think it is possible to add faux fur to this mask?
It sure is! I haven’t done it myself, but Linda posted a photo of a mask she made with this pattern, and she added fur. You can see her comment here, but just in case the link expires, here is the photo she gave us:
Hi Jonni
I’m having a lot of fun making the mask. How many layers of paper mache do you recommend?
If you used cardboard for the pattern pieces, you really only need one or two layers, on both the front and the back. This will cover the tape and make the seams nice and strong.
I’m glad you’re having fun with it. Will we get to see it when it’s done? I’d really love to see how it turns out.
trop bien mais j’aimerais savoir les meusurs
Finished size: About 11.5 inches (29 cm) high, 9.5 inches (23 cm) wide and 4.5 inches (11.5 cm) deep.
have you the impresion for the draw? or one archive to impressing? I am from Argentina and i want to make this mask from my child.
Hi Martina. I’m not quite sure what you’re asking. The pattern with instructions is available on this page. You can purchase it by clicking on the green button. It’s a downloadable file. If you make one, we’d love to see how it turns out.
I love the wolf mask!!! And the elephant…How about a dragon mask or a unicorn mask? An elf mask? Obviously I am in to fantasy! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us.
The dragon sounds like a lot of fun. So does the elf. I already have a unicorn mask in my book, so I probably won’t do another one, but it’s still a great idea. 🙂 I’ll put them all on my list – thanks!