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Making Kids Face Masks Fun

Since wearing a face mask is becoming the new norm, there’s no reason why we can’t think of ways to make kid’s face masks fun to wear.

child wearing fabric face mask holding stuffie also wearing a fabric face mask

Ways to Make Kid’s face masks fun

While always keeping in mind the purpose of wearing a face mask is to keep ourselves and others safe from COVID-19, here are some fun ways to make kid’s face masks more enjoyable for your little one, without compromising the effectiveness of the mask.

Add a fun face decal

As we were sewing these kid’s pleated fabric masks for our little guys, we thought it would be fun to add a cute embellishment using our Cricut cutting machine and EasyPress Mini. Searching through Cricut Design Space image library we found a bunch of adorable face mask decal options to choose from. My personal favourite is the little piggy face!

child wearing a piggy face mask while playing with stuffie

When choosing a decal for your child’s face mask, avoid images that are overly large and solid in design. Be careful to not use designs that will restrict breathability so simple images with minimal details is best. Remember vinyl does not breath so you don’t want to use too much of it over the mask. Adding a face decal is purely decorative and a little detail goes a long way.

Keep reading to find the tutorial for adding a funny iron-on face decal to your kid’s face masks.

Use Colorful, Bold Printed Fabrics

It’s no secret, children LOVE color so when making kid’s face masks, choose medium weight woven fabrics that are bold, fun and playful! And if you don’t have fabric that is easily accessible, consider upcycling some woven shirts from your closet. I turned my husband’s old dress shirt into several useful kid’s face masks. Even though the fabric itself was not exciting by using t-shirt yarn elastic and a fun iron on decal made the masks more fun.

pleated reusable face masks made with bright color printed fabric

Use Colorful Elastics

Although most masks are made with simple and plain flat white cotton elastics, there are other great options to choose from. For example, we used t-shirt yarn in place of the standard elastic for our kid’s face masks. The t-shirt yarn not only adds a fun pop of color to the mask, it is super comfortable to wear. Many of our readers told us that they started to use tshirt yarn instead of elastic because of how much gentler it is behind the ears.

kid's face masks made with upcycled medium weight woven short, colorful tshirt yarn and fun iron on glitter animal faces

Matching Face Masks for Stuffies and Dolls

Although we didn’t plan for it, our kids immediately grabbed the extra masks and started to put them on to their stuffies and dolls. So if you’re planning to make some kid’s face masks, consider making a few spare reusable masks for them to play with. This will not only spark their imagination but also get them comfortable with using masks in general.

child's stuffy with fabric face mask

Novelty Masks

Does your child have a favorite Disney princess? Or a favorite sports team? Whatever your child’s interests and hobbies are, try to incorporate that into the mask with either a simple decal or with the fabric print. Or try this technique for printing Disney faces directly on fabric.

Adding Fun Iron On Animal Faces to Kid’s Masks

Materials Needed:

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supplies needed to make a kids face mask more fun with an iron on decal

Instructions:

Pre-Work:

Use the free kid’s pleated face mask pattern to make your own reusable fabric masks. The iron-on vinyl embellishments can be applied after cutting (before sewing) or added after the masks are completed.

Preparing the Image:

Open Cricut Design Space and click on the “+” sign to start a new project, opening up a blank canvas. Click on the Images button from the toolbar and search face mask decals in Design Space’s free access patterns or enter the image codes above for the same images we used.

When selected, insert the images on to the canvas.

Adjust the size by highlighting the image and clicking on the size box in the top toolbar. Change the measurement to fit the mask accordingly. For example we resized the pig face to 1.75” high x 2.8” wide and the whisker face to 4” wide x 1” high.

Cutting the Iron-On Vinyl:

Select “Make It” in the upper right corner to proceed with cutting and click the “Mirror” toggle button to on. This is necessary for ALL iron on vinyl cuts.

Choose Glitter Iron-On Vinyl from the list of options in the drop down menu or whichever iron on vinyl you have to use. Place the Iron-On vinyl directly onto the standard grip Cricut mat with the glitter side down.

place glitter iron on vinyl on to Cricut standard grip mat with glitter side down

Following the instructions prompted on the screen, cut out the vinyl.

Preparing the Cut Image:

Remove the Iron-On Vinyl from the mat and cut around the image. Using a weeding tool, peel away the excess vinyl leaving only the image.

Applying the Image with the Cricut EasyPress Mini:

Position the mat or a towel on a flat surface and set the temperature and time on the EasyPress Mini machine following the chart for the type of vinyl and material being used or use this EasyPress Interactive Quick Reference Guide.

For these 100% Cotton face masks and Glitter Iron-On Vinyl, set the EasyPress Mini to medium heat.

Determine where you will be placing the image on the mask and preheat for 5 seconds. We found it best to place the image in the center slightly above the middle point (where the animal noses will roughly align on the kid’s face). This will prep the fabric for the vinyl, removing all excess moisture as well as help to remove any creases and wrinkles from the fabric.

place reusable fabric face mask on Cricut EasyPress mat and preheat EasyPress

Place the cut image on to the face mask with the shiny side up.

placing the vinyl image onto kids face mask to be heat pressed on

Press the image on to the mask for 25 seconds, constantly moving EasyPress Mini as you press. Turn the mask upside down and apply heat for another 15 seconds.

While vinyl is still warm, peel the plastic part of the vinyl off carefully and discard. Make sure you do not place an iron or the EasyPress Mini directly over the vinyl without the protective plastic cover.

More FREE Face Mask Patterns for all ages:

Like it? Pin it for later!

iron on decal added to kids reusable face mask

Making Kids Face Masks Fun

Jane and Sonja
Since wearing a face mask is becoming the new norm, there’s no reason why we can’t think of ways to make kid’s face masks fun to wear.
5 from 2 votes

Materials
  

Instructions
 

  • Open Cricut Design Space and click on the “+” sign to start a new project, opening up a blank canvas.
  • Click on the Images button from the toolbar and search face mask decals in Design Space’s free access patterns
  • When selected, insert the images on to the canvas.
  • Change the measurement to fit the mask accordingly.
  • Select “Make It” in the upper right corner to proceed with cutting and click the “Mirror” toggle button to on.
  • Choose Glitter Iron-On Vinyl from the list of options in the drop down menu and place the Iron-On vinyl directly onto the standard grip Cricut mat with the glitter side down.
  • cut out the vinyl.
  • Position the mat or a towel on a flat surface and set the temperature and time on the EasyPress Mini machine
  • For these 100% Cotton face masks and Glitter Iron-On Vinyl, set the EasyPress Mini to medium heat.
  • Determine where you will be placing the image on the mask and preheat for 5 seconds.
  • Place the cut image on to the face mask with the shiny side up.
  • Press the image on to the mask for 25 seconds, constantly moving EasyPress Mini as you press. Turn the mask upside down and apply heat for another 15 seconds.
  • While vinyl is still warm, peel the plastic part of the vinyl off carefully and discard.
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