provided by UpLife
Nikki Brown Clown loves meeting up with her weekly preschool playgroup at UpLife Community Arts Center in NE Portland. She recently showed some of her young friends how to make a Nikki Brown Clown mask so they won’t miss her too much when she’s busy volunteering at other nonprofit organizations around Portland. You can recycle materials you probably already have at home to make your own mask.
SUPPLIES:
Cardboard
Fabric scraps
Button(s) or other embellishment(s)
Yarn
Scissors
School glue
Pencil
DIRECTIONS:
1. Draw the shape of Nikki Brown Clown’s face on a piece of cardboard using a pencil, and carefully cut out the shape using scissors.
2. Cut out eyes, a nose, a mouth, and hair from fabric scraps. We used:
- White and black for the eyes
- Red for the heart-shaped nose
- Pink for the mouth
- Green for the hair
We also added green yarn for more hair. Remember: Your kids don’t have to use these exact colors and shapes. See what Nikki Brown Clown would look like with blue or purple hair, or a star nose!
3. Arrange fabric shapes and yarn on the cardboard, then glue them down.
4. Nikki Brown Clown doesn’t leave home without accessorizing. We used a yellow bow with a button glued on in the
center. Have her try out some different ones.
5. Let the mask dry for at least an hour.
6. Use the mask to practice your own clowning, set it somewhere that you will get to see Nikki Brown Clown everyday, and/or bring it to see Nikki Brown Clown at her next event. That will surely keep everyone smiling!
UpLife is a nonprofit community arts space for people of all ages and abilities, offering sewing, ceramics, and painting in an open studio format. They host drop-in studio time, specialty classes/ workshops, birthday parties (with the option to include Nikki Brown Clown!), and summer camps. Visit uplifepdx.org, or simply stop by the studio at 424 NE Killingsworth Street during regular business hours.
