Halloween Face Painting Tips & Tricks

Thank you to Pottery Barn Kids for inspiring and sponsoring this post.

A while ago I posted a tutorial on how to make a Calavera Mask to accessorize an awesome Pottery Barn Kids’ Skeleton Costume. The boys and I had so much fun working on those masks and I now have them as decoration in my dining room!

But what’s a mom to do if your kids don’t like masks or if you’re worried they won’t be able to keep track of one all night long? Thanks to Handmade Charlotte’s adorable tutorials for Pottery Barn Kids Building Blocks Blog, I decided to give face painting a try! Here are some things that I learned along the way…

1. Gather supplies BEFORE you corral your child. I made the mistake of having my son wait as I unwrapped and activated all of my face paint pens (I used DecoArt People Paint Face & Body Markers). If I had been prepared, I could have started painting the second he sat down. Instead, he was totally bored for the 10 minutes it took to open the packages and I had to resort to bribing him with chocolate.

2. Be realistic with your kid. Keep in mind your child’s temperament and attention span when planning your face painting design. My son is really sensitive to touchy things so I knew my time was super limited. I would have loved to have painted his whole face white but that would have been nothing short of torture for him.

3. Chill out. Halfway through the process, my son asked if he could have a purple heart on his forehead instead of the red one I had planned and I got all “Crazy Artist” on him. It took me a couple seconds to tiptoe back to reality and realize that this is 100% about him and his vision. A Purple heart it is!

4. Don’t over think this. You don’t need anything fancy to make your kid’s Halloween dreams come true. All of the pictures above were made with just a few basic cosmetic items over at Pottery Barn Kids Building Blocks Blog! They’ve even included free patterns to make it that much easier for you. Click over there for more great face painting tips!

5. Plan accordingly. You know how they tell you not to swim out too far because you’re going to have to swim back? Well, the same thing applies here! Remember that you’re going to have to remove the paint at some point before Halloween is over. More than likely, your kids will be exhausted and hopped up on a crazy candy high.

So unless they just pass out and you can remove the paint while they’re sleeping (one can hope!), they are not going to want to sit still while you scrub at their faces. I would suggest considering removing the face paint before the end of festivities. They might still be upset with you but at least you can bribe them with chocolate!

So, what do you think? Are you going to give face painting a try? I’d love to hear what you have planned!