Make a Despicable Me Minion from a Cardboard Roll

Minions are pint-sized characters from the movies Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2. They're ugly cute and if you're a fan of the film, it's probable that you think they're just adorable. By recycling a bit of scrap from your home, you can make your own minion dolls for play or display.

Steps

Preparing the Base

1. Cut a used aluminium foil roll to a preferred size for the minion doll. Cutting the roll in half is a good option but you may like the doll taller or shorter.
2. Draw a reference face in pencil.
3. Tear up sheets of newspaper into slim strips. In a large bowl, mix the strips with craft glue and water. Mix with your hands until they make a paper pulp.
4. Push the pulp inside the hold of the roll. Create a slightly raised mound at one end to serve as the minion doll's head. The other end should be left flat, in line with the cardboard roll's base. Let the pulp dry inside the roll––it will dry fastest if left in direct sun for 5-6 hours. The finished roll forms the body of the minion doll.

Adding Body Parts to the Minion Doll

1. Cut two toothpicks into minion arm lengths. Poke holes in each side of the roll where arms should sit. Insert the arms into the holes.
   • The length that you cut the arms will depend on the size of the body you've created for your minion doll.
2. Make the minion doll's head. Either cover the head with yellow paper (such as tissue paper or cellophane) or paint the head yellow. Alternatively, cut a ping pong ball in half, glue onto the head end of the doll and paint it yellow (if it's already yellow, don't paint it).
3. Once everything is dry, paint the body. Use a non-absorbent acrylic yellow paint.
4. Add legs. Use pen refills or toothpicks to create the minion doll's legs. Cut to size and glue the chosen leg materials to the bottom of your minion.
5. Cover the legs with M-seal. This will help to make them thick. Make the feet base flat so that the minion doll won't fall when it is made to stand.
6. Make hands and a headband from M-seal. Glue each item to the minion doll.

Adding the Finishing Touches

1. Paint the minion clothing as per your choice. Use yellow and blue colors. See the image for one idea.
2. Draw on a mouth. Use black permanent marker to create a mouth shape. Paint the hands and shoes black.
3. Color the remaining parts of the body. For example, paint on goggles, a headband and any hair.
4. Apply a thin layer of varnish to complete the doll. Let it dry for a day. Your minion doll is now ready for action or display.

Tips

• Use online images of the real minions to guide your craft activity.
• Use acrylic colors to get good finish.
• You can use little clay balls for making minion hair.
• Add a little LED circuit to make the eyes light, if desired. Ask for help with this if you don't know what to do. It will need to be added prior to stuffing the doll, so can be a bit tricky.

Things You'll Need

• A roll of aluminium foil
• Waste paper
• Scissors
• Ping pong ball (optional) and craft knife to cut in half (only if using a ping pong ball)
• Refills
• Toothpicks
• Glue
• Scissors
• M-seal (or other quick drying modeling material)
• Acrylic colors
• Black permanent marker

See also

• Make Paper Dolls
• Make a Paper Doll With Clothes