Cardboard Tube Wizard of Oz: Dorothy and Toto

When I was cleaning out my scraps last week, I came across a blue gingham paper that totally reminded me of Dorothy's dress in the Wizard of Oz. So naturally, I used the paper to make Cardboard Tube Dorothy Gale. (Isn't that what anyone would do? No?)

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Cardboard Tube Dorothy Gale

Materials:

• cardboard tube
• skin tone paint
• brown yarn
• scissors
• white paper
• gingham paper
• coffee filter
• red paper
• red Stickles
• brown paper
• googly eyes
• black Sharpie
• craft glue

Steps:

Paint the cardboard tube with the skin tone paint. Set it aside to dry.

Cut about twenty 6" lengths of yarn. Gather them together, then use two more pieces of yarn to tie the bundle together, approximately 1" from each side. Cut off the excess from the yarn you used to tie knots. Cut two skinny strips of gingham paper and glue them around the yarn at the two locations where you tied it. 

Cut the coffee filter so that you have an arc. It will be the underskirt of Dorothy's dress.

Use the coffee filter to trace the shape of Dorothy's skirt. Extend the inner and outer arcs a bit so that there is enough paper to wrap around the back of the tube. Cut out the skirt. 

Cut a strip of white paper and glue it to the cardboard tube where the neck would be. Glue a strip of gingham paper 1/2" below that. Cut two skinny strips and glue them to the front of the dress to make the straps. 

Wrap the coffee filter around the bottom of the tube, gluing it at the top only. You want the bottom to billow out like a skirt. 

Wrap the skirt piece around the tube, leaving 1/4" of the coffee filter underskirt showing. 

Cut two cone-shaped pieces of red paper for Dorothy's slippers. Add a thin coat of Stickles to the pointed ends for sparkle. Set them aside to dry.

Put a line of glue around the top of the head, then place it upside down on a piece of brown paper. Let it dry, then trim the edges flush with the tube. (This is to give the hair a place to stick.)

Glue the googly eyes in place, then use the Sharpie to add a nose and a mouth. Add a generous amount of glue to the head and place the yarn on top. (In retrospect, it might look better if the hair was in two sections, giving her a part. Up to you.) I used a rubber band to hold the hair in place while the glue was drying. 

Fold the red papers so that they have a 90° bend. Position the slippers so that the sparkly toes are sticking out from her dress and the other ends are flush against the inside of the tube. Glue them in place.

That's all there is to it! "But what about Toto?" you may be asking. You can find that tutorial here. I didn't realize at the time that I was making Toto, but he's perfect to accompany Dorothy!

Should I make more Wizard of Oz characters? It might be a fun challenge...