Cardboard Tube Cowardly Lion

I've learned some things as I've been making my cardboard tube Wizard of Oz characters. Gluing tiny bits of hay to a scarecrow is NOTHING compared to photographing a reflective Tin Man. Photographing a reflective Tin Man is NOTHING compared to working with faux fur. Henceforth, I will be referring to "faux fur" as Fuzzy Evil.

Ordinarily, this is where I'd encourage you to make your own, but I can't in good conscience tell anyone to work with Fuzzy Evil. If you insist, however, follow the directions below. There are affiliate links in the materials list.

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Cardboard Tube Cowardly Lion

Materials: 

• cardboard tube
• tan paint
• foam brush
• craft glue
• Fuzzy Evil (similar to this; I can't find exactly what I used)
• scissors
• kraft cardstock
• brown inkpad
• googly eyes
• brown pen

Steps:

Paint the cardboard tube with tan paint and let it dry completely. Cut a strip of Fuzzy Evil long enough to just wrap around the tube. It should be high enough to leave the face area exposed. Glue it in place. Cut a second piece of Fuzzy Evil to cover the back of the head, sticking up slightly behind the back of the head. Glue it in place. Add a few random tufts to the inside front of the tube. 

Cut a pair of matching ears from cardstock. Ink the edges, fold a small tab backward, and add glue. Put the ears on either side of the face. 

Glue the googly eyes in place, then use the brown pen to draw a nose, mouth, and whiskers. Then start filling in around the face with small tufts of Fuzzy Evil. Keep going until it looks relatively even. Finally, cut two short tufts and roll them in your hands like you'd make a playdough snake. These will be the eyebrows. Glue them in place, pointing down toward the center, but make sure your lion doesn't look evil. 

Now, take a shower and vacuum the house twice to eliminate as much Fuzzy Evil from your craft space as possible. (Note: You cannot remove it all. It's worse than glitter.) 

 As much as I struggled making this (and cleaning up afterward), I'm happy to have completed the Cowardly Lion. I have a few more items to add to my cardboard tube Wizard of Oz collection. In the meantime, check out the tutorials for the characters I've shared already: Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man.

Who (or what) do you think is coming next??