The girls love watching Christmas movies each year from November onwards and one of our favourite ones is Elf. Buddy the elf, who's actually a human that was raised as an elf at the North Pole, is as obsessed with Christmas as my kids, so naturally he's one of their favourite Christmas characters. It helps that Will Ferrell is hilarious and infectious in his portrayal as Buddy and you can't help but wish you were Buddy's friend in real life.
To bring Buddy to life in our house we decided to make a toilet paper roll Buddy elf that's inspired by the real Buddy and the movie Elf, including his striped hat, green jacket and yellow tights. Get our free printable elf template and follow the instructions below to make your own Buddy inspired elf.
CARDBOARD TUBE BUDDY ELF CRAFT
We love toilet paper roll crafts in our house because toilet paper rolls are the most readily available craft resource and they're free! Plus they're recyclable, so they're good for the environment. We recently made some toilet paper roll Rudolph reindeer.
If you're worried about using toilet paper rolls, you can sanitise them by spraying them with disinfectant spray and then leave them in direct sunlight for an hour. Or you can cut down an empty paper towel roll or wrapping paper roll. If you're doing this craft in a classroom where you're not allowed to use toilet paper rolls, you can buy bulk craft rolls online.
Supplies to make Buddy Elf:
- Scissors
- Sticky tape or glue
- Printable elf template
- Toilet paper roll or cardboard tube
FREE PRINTABLE BUDDY ELF TEMPLATE
To make your Buddy elf, you'll need the free printable elf template that includes his body and multiple face options. Click the download template button below to download the elf template. This will take you directly to the PDF that can be downloaded to your device and printed. You will need a colour printer to print the template, or get it printed at a stationary store or library.
Please note that this free printable Buddy elf template is for personal or classroom use only and may not be shared electronically, uploaded, or sold on any platform. If you would like to share or feature this craft in a blog post please link back to this post directly.
HOW TO MAKE A TOILET PAPER ROLL BUDDY THE ELF
1. Print off the template. The template uses a lot of colour ink so I suggest setting it aside for a few minutes until the ink is completely dry.
2. Cut out the body section of the template. Cut the collar section a little higher as shown below so his head doesn't cover the collar once it's attached.
3. Wrap the body template around the toilet paper roll and attach. You can either glue the template to the toilet paper roll or wrap it around tight and sticky tape it together. Make sure the belt and shirt lines match up when you join the sides together. Trim the length of the template if it's too long for your cardboard tube.
4. Cut out the elf head you want to use. The buddy elf template comes with 3 different head options, one smiling, one laughing and one that's blank so you can draw your own facial expressions. If you're using the blank face, draw your facial expressions on now.
5. Stick the elf head to the collar section, leaving some of the collar visible under the chin. You can glue it on at the collar, or sticky tape it from behind to the inside of the tube. If your children want to play with buddy once he's finished, you can reinforce the head with a piece of cardboard at the back so it holds up better during play.
Once you've finished making Buddy you can use him as a Christmas decoration, or he can be used in small world play or as a prop for imaginary play and story telling. We've added ours to a Christmas shelf set up the girls are putting together.
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