How to Make a PAPER DOG 🐕 | Cardboard Paper Crafts | Best Out of Waste

Disclaimer Before We Begin

Before I start my tutorial, I want to make a disclaimer: I'm not a professional paper animal crafter. I don't claim to create perfect, lifelike copies of animals. I haven't yet developed that skill. My creatures are based on pictures I find on the internet, and I know the proportions may be off. What you're seeing is my first attempt at making this. I don't have a perfected stencil because I don't produce these in mass quantities. I simply start with a basic shape and build from there. My main material is various types of paper, which isn't the easiest for detailed work but is highly accessible. For finer details, I usually use air-hardening modeling clay, but I often experiment with different materials based on questions I receive about alternatives.

Full tutorial on My YouTube channel:

The German Shepherd Project

I received a request to make a German Shepherd dog. When I was little, this breed was my dream dog. I used to watch a German detective TV series where a German Shepherd was the detective's helper, so this craft felt like bringing my childhood dream dog to life. Even though it doesn't look exactly like a German Shepherd, in my mind, it's close enough.

I once made a paper dog for a specific order, but it was much larger and had short fur, so the process was different. This time, I made the dog smaller because I plan to give it to my daughters to play with. It can be their dolls' dog.

The Process

I started with the 'heaviest' material, which is cardboard. This time, I created a stencil with the shapes of the details I used to form the basic structure from cardboard. You can find and save that stencil at the end of this page.

After creating the basic shape from cardboard, I began adding toilet paper rolls/ kitchen towel tubes around it. I used hot glue for this. I always try to make 'dry' layers as much as I can. Meaning 'dry' is to use hot glue. And use 'wet' layers just on top. Meaning 'wet' – use school glue and water mixture.

To connect everything, I added a layer of napkin. It doesn't really matter what you use—kitchen towels, wiping paper, tissue paper, or even toilet paper will work. Use school glue diluted with water to adhere it to the body, and always use your cheapest brushes for this task, as the rough surfaces will quickly ruin your brushes.

Once that layer was dry, I took packaging paper, cut it as shown in the video, and started applying it as fur. Begin from the bottom and work your way up.

For the facial details, I typically use air-hardening modeling clay, but I couldn't find mine this time. I had a new package but wasn't willing to open it, so I used the 'lightest' paper—napkin paper. I even used paper washcloths, which are a bit thicker and stronger than regular paper towels or napkins.

It took much longer to form the face using this method. I wanted to see if I could make an entire creature from paper, and while I succeeded, next time I'll use modeling clay for the details—it's much faster. With paper, I had to tear down a lot of small pieces and glue them bit by bit. By the way, at this point, I had some leftover paint, so I mixed a little glue into the paint and used it to glue the paper.

The shape of the face is the trickiest part. At this point, it's up to your imagination, reference pictures or even your own pet. Experiment and make the project your own!

For the eyes, I usually use half pearls, but this time I tried using 'plastic eyes' designed for crafts. It was easier to correct their position in the face forming state. To make eyes more realistic I painted a layer of high gloss varnish.

Finally, paint in colors of your choosing. On the nose and around the eyes I used black metallic color.

Challenges and Reflections

The hardest part was getting the facial details right, which gave me quite a headache. I'm not a perfectionist, but I always strive to make my creations look as realistic as possible. I was asked to make a specific breed—German Shepherd—but I confess I couldn't fully achieve that this time. The dog has the colors of a German Shepherd, but the body doesn't represent it accurately. Therefore, I won't claim it's a specific breed in the title—it's just a paper dog. I've tried to correct the proportions in my stencil, so I hope that if you try to make it, yours will turn out better than mine.

The Final Result

Materials:

Cardboard, hot glue, school glue, toilet paper/ kitchen towel roll cardboard tubes, packing paper paper, tissue/ kitchen towel/ napkins or even toilet paper will work too, acrylic paint of your choice, half beads or plastic craft eyes, high gloss varnish for the eyes.

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Stencil