Tube Buddy: Leaf Tanuki

A chibi tanuki, 3⅛ in tall, made from a single paper tube: round ears, a dark “mask” around big eyes, a white tummy, a fluffy striped tail, and a green leaf on the forehead. The ears form on their own — you press the top of the tube in at the back and the front.

• Easy
• 1 tube
• 4 small pieces
• 2 Letter sheets

Make it with your phone cameraLesson code: 6733

On VanGami the template appears over your sheet through your phone camera — no printer needed. Trace it, cut, fold and glue. Below are all the steps in text.

What you’ll need

• 2 Letter sheets — office paper, 80 gsm (20 lb)
• Markers
• Pencil — and eraser
• Scissors — small
• Glue stick — or PVA glue
• Glass — phone stand

Steps

Trace

1. Sturdy sheet from two. Apply glue stick over the whole surface of a sheet of printer paper, press a second sheet onto it, and smooth with your palm from the middle to the edges. You'll get a thick sheet — work on that one. Put it back in the same spot, edge to edge; don't move the phone.
2. Strip: outline. Trace the solid line around the strip with a tab above the middle and two small notches at the top, with round ear tips at the bottom of each — you'll cut along this line.
3. Strip: ear arcs. The dashed arcs at the top are the ear folds. Trace them pressing hard: the top will then fold evenly along the scored line. Don’t cut along them.
4. Strip: drawing. Trace in thin lines: the face with cheeks, the “mask” and eyes, the nose and mouth, the zigzag fur line, the fur “tongue” on the back, the ears with their centers, the tummy circle, and the paws. Don’t draw on the white margin at the left — it goes under the seam.
5. Small parts: outlines. Trace the solid line around the leaf, the tail with its tab, and the two arms.
6. Small parts: fold lines. The fold lines are dash-dot lines: these are valley folds. Don’t cut along them.
7. Small parts: drawing. On the leaf — veins, on the tail — two stripes and the tip, on the arms — the line where the paw starts and the toes.

Color

8. Color: strip. The head above the zigzag line and the fur “tongue” on the back — light brown; color the head all the way to the top edge, and the tab too: above the arcs is the crown, and it shows from above. Ears — brown; their centers, the “mask”, and the paws — dark brown; eyes — orange; nose — black; blush — pink. The face and body stay white. Leave a narrow white stripe along the dashed arcs, and outline the contours, pupils, and lashes in black.
9. Color: small parts. Leaf — green, the tail and arm sleeves — light brown, the tail stripes and tip, and the paws — dark brown. Don’t color the tail tab: it will lie on the white back. Outlines — black.

Cut

10. Cut out: strip. Cut out the strip along with the tab above the face. Each ear has a small notch: cut down from the top edge, around the round tip, and back up.
11. Cut out: small pieces — 4 pcs. Cut out the leaf, the tail with its tab, and the two arms.
12. Backs. Flip the strip, the tail, and the leaf. Color the back of the tail light brown and the back of the leaf green. On the strip, under each ear notch, color a fingernail-sized spot brown: you can see it from above in the gap by the ear.

Roll

13. Roll the tube. Apply glue to the white area on the left. Roll the strip with the drawing facing out and lay the right edge over that area, up to the line. Press the seam for 10 seconds.

Fold

14. Ears: top at the back. Turn the tube with the seam facing you. Press your finger on the top edge above the seam: it will dent inward along the scored arc, and round ears will stand up at the sides.
15. Ears: top at the front. Turn the tanuki to face you. Apply glue to the underside of the tab above the face, from inside the tube, and press in the front of the top the same way: the tab will lie on top of the back half.

Assemble

16. Arms. Apply glue to the back of the arm from the shoulder to the dark paw, but not the paw. Glue the arms to the sides at a slant, dark paws toward the belly: the tanuki is holding its tummy.
17. Leaf on the forehead. Apply glue to the stem and the bottom of the leaf up to the lowest pair of veins. Glue it to the forehead above the “mask”, tilted slightly to one side: the leaf will rise above the head between the ears.
18. Tail. Fold the tail tab toward you along the dash-dot line, apply glue to its back, and glue it to the back on the left, right at the bottom. The tail sticks out backward and curls up.

Check

19. Stand it on the table. Set the tanuki on the table — it stands by itself. Turn it all the way around: the ears are round, the leaf sticks up above the head, and the tail is at the back.

Done. The tanuki is done. Let the glue dry for 10 minutes — then you can put it on a shelf.

Make it with your phone camera

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