Easy DIY Elephant Mask and Wall Head – Just Crumple and Glue!

Want to make a cool elephant mask and a wall-mounted elephant head with almost no sculpting skills? You’re in the right instruction!

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how I built a bold 3D elephant using just a printable template, some cardboard or EVA foam — and a simple crumpling technique that gives the surface a unique, organic texture.

You can wear it as a mask or hang it as wall decor. The build is beginner-friendly, requires no special tools, and is surprisingly fun (yes — you get to crumple cardboard on purpose!).

Let’s dive in!

I developed this project using Autodesk 3D Max based on my many years of experience with this program. To share with you, I have prepared a template and visual instructions for creating the Elephant. The template can be downloaded from my website here.

For this project, you will need the following supplies.

However, you can use a different format of cardboard or any type of printer that works for you.

Below is a link to the file, which includes the template, visual instructions, scaling guide, and vector files — in case you want to cut it using a plotter or laser machine instead of printing on paper.

1. 29 sheets of A4 or US Letter cardboard (around 300 gsm) (If you're going to imitate elephant skin, make sure you like the look of crumpled cardboard.)
2. Printer
3. Scissors
4. Hot glue gun and glue sticks
5. Silver duct tape
6. Painter’s tape
7. Template

We lay out the template and combine it by the corner marks. We place some parts on the sheets as a whole, and larger ones on 15 sheets that need to be glued together.

I recommend using masking tape so that after you cut out the pieces, you can secure the seams between the sheets with hot glue.

Tip: One of the sheets has the entire template in a reduced size, this is a map to make it easier to find the metal sheets when arranging. Well, if you printed everything at once, then just lay them out one by one and everything will match.

Cut out the pieces and make sure you secure all the seams between the sheets that are present on the larger pieces with hot glue.

For gluing you will need hundreds of squares of tape about 1 cm in size. I recommend preparing at least a couple of dozen in advance, it will be convenient.

Use the instructions included in the kit, this is a visual instruction that will help you easily find the location of the parts on the figure, as well as what shape they should have. I recommend starting to glue with part 1 and moving in order.

Recommended gluing order:

1. Glue the head
2. Glue the ears separately
3. Glue the trunk separately
4. Glue the tusks separately
5. Then Glue the trunk, then the tusks, then the ears

Tip: Use the visual instructions as well as a photo of an African elephant to understand how to press the parts to give them a similar look to elephant skin

So let's start with detail 1, then we'll move by analogy. This is the base of the elephant's trunk.

To crumple the cardboard, I recommend crumpling it with an indent of several centimeters, first across, then lengthwise, then diagonally.

Then bend it in the place indicated by the dotted line, this will be the horizontal fold of the elephant's trunk skin.

I recommend going to gradually glue a small section of the seam with tape and then go and secure it with hot glue, and so on in order step by step, securing success.

Tip: after the ears are ready, you can easily give them a beautiful wavy look.

Our tusks are smooth, they do not need to be crushed. Instead, to give them a beautiful bent look, rub the cardboard on the edge of the table. At the base of the tusks along the length of the parts and closer to the edge across.

Glue everything together and add a head ring to the mask, as well as a string if you want to hang the mask as a wall decoration.

1. The ring should be made to your size and glued so that you feel comfortable in the mask.
2. The string can be threaded through the holes and secured with a piece of cardboard using hot glue.

Tip: If you want to use it as a wall decoration, reinforce the back of the mask from the inside with pieces of corrugated cardboard

The finished mask can be worn and used for stylish photo sessions, or hung on the wall so that it brings you aesthetic pleasure.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and want to try it for yourself. Please leave your comments and questions. Thank you!