Elephant Headdress Mask Pattern
For Paper Mache
$12
This elephant headdress mask is not a fast project, but it will look great when you finish it.
No sculpting experience is required – the pattern creates all of those dramatic elephant shapes, and the size of it will really draw attention from the audience. You’ll be very proud to tell folks that you made it yourself.
How to Make Your Elephant Headdress Mask:
Print the downloadable pattern, glue it to cereal box cardboard, and cut out the pieces.
Tape the pieces together – the instructions are included with the pattern.
Add a layer of paper mache. I used brown paper, but newspaper works just as well. Then add paper towel wrinkles, if want to. The videos below show you how.
Bring your elephant to life with acrylic paint and a fine-tip pen. (I used spray paint for all that grey).
One important note before you choose this pattern: The size and shape of the elephant’s head puts your eyes behind the trunk. You can see to the side, and you can see the floor – but you can’t see directly ahead of you without turning your head. Watch the end of the last video below to see what I mean.
Finished size –
About 20.5 inches (52.07 cm) high, and 16 inches (40.64 cm) deep, including the trunk, and 22.5 inches (57.15 cm) wide, including the ears. It will fit an adult head, but the size can be changed by printing the pattern larger or smaller, or by following the instructions on this page.
My downloadable PDF Patterns come with full instructions.
There’s no waiting for your pattern to arrive, and no shipping costs, so you can start on your project right away.
Note: If you’ll be saving your pattern to and iPhone or iPad, those devices like to hide your downloaded files. You can scroll down this page to see how to find them.
And remember – if you have any problems downloading your files or putting your pattern together, just let me know. I’m always happy to help. 🙂
$12
Watch These Videos to See How to Make Your Elephant Headdress Mask:
Taping the pattern pieces, part 1 –
This pattern has a lot of pieces, so it will take some time to cut them all out and put them together. Most of the pieces to together easily, but there are a few tricky ones where the tusks, trunk and mouth come together. Naturally, those are the ones I’ll have you do first. 🙂
Taping the pattern pieces, part 2 –
Adding paper mache, and optional paper towel wrinkles –
You’ll want to give yourself plenty of time for the paper mache, too. You really only need one layer. Then you can decide if you want to add more details, like the wrinkles I added with paper towels.
Painting the elephant headdress mask –
I was in a real hurry to get my elephant mask finished, so I used spray paint for that large expanse of grey. Acrylic craft paint would be a more ‘traditional’ choice. 🙂
To Make Your Elephant Headdress Mask You’ll Need:
- Access to a Printer
- Copy paper or full-sheet labels (I use the labels)
- Glue stick if using copy paper instead of labels
- The front and back from from 12 standard-sized cereal boxes, or 23 pieces of letter-sized “light chipboard*” that you can purchase online.
- Sharp scissors for cutting the cereal box cardboard
- Clear plastic tape and masking tape. Note: Don’t use disappearing gift wrap tape – it isn’t strong enough.
- One 1.25” foam ball
- Paper strips and paste. I used the cooked flour and water paste – you can find the recipe here. If you’re making the elephant mask for the theater, you may want to use TiteBond III wood glue, instead.
- Acrylic paint or spray paint, and clear spray or acrylic varnish.
- Shoelaces or elastic straps to hold the mask in place
$12
When you finish your elephant headdress mask…
We would really love to see how it comes out. Please visit the Daily Sculptors page and upload some photos. 🙂
Do you have a question or need help with your pattern?
There are two ways to contact me: The fastest way to get an answer is to leave a comment below. I read all comments and answer them as soon as I can, usually within a few hours. One of my readers might also chime in to help – we have a very supportive community here on this site.
If you prefer to reach me privately, you can send me an email.
I get a ton of spam and I don’t want your email to get lost, so please put “paper mache” in the subject line so your email won’t be accidentally deleted. If you don’t hear back from me within 24 hours, assume the cyberspace gremlins ate your email, and try again. 🙂
Hi Jonni, another question. My fabulous elephant is now done. His name is Ananda. I’m trying to hang him on the wall now and he’s a bit heavy for just a nail and a hole. Do you have any suggestions?
This looks like it’s a recurrent theme with no answer. This is how I solved it–I glued two pieces of corrugated cardboard on the inside of the elephant head, where I’d put a nail, then I used a metal washer to reinforce the hole site. Then I drilled a hole with a drill (who am I fooling–I asked my husband because power tools scare me). Then I put in a big strong nail.
The two pieces of cardboard, one on top of the other.
Great idea! Thanks for the tip – we all appreciate it. 🙂
Help! My elephant’s forehead got flattened a bit, I’m sure you said how to avoid that somewhere but I’m not the best direction follower. Can you tell me how to build up the forehead a bit to compensate???
If you can’t push the forehead out from behind to make it rounder, you can add some lightly crumpled foil, covered with masking tape. Then put a layer of paper mache over the foil. 🙂
Thanks! I’ll try that.
Hi Jonni! I’m working on a theatrical production of Children of Eden and we are planning on making a lot of your animal heads (20!). This will actually be my second time using your work for—I made a modified version of your cow head for Milky White in Into the Woods! We need the 20 animal heads for the Noah and the Ark portion of the show so we’ll have 10 pairs of 2. Every one wearing the heads will be dancing/moving so we’d like all the masks to be on top of their heads and tied down like this elephant head, but not all of the animals we want to use have helmet portion, so I’d like to modify them. Do you have a pattern for just the helmet with ties so that I can build other animals on top of it? Thanks!
Hi KJ. That sounds like a really exciting project! I have a free pattern that might work for you, if you leave off the face portion. Or make it once with all of the pieces, and then place your animal on top of it to see how to cut the blank mask form to make the edges match. They’ll all be different, of course, but the blank mask form goes together pretty fast.
We would all love to see your costumes and masks when they’re done! You can share photos here, if you’d like to. 🙂
I would love to make this for my son’s kindergarten play. However, is there a way to shrink the dimensions so I can make a smaller version of this elephant headdress?
Hi Tia. Yes, any of the patterns can be made larger or smaller, by using your printer settings. I have a video that explains how to do it here. Have fun! 🙂
Thanks so much!! I am excited to get started!
About how long does it take to make one of these and is it significantly more complicated than the wall sculpture lion head?
Hi Beth. The elephant mask does have a lot of pieces, because it’s the biggest headdress mask pattern I’ve made. However, I don’t think it’s more complicated than the lion. You would want to give yourself plenty of time to make it, though – at least a weekend. Make sure to watch the videos that show how it’s done, so you can see if it’s a project you’d like to do.
Hi! I am currently working on your cow mask for a party and it is turning out GREAT! I can’t wait to make another, and I love this elephant.
I’m curious if it would be possible to make the elephant headdress with the trunk curving upwards, so your eyes would be able to see forward. I’m thinking about building this for a Mardi Gras costume, but I’d need to have full visibility for the day.
Thanks so much!
Ali
Hi Ali. I’m glad your cow mask is turning out so nice. 🙂
I think the easiest way to change the trunk on the elephant would be to sculpt the trunk from scratch instead of using the pattern. That way, you could curl or twist it any way you like. If I tried it, I’d probably create a flat pattern out of a big piece of cardboard, and then fill in the rounded shapes with crumpled foil, held on with hot glue. But I’m not sure how the base of the new trunk would be attached to the other shapes. I’m really just guessing, because I obviously haven’t tried it.
Have fun at that party! 🙂
This looks like a fun project, however, I would need a pattern for one to hang on a wall. Is there any chance of this happening?
I won’t be converting this pattern to a wall sculpture anytime soon. The mask pattern has no neck, because it had to sit on top of a human head. To make all the new pieces fit, I would almost have to start over. It might be possible to just put the current pattern together, up to the area right behind the ears, and then add your own pieces of cardboard to bring the neck straight back until it was far enough so the ears wouldn’t hit the wall. You’d need to add pieces under the chin, too. If you decide to try that, I hope you’ll let us know how it turned out. 🙂
I also would love to see this as a wall hanging. I have your baby elephant and crave an adult as well. Your work is amazing! I have so many friends begging for a giraffe of their own.
Hi Ginger. Several people have mentioned that they’d like to use this as a wall sculpture. It didn’t occur to me when I was making him, but I may add that idea to my list. And it sounds like you might need to make another giraffe or two! 🙂
You are brilliant! Another absolutely amazing work of art.
Thanks, Mister Shelbot. I’m glad you like it. 🙂